Planning

SBC0625 Pre-market Engagement for the Provision of an Accessible Financial Advice Service across Stevenage including specialist housing support

  • Stevenage Borough Council

UK2: Preliminary market engagement notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types

Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-032944

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-054e3d

Published 17 June 2025, 1:22pm



Scope

Reference

CCD01611

Description

This notice is for pre-market engagement and is not a request for tenders.

Stevenage Borough Council plan to invite bidders to tender for the provision of an accessible financial advice service across Stevenage including specialist housing support. Stevenage is a town and borough within the county of Hertfordshire and has a total area of 25.96 km2 (10.02 square miles). The service comprises of three strands of advice and support to ensure that residents can access timely advice and interventions to prevent escalation into homelessness or deeper financial hardship. The three elements of the service are:

1. Core Support Service: This includes initial triage and assessment, to identify support needs, connecting clients to appropriate advice within Stevenage's Advice Services and/or through referrals to relevant partner agencies across Stevenage. Issues typically include but are not limited to:

- Debt and money advice

- Welfare benefits

- Employment related enquiries

- Legal issues relating to financial matters

- Housing concerns

- Consumer issues

- Family and relationship issues, including Domestic Abuse

- Immigration advice (to OISC Level 1)

2. Specialist Housing Support (Welfare Benefits Casework): This provides impartial welfare benefits and debt advice casework to support the Council's housing management function. The service is inclusive and accessible to all Stevenage residents regardless of background or personal circumstances.

3. Preventing Homelessness and Keeping Residents in their Own Homes (Court Help Desk Worker): This includes the provision of free, tailored, and confidential homelessness prevention advice and independent court representation for Stevenage residents helping to keep families and individuals facing eviction in their own homes.

The pre-procurement market engagement will comprise:-

Submission of the Supplier Questionnaire (please see Appendix A - separate MS Word document) following the instructions in Section 10. The Supplier's Questionnaire must be received by 12:00 midday on Tuesday 8th July 2025.

Total value (estimated)

  • £805,000 excluding VAT
  • £966,000 including VAT

Contract dates (estimated)

  • 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029
  • Possible extension to 31 March 2031
  • 5 years

Main procurement category

Services

CPV classifications

  • 66000000 - Financial and insurance services
  • 66171000 - Financial consultancy services
  • 79412000 - Financial management consultancy services

Engagement

Engagement deadline

8 July 2025

Engagement process description

Documents and further details available via https://in-tendhost.co.uk/supplyhertfordshire/aspx/Home

Submission of the Supplier Questionnaire (please see Appendix A - separate MS Word document) following instructions in Section 10. Supplier Questionnaire must be received by 12.00 midday on Tuesday 8th July 2025.


Submission

Publication date of tender notice (estimated)

22 September 2025


Contracting authority

Stevenage Borough Council

  • Public Procurement Organisation Number: PHLV-8626-LHWZ

Daneshill House, Danestrete

Stevenage

SG1 1HN

United Kingdom

Region: UKH23 - Hertfordshire

Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government