---
title: "Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for The Provision of FCA Regulated Debt Advice Services in County Durham"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0778ab"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0778ab"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0778ab.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0778ab.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "Durham County Council"
published: "2026-09-23"
---

# Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for The Provision of FCA Regulated Debt Advice Services in County Durham

Buyer: Durham County Council  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0778ab

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[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0778ab.json)

## Summary

Durham County Council is considering future arrangements for FCA-regulated debt advice services for residents of County Durham. The service is intended to provide regulated debt advice, guidance and counselling, with delivery approaches and the eventual service specification still to be shaped. The council is seeking market input to understand suppliers’ capacity, capability and ways of delivering the service, and to inform its commissioning approach and procurement strategy. This is a service contract in the financial advice and community support sector. It relates to County Durham residents; the procurement data does not identify particular delivery premises or a more precise service area.

This process is at the planning stage: the council has set out its intention to procure and is conducting preliminary market engagement, not inviting tenders. Interested parties are asked to complete and return a market-engagement questionnaire by 30 October 2026. The current contract is due to expire on 31 March 2027. The planned replacement service is expected to run from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2029, with a possible extension to 31 March 2030. The planned procurement is one lot. The council has not set out an expected procedure or procurement value at this stage; market feedback will help shape the future specification and procurement strategy.

The engagement is relevant to providers able to deliver FCA-regulated debt advice to residents, including organisations with financial advice, debt counselling and community-support experience. The council is particularly seeking evidence of market capacity, delivery capability and possible service models, so suppliers should be ready to explain how they could resource and organise this work and contribute to shaping the future service. Small and medium-sized businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises are identified as suitable participants. This is preparation for a future procurement rather than a bid opportunity: suppliers interested in influencing the service design can respond to the market-engagement questionnaire. The eventual requirements, evaluation approach and contract value remain to be developed through this engagement.

## Notice

Durham County Council (DCC) is undertaking a market engagement exercise to inform its consideration of future arrangements for the provision of regulated debt advice services for County Durham residents. The information gathered will help DCC understand market capacity, capability and delivery approaches, and will be used to support the development of the future service specification, commissioning approach and procurement strategy. The current contract is due to expire on 31 March 2027.

### Planning Information

Interested parties should complete and return the market engagement questionnaire which has been published and can be accessed, free of charge, at www.open-uk.org using reference OPEN20262107

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/090166-2026 |
| Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 Apr 2027 - 1 Apr 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Durham County Council |
| Locality | DURHAM |
| Postcode area | Durham |
| Postcode | DH1 5WB |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear |
| ITL 3 | TLC41 Durham |
| Local authority | County Durham |
| Electoral ward | Framwellgate & Newton Hall |
| Westminster constituency | City of Durham |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 66 - Financial and insurance services
- 85 - Health and social work services
- 98 - Other community, social and personal services

### Codes

- 66171000 - Financial consultancy services
- 85312300 - Guidance and counselling services
- 98000000 - Other community, social and personal services

## Release History

- 23 Sep 2026 at 14:14 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/090166-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/090166-2026
  23rd September 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- http://www.durham.gov.uk/
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0778ab. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0778ab.json.