Direct Payment Support Service

The Direct Payment Support Service (DPSS) provides essential information and advice to people and parent/carers of children/young people who receive a direct payment from the Council or fund their own care and support. The service helps people to find, recruit and pay for the types of care and support they wish to receive. This enables people with care needs to have greater choice and control over the care they receive.

The service under the proposed contract has been mainly used by adults but is also available for children/young people with a direct payment. Value - PS120,778.35 This transparency notice is to notify the market that Peterborough City Council intends to direct award a contract to Peterborough Council for Voluntary Services (PCVS) for the Direct Payment Support Service Contract, which will run from 1st November 2025 to 30th September 2026.

This will allow the Local Authority sufficient time to carry out preliminary market engagement and run a full competitive tender.

The Direct Award is being made under the Procurement Act 2023, Light Touch, Schedule 5, Paragraph 13: (a)the goods, services or works to be supplied under the public contract are strictly necessary for reasons of extreme and unavoidable urgency The urgency is not attributable to any act or omission of the contracting authority and could not have been foreseen.

The Direct Payment Support Service is closely interlinked with the adult's social care direct payment finance system, which requires significant back end maintenance work in, in order to separate out the two contracts. The Council will be observing a voluntary 8 working day standstill period starting from Tuesday 21st October 2025 and concluding at midnight on Thursday 30th October 2025. Any representations should be sent to helen.davies@peterborough.gov.uk during this period.