---
title: "Best Start Foods"
ocid: "ocds-r6ebe6-0000552823"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000552823"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000552823.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000552823.json"
source: "Public Contracts Scotland"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT"
published: "2019-02-13"
---

# Best Start Foods

Buyer: SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-r6ebe6-0000552823

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## Summary

The Scottish Government is conducting a tender for the "Best Start Foods" contract, aimed at providing a pre-paid card solution to facilitate payments to eligible recipients in Scotland. The procurement process is currently in the Award stage, following the tender submission deadline on 21 September 2018. The contract, valued at GBP 2,400,000, involves services expected to commence on 30 November 2018 and will run until 28 May 2021, with an option for a single 12-month extension. This tender is part of the social security administration to improve the distribution of financial benefits to low-income families.

This opportunity could foster significant growth for businesses specialising in digital payments, financial technology, or social care services. Companies that can demonstrate experience in delivering prepaid card services, especially those authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, are well-positioned to compete. Moreover, firms that focus on enhancing user experience through innovative technology will find this tender aligns with their service offerings, potentially expanding their market reach while contributing to community welfare initiatives.

## Notice

This Contract Notice relates to the following services contract, namely: Best Start Food to provide a pre-paid card solution to enable payments to eligible recipients from 30 November 2018 to 28 May 2021 with the option of 1 x 12 month extension.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Scottish Government (SG) is seeking to deliver a Smartcard/Digital Payment Card solution that will enable the distribution of monetary benefits to support the purchase of healthy foods for low income families. The power to deliver this scheme has been devolved to Scotland through the Scotland Act (2016) and the scheme is being integrated with the delivery of wider social security benefits also being devolved. Currently, UK Government and Department of Health administer Healthy Start Vouchers to low-income pregnant women and families with children up to the age of four to receive paper vouchers up to the value of 3.10 GBP per week. In the child's first year of life two paper vouchers per week are issued. The vouchers can be used to purchase plain cow's milk, infant formula milk, plain fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables from supermarkets and grocers who have registered to accept them. SG will make a number of changes to the existing scheme and, in particular, is looking to move away from the paper voucher currently in place by introducing a more widely accepted Smartcard/Digital Payment Card solution. This change is expected to improve the customer experience by increasing flexibility of use and removing the stigma associated with paper vouchers, while significantly reducing the administrative burden on both retailers and the Scottish Government. Requirements It is expected that the card will remain the property of Scottish Government and that the supplier will be able to provide a solution that meets the requirements outlined below, but recognise that the list below is not exclusive or exhaustive at this stage. Card Design & Functionality: >A PIN secured payment card using widely accepted technology to ensure as wide a range of retailers as possible can accept these >The card must be free at the point of use for end users >The card must be blocked for use within non-food category retailers, for example off-licences, tobacconists, vaping outlets, clothing shops etc. In addition, the card should, where possible, be blocked for use at tobacco and alcohol kiosks within larger grocery stores. >The ability to have a bespoke card design on both sides, including relevant branding and specific information about what the card can be used to purchase Volumes: >The issue of circa 23,000 cards to existing recipients in a phased manner (3-6 month period) >The issue of around 5,000 cards per year to new applicants >Transfer of circa 442,000 GBP total value per month between 23,000 individual cards. Customer Service & Administration >The ability for users to check the card balance at an ATM and through an online portal (which can be linked to through SG/Social Security Agency websites) >The ability to put a 'stop' on lost or stolen cards, issue a replacement card and transfer any remaining balance to the new card >A dedicated free helpline to report lost or stolen cards (this is expected to be around 750 lost/stolen cards per year) and/or problems with use, which can transfer calls to the Social Security Agency (if the query relates to eligibility, value received onto card or applications). As a minimum, the help-line should be open between 0900 and 1700 hours Monday to Friday excepting Bank Holidays. Tenderers may wish to provide an automated service outside these hours. >Notification system for monthly payments (ie sending a text message to recipients confirm the amount being loaded every month) >A system to identify cards that have been unused for a period of 3 months and notify the social security agency of this in order for action to be taken (customer contact and/or putting a stop to new payments) Data & Security >A secure system to store necessary recipient data and accept monthly data transfer from the Social Security Agency on amounts to be transferred onto individual cards Contract Duration Contract duration : - 30 months plus up to a maximum of 12 month extension.. Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

Renewal: 1 x 12 months

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Public Contracts Scotland |
| Latest notice | https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB345479 |
| Notice type | OJEU - F3 - Contract Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 13 Feb 2019 |
| Submission deadline | 21 Sep 2018 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 31 Jan 2019 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £2,400,000 |
| Lots value | £2,400,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £448,725 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT |
| Locality | EDINBURGH |
| Post town | Edinburgh |
| Postcode | EH6 6QQ |
| Country | Scotland |
| ITL 1 | TLM Scotland |
| ITL 2 | TLM1 East Central Scotland |
| ITL 3 | TLM13 City of Edinburgh |
| Local authority | City of Edinburgh |
| Electoral ward | Leith |
| Westminster constituency | Edinburgh North and Leith |
| Delivery location | TLM Scotland |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | ALLPAY.NET |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 30 - Office and computing machinery, equipment and supplies except furniture and software packages

### Codes

- 30162000 - Smart cards

## Release History

- 13 Feb 2019 at 00:00 - Award - OJEU - F3 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB345479
- 8 Aug 2018 at 00:00 - Tender - OJEU - F2 - Contract Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG327718

## Documents

- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG327718
  Best Start Foods - This Contract Notice relates to the following services contract, namely: Best Start Food to provide a pre-paid card solution to enable payments to eligible recipients from 30 November 2018 to 28 May 2021 with the option of 1 x 12 month extension.
- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB345479
  Best Start Foods - This Contract Notice relates to the following services contract, namely: Best Start Food to provide a pre-paid card solution to enable payments to eligible recipients from 30 November 2018 to 28 May 2021 with the option of 1 x 12 month extension.

## Notice URLs

- http://
- http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk
- http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/info/InfoCentre.aspx
- http://www.scotland.gov.uk
- https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000552823
- https://www.publictendersscotland.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk

## 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-r6ebe6-0000552823. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000552823.json.