---
title: "Direct Payment Support Service"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0780d6"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0780d6"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0780d6.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0780d6.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "Newcastle City Council"
published: "2026-10-05"
---

# Direct Payment Support Service

Buyer: Newcastle City Council  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0780d6

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## Summary

Newcastle City Council plans to appoint a provider for a Direct Payment Support Service for adults, children and carers who use, or are considering using, direct payments to arrange care and support. The service is intended to help people understand their responsibilities and manage the practicalities of employing personal assistants or purchasing services. Its scope includes advice on budgets and spending, payroll, tax, insurance, pensions and recruitment; employment templates and a personal assistant matching service; support with DBS checks, safeguarding and risk escalation; and advice on training and professional development. The provider will also assist social care professionals when requested and must maintain a permanent base in Newcastle. The service will be delivered in Newcastle. This is a health and social care service.

The process is at planning: the council has announced its intention to procure, but has not issued an invitation to tender. It expects to use an open procedure. The planned contract runs from 1 May 2027 to 1 May 2030. The estimated value is £661,917 excluding VAT (£794,300 including VAT). The council anticipates publishing a further notice by 15 November 2026, with a tender response deadline of 15 December 2026 and an award decision by 10 January 2027. These are the buyer’s planned dates, not deadlines to bid at this stage. The procurement is presented as a single lot. Newcastle City Council plans virtual market engagement on Microsoft Teams on 19 October 2026, from 10am to noon, to explain its requirements and hear supplier feedback.

The work is suited to organisations experienced in social care and in supporting people who employ personal assistants or use direct payments. Providers will need to combine accessible information and advice with practical employment administration, including payroll, tax, insurance, pensions, recruitment and auto-enrolment. The service also calls for safeguarding expertise: supporting safer recruitment and DBS applications, attending safeguarding meetings when needed, and identifying and escalating risks to vulnerable people and public funds. Workforce-development capability is relevant, including advice on training and professional competency. Suppliers should be able to advise both service users and social care professionals and operate a permanent Newcastle base. The council estimates that 487 adults currently receive direct payments in Newcastle and that 315 people used the service in the 2025/26 financial year. Small businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises are considered suitable.

## Notice

Newcastle City Council is seeking to appoint an organisation to provide a Direct Payment Support Service to adults, children and carers who use, or are considering using, direct payments to purchase or arrange services. Direct payments can be used to purchase care and support service to meet the care and support needs of the person and carer. Direct payments do involve additional complexity and responsibility for the service user and therefore many need some support and/or advice. The Direct Payment Support Service Newcastle City Council are procuring will: -Information and Advice Explain the benefits and responsibilities of direct payments to Service Users Assist with budgeting and expenditure decisions Provide information about the range of services that provide payroll, insurance and pensions and signpost direct payment users. -Employment Support Provide advice on becoming an employer Support payroll, tax, insurance and pensions Supply employment templates Assist recruitment and selection of Personal Assistants Operate a matching service where appropriate Assist with all aspects of pension auto-enrolment Promote safer employment by encouraging and facilitating the completion of enhanced DBS -Safeguarding and Compliance Promote safe recruitment Support DBS applications Attend safeguarding meetings when required Report and escalate risks to vulnerable adults, children and public funds. -Workforce Development Advise on training for Direct Payment users and Personal Assistants Promote professional development and competency frameworks -Other requirements Provide advice and practical assistance on request to social care professionals when needed Have a permanent base within Newcastle Expected usage: 487 adults are currently receiving a direct payment in Newcastle In the financial year 25/26 there were 315 people who used the service This notice is for information only. At this stage, no further details are available beyond what is published here. When this opportunity progresses, a Tender Notice will be published on the Central Digital Platform along with any relevant notices such as engagement.

### Planning Information

Newcastle City Council will be holding an engagement event virtually on Microsoft Teams on the 19th of October from 10:00am to 12:00pm.
The event will be led by key representatives from across the Council and it is envisaged all those in attendance will have the opportunity to learn more about, and provide feedback on the service requirements.
We would anticipate the event will run as follows:
1. 10.00 to 10.10 - Introductions NCC
2. 10.10 to 10.20- Purpose of the consultation
• What we currently commission and why
• Utilisation
3. 10.20 to 10:40 Feedback
• From people who have used the service
• Social workers
• CQC
4. 10.40 to 10:50 Our ideas for future scope of the service
• What’s different
5. 10:50-11:00 Break
6. 11:00-11:30 Opportunity to feedback on the model
7. 11:30-11:45 Pre-procurement tender readiness
• Using Open
• Tender documents
8. 11:45-11:55 Indicative timeline
9. 11:55-12:00 A.O.B
Please note-
• We will be recording the sessions
• We do not wish to engage extensively with suppliers prior to this event on clarifications or questions. This is a Market Engagement and we do appreciate a degree of interpretation and flexibility will be applied.
Please register to join the event here:
https://msteams.link/4RPT

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093865-2026 |
| Notice type | UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 5 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 May 2027 - 2 May 2030 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £661,917 |
| Lots value | £661,917 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Newcastle City Council |
| Locality | NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE |
| Postcode area | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Postcode | NE1 8QH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear |
| ITL 3 | TLC43 Tyneside |
| Local authority | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Electoral ward | Monument |
| Westminster constituency | Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West |
| Delivery location | TLC22 Tyneside |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85000000 - Health and social work services

## Release History

- 5 Oct 2026 at 14:17 - Planning - UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093865-2026
- 5 Oct 2026 at 14:06 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093858-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093865-2026
  5th October 2026 - Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093858-2026
  5th October 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://msteams.link/4RPT
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/
- https://www.open-uk.org/

## 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-0780d6. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0780d6.json.