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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

003271 - Online Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) application provider

Durham County Council · Tender notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 25 Sept 2026, 10:40.

Opportunity overview

DCC undertakes DBS checks on all employees in posts identified as requiring a DBS check in accordance with the DBS eligibility criteria; plus DBS checks for carers, fostering, adoption, taxi drivers, volunteers and maintained schools, amongst others. Checks ensure full compliance with recruitment processes, as well as statutory requirements. The Council also operates a rechecking process for employees, currently set at 5 years. We are seeking to formally procure the services of a DBS umbrella registered body, who will provide an electronic administration platform for the submission of DBS application forms and for the subsequent check results to be visible to users within DCC (E-Bulk System). We anticipate a requirement to process approximately 5,000 DBS applications per year for the Council. However, it should be noted that the number of applications processed may be subject to fluctuation due to organisational change, renewals required and policy decisions arising from national changes to disclosure and barring eligibility criteria. For avoidance of doubt, the spread of applications will not be uniform across any period.

Classification

  • CPV48000000 — Software package and information systems

Lots

  • Lot 1£1.3m

Documents and notices

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
OPEN20261396
Status
active
Procurement Method
open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Main Procurement Category
goods
Above Threshold
Yes
How to submit
Full tender documents can be accessed free of charge at www.open-uk.org Reference: OPEN20261396 Submission and clarification questions must be made via the Open Portal.

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Submission terms

Electronic Submission Policy
allowed

Languages

en

Tender Period

Ends
29 Oct 2026, 10:00

Enquiry period

Ends
23 Oct 2026, 10:00

Expected award period

Ends
24 Nov 2026, 23:59

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
active
Has Renewal
Yes
Has Options
Yes

Value

Including VAT
1,500,000
Amount
1,250,000
Currency
GBP

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Type
quality
Name
Service delivery model and end-to-end DBS processing

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
10
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Type
quality
Name
Advice, guidance and helpdesk support

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
5
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 3
Type
quality
Name
Contract Mobilisation

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
5
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 4
Type
quality
Name
System Demonstration

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
10
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 5
Type
quality
Name
Desirable System Functionality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
5
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 6
Type
price
Name
Price - Administration charge per application
Description
Please note, the administration charge excludes the statutory DBS certificate fees, however statutory fees are included in the contract value. The administration charge must include all costs for the requirements in the specification. No additional payment will be made in addition to the fixed administration charge per application.

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
65
Weight
percentageExact

Selection criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Type
technical
Description
Confirm that your organisation is an approved DBS umbrella body / registered body authorised to provide e-bulk services and countersignatory services for the types of checks required under this contract.

Contract period

Starts
1 Apr 2027, 00:00
Ends
31 Mar 2030, 23:59
Max Extent Date
31 Mar 2032, 23:59

Renewal

Description
The Contract period is for an initial 3-year period, with the option to extend for a further 2 years subject to satisfactory performance and the Council's future requirements.

Options

Description
We anticipate a requirement to process approximately 5,000 DBS applications per year for the Council. However, it should be noted that the number of applications processed may be subject to fluctuation due to organisational change, renewals required and policy decisions arising from national changes to disclosure and barring eligibility criteria. This may lead to an increase in contract value.

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
CPV
Id
48000000
Description
Software package and information systems

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKC14
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
conflictOfInterest
Document Type
conflictOfInterest
Description
Not published
Entry 2
Id
090804-2026
Document Type
tenderNotice
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Published
25 Sept 2026, 09:15
Format
text/html

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Name
Durham County Council
Id
GB-PPON-PMPB-8772-VYWM

Identifier

Scheme
GB-PPON
Id
PMPB-8772-VYWM

Address

Street Address
Corten House, Dunholme Close
Locality
Durham
Postal Code
DH1 5WB
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Region
UKC14

Contact

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Id
publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment
Description
Public authority - sub-central government

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Durham · UKC14 · DH1 5WB · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKC14 · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

2 published notice versions reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

2 VERSIONS
  1. 045555-2026Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ·
  2. 090804-2026Tender notice on Find a Tender ·