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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

A028PA Direct Payment Support Services

Essex County Council · Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 20 Oct 2026, 17:18.

Opportunity overview

Essex County Council ("the Council") is inviting providers to participate in a market engagement exercise to inform the Councils commissioning considerations regarding the provision of direct payment support services supporting adults and children with their self-directed support offer through the delivery of direct payments. Essex County Council are committed to increase the number of people who wish to access a social care direct payment that enables individuals to remain independent through developing their own packages of care and support. Direct payments are intended to give people greater choice, control and flexibility to arrange and manage their care and support needs, through the receipt of regular funds from the Council. However, we recognise that for some people, choosing a direct payment may not be an option without support managing this arrangement. The Council intends to achieve the following aims and objectives within a direct payment support service: • Improve and increase support to recruit Personal Assistants (PAs) for direct Payment recipients. In turn increasing the market for Pas • Ensure DP recipients have access to good quality information, advice and Guidance, including generic direct payment advice and specialist employment advice and support • The delivery of a PA hub, supporting recruitment, the management and retention of PAs • Access to high-quality account management for the people who need it • Provide easy access to payroll and payments services • Increase confidence in Direct Payments across the system • Increase knowledge of the benefits and responsibilities of Direct Payments, as well as the options available to people who wish to take a direct payment. Essex County Council are seeking to understand: •What services in relation to direct payments support providers can offer and better understand supplier capacity, capability and appetite to deliver a contract of this size •Receive feedback to create better service requirements for future tenders from the market who are currently delivering successful high-quality services. • Learn about challenges and solutions for managing direct payments, such as managing payroll and training, supporting and recruiting personal assistants •Understand Barriers: to gain a better understanding of any potential barriers and how best to overcome them. Please note that the Council reserves the right to refine the scope of any future procurement following this market engagement process. In addition, please note that any future procurement remains subject to governance approval. Therefore, the Council will confirm the final scope of any procurement, including but not limited to, the contract duration and confirmed procurement timetable in the corresponding Tender Notice following the conclusion of the requisite governance process.

Classification

  • CPV85000000 — Health and social work services

Lots

  • Lot 1Value not stated

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
A028PA
Main Procurement Category
services
Above Threshold
Yes
Status
planning

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Special regime

lightTouch

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
planning

Suitability

Sme
Yes
Vcse
Yes

Contract period

Starts
1 Apr 2028, 01:00
Ends
1 Apr 2031, 00:59

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Additional Classifications

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

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKH3
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Planning and budget

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
engagement
Type
engagement
Description
Details regarding the current direct payment support service commissioned via Essex county council and the soft market questions can be located via: https://www.open-uk-org/opportunities Please note that you will need to undertake a registration process to secure a user account to access the aforementioned briefing document via OPEN. However, please be advised that the registration process is free of charge and will also provide access to any forthcoming procurement opportunities which Essex County Council issues in due course. If you experience any technical system issues regarding this soft market test, please contact NEPO's helpdesk via the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of OPEN's homepage: https://open-uk.org Please note that OPEN uses ProClass to classify procurement opportunities instead of Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) Therefore, the opportunity within OPEN has been prepared using the following ProClass codes which represent the closest matches to the CPV code which this notice is based on 311600 The deadline for responding to the questions will be 17:00 on Wednesday 4th November 2026 and all responses must be submitted via the online questionnaire functionality within OPEN. Likewise, if you require any clarification regarding the questions, please use the messaging functionality within OPEN.
Due
4 Nov 2026, 23:59
Status
scheduled

Documents

Entry 1
Id
099138-2026
Document Type
marketEngagementNotice
Notice Type
UK2
Description
Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Published
20 Oct 2026, 15:45
Format
text/html

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Name
Essex County Council
Id
GB-PPON-PWVM-4844-NRQH

Identifier

Scheme
GB-PPON
Id
PWVM-4844-NRQH

Address

Street Address
County Hall, Market Road
Locality
Chelmsford
Postal Code
CM1 1QH
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Region
UKH36

Contact

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

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

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Chelmsford · UKH36 · CM1 1QH · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKH3 · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. 099138-2026Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ·

PROCURAAXIS ANALYSIS

ProcuraAxis Analysis

Our approved analysis of the opportunity appears below the official tender information.

ANALYSIS PREVIEW

Opportunity intelligence at a glance

Early-stage market engagement, not an open tender. Essex County Council is seeking provider input on a potential future direct-payment support service for adults and children, including PA recruitment support, information and advice, a PA hub, account management, and payroll/payments support.

Who this may suit

Potential fit for organisations with evidenced direct-payment support, PA recruitment, payroll/payments, account-management, and social-care advice capability. Participation is to inform a possible future procurement; final scope and tender arrangements are unknown.

Key points identified

  • Market engagement responseProviders are invited to participate and describe services, capacity, capability and appetite for a potential contract.Evidence: “inviting providers to participate in a market engagement exercise” and “understand supplier capacity, capability and appetite to deliver a contract of this size”
  • Direct-payment support scopePotential future service scope includes PA recruitment support, advice, PA hub, account management, payroll and payments.Evidence: “The Council intends to achieve the following aims and objectives within a direct payment support service”
  • Supplier eligibility criteriaUnknown.Evidence: No eligibility, financial standing, insurance, certification or selection criteria are stated.
96% approved-analysis confidence3 supplier criteria identified3 risks or unknowns

SOURCE AND FRESHNESS

Traceable procurement data

Source
Find a Tender
Notice reference
099138-2026
OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078c22
First published
20 Oct 2026
Last checked
20 Oct 2026, 17:18
Notice versions reviewed
1

HOW THIS WAS PREPARED

Approved, evidence-bound analysis

ProcuraAxis structures information found in published procurement records, checks the result for consistency and publishes only approved analysis. Confidence describes the completeness and consistency of the available source information; it is not a guarantee of eligibility or contract award.

Analysis status
Approved for publication
Analysed
20 Oct 2026
Read the analysis methodology →