Description
Portsmouth City Council (the Council) is undertaking a Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise to inform the future procurement strategy for a mediation service working on behalf of Portsmouth Homes.
Portsmouth Homes delivers a range of landlord services including tenancy management, Neighbourhood services, repairs and maintenance, leaseholder services, neighbourhood management, and support for residents experiencing issues such as anti-social behaviour, neighbour disputes, and community conflict. These services are delivered in the context of Portsmouth's high population density and diverse communities, where effective early intervention and dispute resolution are essential to sustaining safe and cohesive neighbourhoods
The service operates as part of Portsmouth City Council's wider housing and neighbourhoods function, working closely with internal Council teams and external partners to meet statutory responsibilities and regulatory requirements set by the Regulator of Social Housing, particularly in relation to tenant satisfaction, safety, and community wellbeing
As part of its commitment to preventing escalation of conflict and supporting residents to resolve disputes constructively, Portsmouth Homes has historically worked with specialist providers to offer mediation and restorative approaches, particularly in relation to neighbour disputes and tenancy related conflict.
The Council is now seeking to engage with the market to inform the future procurement of a mediation service that aligns with Portsmouth Homes' operational needs, strategic priorities, and resident-focused approach, in line with public procurement requirements and best practice
As part of its improvement journey, Portsmouth Homes has a clear ambition to achieve a C1 grading from the Regulator of Social Housing, demonstrating strong governance, effective service delivery and a consistent focus on resident safety, engagement and experience. A future mediation service is expected to support this ambition by evidencing early intervention, fair and proportionate responses to conflict, and outcomes that reduce risk, complaints, enforcement activity and tenancy breakdown.
The Council is particularly interested in mediation models that align with Portsmouth Homes' commitment to resident centred services, transparency and regulatory assurance. This includes trauma informed and culturally competent practice, clear standards of quality and accountability, robust performance reporting, and effective partnership working with housing management and neighbourhood services.
This Preliminary Market Engagement seeks to understand how providers can help translate Portsmouth Homes' future vision and its regulatory ambition into a high quality, outcome focused mediation service. Market feedback will inform how a future service can strengthen governance, improve resident experience and contribute meaningfully to achieving and sustaining a C1 regulatory rating.
To ensure effective engagement with organisations, and in the interests of transparency and fair and equal treatment set out within the Procurement Act 23, the Council has instigated this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) process via issue of a PME Notice on the Central Government Find a Tender Service / Central Digital Platform.
Contract Term and Value
The Council is targeting to commence the formal procurement process on 14h September 2026 and have formally awarded the contract by 11th December 2026. The contract will then commence on 1st April 2027 and run for an envisaged initial duration of 3 years with the option to extend by a further 4 years in intervals to be agreed. Although the Council will take input from the market via the PME process in respect of contract base term and extension options. The previous value of the service was £110,000 per year, though the Council will be looking at the commercial model in place to look to make efficiency savings without reducing the subsequent service deliverables.
Future Procurement Strategy
The Council are considering running the procurement process using an Open Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023, though the Council could use a single stage Competitive Flexible Procedure to incorporate additional flexibilities in respect of the approach to evaluating returns i.e. the inclusion of interviews, presentations etc.
Open Procedure
The Council will issue a Tender Notice under the Procurement Act 2023 outlining the key details and requirements, including the overview of the procurement process & associated programme
of the opportunity, scope of the contracts, lotting options & associated contractual terms, minimum levels of technical experience & accreditations and evaluation & award criteria.
The Open Procedure is a single-stage competitive process where all interested suppliers may submit a tender, and there is no pre-qualification stage.
As part of this process, suppliers will be required to meet Conditions of Participation before their tender submissions are assessed. These conditions will relate to the supplier's legal and financial standing and technical ability to deliver the contract, which is likely to include the successful delivery of current and/or previous contracts of a similar value and scope as the Council's.
In addition, all suppliers and proposed subcontractors involved with the service delivery will be subject to assessment against the mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds.
Mandatory exclusion grounds include, but are not limited to, convictions for offences such as fraud, bribery, terrorism, and cartel activity. Where a supplier meets a mandatory exclusion ground, the Council is legally required to exclude them from the procurement process.
Discretionary exclusion grounds may include issues such as poor past performance, conflicts of interest, or evidence of unethical conduct. The Council will assess these on a case-by-case basis and may choose to exclude a supplier where there is a significant risk to the integrity or delivery of the contract where insufficient evidence is provided in relation to self-cleaning.
Issue of Contract Tender Notice
The Council will confirm the chosen procurement route in due course, by issuing a Contract Tender Notice outlining the key details and requirements, including -
• an overview of the procurement process and programme
• the anticipated contract value
• the scope of services
• draft contractual terms
• minimum technical experience and accreditation requirements
• evaluation and award criteria
The notice will provide all necessary information for potential providers to assess and apply for the opportunity. The Council anticipates that this opportunity will be classified as an above-threshold concession under the Procurement Act 2023. This will be confirmed upon publication of the tender notice.
Supplier Participation Process
The Council intends to hold one to one meetings with suitably experienced and interested Suppliers as part of this Preliminary Market Engagement exercise. These meetings will normally take place in person at one of the Area Housing Offices in Leigh Park, Paulsgrove or Somerstown. Where appropriate, meetings may also be held virtually via Microsoft Teams.
In the first instance, interested Suppliers are required to complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) form and submit it via the In‑tend portal, confirming their interest in participating in one‑to‑one discussions. As part of the EOI submission, Suppliers must provide two written case studies demonstrating relevant previous experience in delivering mediation‑based services.
These minimum requirements are expected to form part of the pass/fail Conditions of Participation in the subsequent procurement process. Suppliers who are unable to evidence the stated level of relevant experience will not be eligible to take part in this PME process or bid for the future opportunity.
The expression of interest form requests Suppliers to provide the following information:
• General company information
• Details of previous experience managing a mediation service
PME & Procurement Process timetable
The Council are intending to run the PME and the subsequent envisaged tender process under the following Procurement Programme:
Publish PME Notice Monday 1st June 2026
1-2-1 supplier discussion* From Monday 15th June 2026 to Friday 26th June 2026
Issue of Tender Notice Invitation to Tender Monday 14th September 2026
Request for clarification deadline Friday 9th October 2026 by 16:00
Tender Return Deadline Friday 23rd October 2026 by 12:00
Evaluation of Tenders Monday 26th October 2026 to Friday 6th November 2026
Moderation of Tenders Monday 9th November 2026 to Friday 13th November 2026
Optional Supplier Clarification Meetings Monday 16th November 2026 to Friday 20th November 2026
Internal Gateway Sign Off Monday 23rd November 2026 to Friday 27th November 2026
Notification of award decision, issue of assessment summaries and publication of Contract Award Notice Monday 30th November 2026
Standstill Period Tuesday 1st December 2026 to Thursday 10th December 2026
Preferred bidder secured and confirmation of contract award Friday 11th December 2026
Contract Start Thursday 1st April 2027