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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

22119 Direct Payment Support Services

Cambridgeshire County Council · compiled

Tender information last checkedLast checked 29 Sept 2026, 19:40.

Opportunity overview

A new contract to be procured for a Direct Payment Support Service (DPSS) to deliver support services to users who receive direct payments as part of their personal budget arrangement. Clients will receive their own fund to hire a personal assistant, legal/HR advise, sourcing and recruitment support, marketing and find more Personal Assistants in the market. This service will be used to aid people of all ages (adults, young people, and children).

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

Purple Zest Limited

Match pending…
Contract value
£398k
Awarded
Not supplied
Contract signed
11 Feb 2025
Award ID
041134-2025-1
Status
active
Location
Chelmsford, UKH3, CM1 1QT, United Kingdom

Classification

  • CPV85000000 — Health and social work services

Lots

  • The Council’s detailed requirements are defined in the Specification. We are looking to commission a high-quality Direct Payment Support Service (DPSS) that enables the outcome of improved independence, health, and wellbeing of people with eligible needs funding their own support. Priority activities for the service are to: 1. Provide high quality information and advice on Direct Payments, purchasing care and support directly, and on the support services opportunities available locally. This includes CMEs and other voluntary, community or social enterprise organisations. 2. To provide support to the service users directly employing PAs on the matter of HR and Tax in compliance with the HR and Tax legislation current at the time. 3. Offer personalised support to people to manage their Direct Payments in ways that they can understand. 4. Provide independent support to people who are purchasing support through Direct Payments and people who fund their own support (self-funders) 5. Assist Direct Payments recipients to directly employ support staff and to understand employment legislation and manage their duties as employers. 6. Provide a high quality and efficient payroll service to Cambridgeshire service users who wish to use this service. 7. Provide a managed bank account service for Direct Payment recipients who choose not to receive and manage their Direct Payment themselves. 8. Support the development, implementation, and ongoing management of a Personal Assistant Platform for the job matching of PAs and service-users. We expect this platform will hold the CMEs/ISFs provider information to support with sign posting and matching individuals to these services and help the recruitment of PAs. 9. Support service uses to process DBS checks on behalf of the personal assistant, the cost of such DBS check is to be paid by the employee. 10. Collaborate with council staff to develop personal assistant hourly guideline rates. 11. Collaborate with commissioners (both public sector, self-funders, and Direct Payments recipients) and other partners to develop and effectively facilitate the Personal Assistant and wider self-directed support market.£770.4k

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
DN734433
Status
complete
Procurement Method
open
Main Procurement Category
services
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure

Amendments

Entry 1
Id
1

Unstructured Changes

Entry 1

Where

Label
Time limit for receipt of expressions of interest
Section
IV.2.2

New Value

Date
1 Nov 2024, 12:00

Old Value

Date
25 Oct 2024, 12:00

Legal basis

Id
32014L0024
Scheme
CELEX

Tender Period

Ends
25 Oct 2024, 12:00

Classification

Id
85000000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Health and social work services

Submission terms

Languages

en

Submission Method

electronicSubmission

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
cancelled
Has Options
No
Description
The Council’s detailed requirements are defined in the Specification. We are looking to commission a high-quality Direct Payment Support Service (DPSS) that enables the outcome of improved independence, health, and wellbeing of people with eligible needs funding their own support. Priority activities for the service are to: 1. Provide high quality information and advice on Direct Payments, purchasing care and support directly, and on the support services opportunities available locally. This includes CMEs and other voluntary, community or social enterprise organisations. 2. To provide support to the service users directly employing PAs on the matter of HR and Tax in compliance with the HR and Tax legislation current at the time. 3. Offer personalised support to people to manage their Direct Payments in ways that they can understand. 4. Provide independent support to people who are purchasing support through Direct Payments and people who fund their own support (self-funders) 5. Assist Direct Payments recipients to directly employ support staff and to understand employment legislation and manage their duties as employers. 6. Provide a high quality and efficient payroll service to Cambridgeshire service users who wish to use this service. 7. Provide a managed bank account service for Direct Payment recipients who choose not to receive and manage their Direct Payment themselves. 8. Support the development, implementation, and ongoing management of a Personal Assistant Platform for the job matching of PAs and service-users. We expect this platform will hold the CMEs/ISFs provider information to support with sign posting and matching individuals to these services and help the recruitment of PAs. 9. Support service uses to process DBS checks on behalf of the personal assistant, the cost of such DBS check is to be paid by the employee. 10. Collaborate with council staff to develop personal assistant hourly guideline rates. 11. Collaborate with commissioners (both public sector, self-funders, and Direct Payments recipients) and other partners to develop and effectively facilitate the Personal Assistant and wider self-directed support market.

Value

Amount
770,360
Currency
GBP

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Name
Quality
Type
quality
Description
45
Criterion 2
Name
Social Value
Type
quality
Description
5
Criterion 3
Type
price
Description
50

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKH12
Entry 2
Region
UKH12

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
85000000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Health and social work services

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-FTS-33736
Name
Cambridgeshire County Council

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UKH12
Locality
Huntingdon
Postal Code
PE28 4YE
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
REGIONAL_AUTHORITY
Scheme
TED_CA_TYPE
Description
Regional or local authority
Entry 2
Id
01
Scheme
COFOG
Description
General public services

Identifier

Legal Name
Cambridgeshire County Council

Contact

Name
Miss Meera Maisuria
Telephone
+44 7700000000
Organisation 2
Id
GB-FTS-154973
Name
Purple Zest Limited

Roles

supplier

Address

Region
UKH3
Locality
Chelmsford
Postal Code
CM1 1QT
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Arise Innovation Centre Alan Cherry Drive

Details

Scale
sme

Identifier

Legal Name
Purple Zest Limited
Organisation 3
Id
GB-FTS-133802
Name
Cambridgeshire County Council

Roles

reviewBody

Address

Locality
Huntingdon
Postal Code
PE28 4YE
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
New Shire Hall, Emery Crescent, Alconbury Weald

Identifier

Legal Name
Cambridgeshire County Council

Award information

Award 1
Id
041134-2025-1
Title
22119 Direct Payment Support Services
Status
active

Suppliers

Supplier 1
Id
GB-FTS-154973
Name
Purple Zest Limited

Related lots

1

Contracts and changes

Entry 1
Id
041134-2025-1
Title
22119 Direct Payment Support Services
Status
active
Award ID
041134-2025-1
Date Signed
11 Feb 2025, 00:00

Value

Amount
397,977.48
Currency
GBP

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Huntingdon · UKH12 · PE28 4YE · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKH12

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-04934e-2025-07-17T20:29:00+01:00compiled ·