Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Southampton City Council
Civic Centre, Civic Centre Road
Southampton
SO147LY
UK
Contact person: Simon Crouch
Telephone: +44 2380832012
E-mail: Simon.Crouch@southampton.gov.uk
NUTS: UKJ32
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.southampton.gov.uk/
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.southampton.gov.uk/business-licensing/supply-council/supply-portal/
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
I.5) Main activity
General public services
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Southampton Smokefree Service
Reference number: (Proactis) REQ/1000458
II.1.2) Main CPV code
85000000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Southampton City Council ("the Council") invited Tenders from suitably qualified service providers ("Potential Suppliers") for the provision of a Southampton Smokefree Service. This Procurement was conducted in accordance with the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 using the Competitive Procedure. The contract being procured is for the delivery of a Smokefree Southampton Service that will provide: An oversight role dedicated to maintaining high standards of quality across our commissioned and embedded stop smoking services; expertise, training, CPD, quality assurance, a telephone helpline and service development to support the embedded stop smoking model within the wider workforce; direct Support for people with complex needs, underserved groups or people experiencing health inequalities; the sub-contracting of services within Primary Care Networks and Pharmacies drug and alcohol treatment and support services. The term of the contract shall be from 1st October 2026 until March 31st 2030 (i.e. 3 years 6 months ) with the option to extend for up to a further period of 2 years (i.e. until 31st March 2032) at the sole discretion of the Council. Anticipated funding for the first 6 months (01/10/26 - 31/03/27) of the service (based on current funding) totals £307,500. The anticipated funding for the following 12 months (01/04/27 - 31/03/28) of the service (based on current funding) totals £615,500. This provides for an estimated minimum contract value of £3,382,500 covering the term of contract plus extension period. If there are funding increases the Council is likely to require the provision of additional Services which could be up to a 40% increase in service scope and contract value. Additionally, in recognition of as yet unknown requirements for Services that may exist following Local Government Re-organisation, and the potential widening of the geographic area and level of need that the Contract may need to be modified to address, there may be a requirement to further increase the contract value by 81% from 2028/29. Therefore, the potential maximum contract value, could be up to £7,148,262 for the term of contract plus extension period. Suppliers interested in bidding were required to register with Proactis at: https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login and search for the project using reference number SPR/1000794 or REQ/1000458. The closing date for the submission of tenders was 3pm, Monday 2nd March 2026
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
3 382 500.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKJ32
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
See II.1.4 above:
The contract being procured is for the delivery of a Smokefree Southampton Service that will provide: An oversight role dedicated to maintaining high standards of quality across our commissioned and embedded stop smoking services; expertise, training, CPD, quality assurance, a telephone helpline and service development to support the embedded stop smoking model within the wider workforce; direct Support for people with complex needs, underserved groups or people experiencing health inequalities; the sub-contracting of services within Primary Care Networks and Pharmacies drug and alcohol treatment and support services. The term of the contract shall be from 1st October 2026 until March 31st 2030 (i.e. 3 years 6 months ) with the option to extend for up to a further period of 2 years (i.e. until 31st March 2032) at the sole discretion of the Council. Anticipated funding for the first 6 months (01/10/26 - 31/03/27) of the service (based on current funding) totals £307,500. The anticipated funding for the following 12 months (01/04/27 - 31/03/28) of the service (based on current funding) totals £615,500. This provides for an estimated minimum contract value of £3,382,500 covering the term of contract plus extension period. If there are funding increases the Council is likely to require the provision of additional Services which could be up to a 40% increase in service scope and contract value. Additionally, in recognition of as yet unknown requirements for Services that may exist following Local Government Re-organisation, and the potential widening of the geographic area and level of need that the Contract may need to be modified to address, there may be a requirement to further increase the contract value by 81% from 2028/29. Therefore, the potential maximum contract value, could be up to £7,148,262 for the term of contract plus extension period.
The procurement is being conducted in accordance with the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 using the Competitive Procedure. This notice is an intention to award a contract under the competitive process.
This is a new contract in relation to an existing service. The service provider to whom it is intended the contract is to be awarded is a new provider of the service.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion: Key Criteria - Value
/ Weighting: 10%
Quality criterion: Key Criteria - Quality & Innovation
/ Weighting: 25%
Quality criterion: Key Criteria - Social Value
/ Weighting: 10%
Quality criterion: Key Criteria - Integration, Collaboration and Service Sustainability
/ Weighting: 25%
Quality criterion: Key Criteria - Improving Access and Reducing Health Inequalities
/ Weighting: 30%
Cost criterion: Contract delivery within the specified funding limit of £622500 for the first 18 months of the service delivery.
/ Weighting: 0%
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
Yes
Description of options:
Option to extend for up to a further period of 2 years (i.e. until 31st March 2032) at the sole discretion of the Council.
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2026/S 000-008659
Section V: Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
02/07/2026
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 3
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
ICE Creates Ltd
03881965
Birkenhead
UK
NUTS: UKD74
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 3 382 500.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority via email at: procurement@southampton.gov.uk by the end of Tuesday 14th July 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award a contract under the competitive process of the PSR.
The award decision makers are officers of Southampton City Council, specifically those working within the Council's Public Health and Commissioning (Community & Wellbeing) sections. No conflict of interests were identified in respect to any of the decision makers.
The relative importance of the key criteria, each weighted as a percentage out of 100, were as follows:
Improving Access, Reducing Health Inequalities and Facilitating Choice 30%; Improving Integration, Collaboration & Service Sustainability 25%; Quality & Innovation 25%; Value 10%; Social Value 10%.
The relative importance of each key criteria was determined by consideration of the importance of each in relation to the importance of the others, and in terms of their relative essentiality to the delivery of the specification requirements.
The selection of the provider to whom the contract is intended to be awarded was based on a scored assessment of all bids received against each of the key criteria: This assessment concluded that ICE Creates Ltd achieved the highest score and in consequence is the supplier to whom the Council intends to award the new contract.
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Independent Patient Choice and Procurement Panel
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=slTDN7CF9UeyIge0jXdO47kp0aGZXo5Il1ClUdRBSnhUMUJDQ0tWN0pEUlhFNjVQTVhZMTBFWTdOSy4u
London
SO147LY
UK
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
02/07/2026