OpenHealth and social care

Children's Direct Payment Support Service[E17]

Carlisle, United KingdomCumberland Council[E1]

In plain English

What they want: Cumberland Council is procuring a Children's Direct Payment Support Service under the Procurement Act 2023 Light Touch Regime The Authority is commissioning a Service Provider to offer a Direct Payment Support Service on its behalf. The Service Provider is required to deliver support to all eligible families in receipt of Direct Payments.
Who can bid: No restrictions are stated in the notice data. The tender documents may set more.
Deadline: Buyer's deadline: 25 Nov 2026, 10:00 UTC. UTC: 25 Nov 2026, 10:00 UTC.
Published 28 Oct 2026.
Value: GBP 263,867
Buyer: Cumberland CouncilSee what else this buyer buys and when.
How to apply: Through the buyer's official process. Open the original notice on UK Find a Tender (OCDS) (opens in a new tab) ↗
Tender documents: The tender documents for this notice are on the buyer's own portal, usually behind a free supplier registration. We link to them and do not fetch them, so the report is based on the notice only.

Deadline[E5]: 25 Nov 2026, 10:00 UTC
Value[E18]: GBP 263,867
Published[E14]: 28 Oct 2026
Procedure[E13]: Below threshold - open competition
Source: UK Find a Tender (OCDS) (opens in a new tab)
Last checked: 3 hours ago

About the requirement

From the notice

Cumberland Council is procuring a Children's Direct Payment Support Service under the Procurement Act 2023 Light Touch Regime The Authority is commissioning a Service Provider to offer a Direct Payment Support Service on its behalf. The Service Provider is required to deliver support to all eligible families in receipt of Direct Payments. Families will have the choice over the support they wish to access, so not all families will necessarily access all categories of support at any given point, though their needs may change over time. The Service Provider shall help families get the most out of their Direct Payment by providing information and guidance on how Direct Payments can be used and also explain the family's responsibilities in relation to receiving Direct Payments including putting in place, planning for and renewing indemnity insurance where a Personal Assistant is employed, undertaking and renewing a DBS for their Personal Assistant, clear accounting for income and expenditure of Direct Payments and their statutory payment duties where applicable. The proposed start date of the contract is 01st April 2027. The initial term of the contract is twelve months and there is one potential extension period available of up to twelve months. Use of extension periods is at the absolute discretion of the council. The maximum total contract value is £263,867 excluding VAT. This includes the initial term, extension periods if implemented and potential uplifts. If the council implements an extension or uplift, this will be confirmed in writing to the successful supplier in adv…[E6]

Eligibility and requirements

ConditionDelivery location: UKD1, United Kingdom.[E7]
ConditionThe legal basis is UKPGA 2023/54 (Procurement Act 2023).[E8]
ConditionThe buyer marks lot 1 as suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.[E9]
ConditionThe buyer marks lot 1 as suitable for voluntary, community and social enterprises.[E10]
DetailLot 1 runs from 31 Mar 2027 to 31 Mar 2028, extendable to 31 Mar 2029.[E3]
DetailClarification questions close at 11 Nov 2026, 17:00 UTC.[E11]
DetailThe notice explains how to submit a tender.[E16]
The notice data states no restriction on who may bid. Exclusion grounds and selection criteria in the tender documents still apply.

Risks and unknowns

UnknownWe read the published notice, not the full tender documents.

Updates

First seen · 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC
The source published a call for competition with a future deadline.
Source document 102327-2026

Evidence

18 facts

Every fact on this page comes from the published notice. Each entry shows the document and the field it was read from.

E1
The buyer is Cumberland Council.
Document 102327-2026, field /buyer/name, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E2
The notice is classified under CPV 85300000 (Social work and related services).
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/items/0/additionalClassifications/0/id, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E3
Lot 1 runs from 31 Mar 2027 to 31 Mar 2028, extendable to 31 Mar 2029.
“2027-04-01T00:00:00+01:00 to 2028-03-31T23:59:59+01:00”
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/lots/0/contractPeriod, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E4
The buyer's address is in United Kingdom.
Document 102327-2026, field /parties/0/address/country, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E5
Tenders must be submitted by 25 Nov 2026, 10:00 UTC.
“2026-11-25T10:00:00Z”
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/tenderPeriod/endDate, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E6
The buyer describes the requirement in the notice.
“Cumberland Council is procuring a Children's Direct Payment Support Service under the Procurement Act 2023 Light Touch Regime The Authority is commissioning a Service Provider to offer a Direct Payment Support Service on its behalf. The Service Provider is required to deliver su…”
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/description, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E7
Delivery location: UKD1, United Kingdom.
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/0, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E8
The legal basis is UKPGA 2023/54 (Procurement Act 2023).
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/legalBasis/id, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E9
The buyer marks lot 1 as suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
“sme: true”
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/lots/0/suitability/sme, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E10
The buyer marks lot 1 as suitable for voluntary, community and social enterprises.
“vcse: true”
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/lots/0/suitability/vcse, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E11
Clarification questions close at 11 Nov 2026, 17:00 UTC.
“2026-11-11T17:00:00Z”
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/enquiryPeriod/endDate, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E12
This is a call for competition. Suppliers can respond.
“tender”
Document 102327-2026, field /tag, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E13
The procedure is: Below threshold - open competition.
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/procurementMethodDetails, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E14
The notice was published on 28 Oct 2026.
“2026-10-28T17:39:12Z”
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/documents/0/datePublished, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E15
Find a Tender gives the tender status as active.
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/status, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E16
The notice explains how to submit a tender.
“For further details and to access the tender documents use the council's online procurement portal, The Chest https://www.the-chest.org.uk. The project reference is DN834162 You must be registered on The Chest to be able to view the opportunity and submit a tender. Registration…”
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/submissionMethodDetails, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E17
The notice is titled "Children's Direct Payment Support Service".
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/title, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)
E18
The stated value is GBP 263,867 excluding VAT.
“263867 GBP”
Document 102327-2026, field /tender/value/amount, read 28 Oct 2026, 17:49 UTC · source (opens in a new tab)

Contains public sector information from Find a Tender, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (opens in a new tab). Personal contact details in notices are not stored or shown.