Track the business activity and commercial plans of Nottinghamshire County Council — identify tender and future spending opportunities before they reach the market, follow cabinet and committee decisions, and understand the council’s priorities, with intelligence extracted from 71 analysed meetings. Nottinghamshire County Council serves around 830,000 residents across the county (excluding Nottingham city). The area includes towns like Mansfield, Newark, Worksop and West Bridgford, with an economy spanning energy, manufacturing, logistics and food production.
Meetings analysed71
Procurement opportunities166
Pressures tracked141
Estimated pipeline value£13.5bn–£13.8bn
Nottinghamshire County Council Procurement Intelligence | QuorumInsight
Active procurement topics
Over the last 12 months, the most frequently discussed commercial topics in this council's meetings have been IT & Digital (89 mentions, easing), Professional Services (39 mentions, easing), Highways & Transport (26 mentions, steady) and Education (25 mentions, rising).
Commercial signals extracted from recent Nottinghamshire County Council meetings — approvals, budget decisions and early procurement discussions, before a tender is published.
The council supported a motion calling on the East Midlands Combined Authority mayor to remove the weekday 09:30 restriction on concessionary bus travel and identify funding for the permanent change. Members framed this as an accessibility, fairness, social inclusion, and sustainability policy change, with references to examples from Greater Manchester and other regions.
“The motion therefore calls upon the mayor of East Midlands combined authority to use the powers available to remove the weekday 09:30AM restriction and to identify funding required to make that permanent change. It also recognizes that Nottinghamshire County Council has a direct…”
LGPS Central described a significant expansion in scale and services following Fit for the Future, with new shareholders, a larger team and a broader service model. The pool is building advisory, local investment and total portfolio management capabilities, which may reduce duplicated activity by partner funds and create opportunities for shared procurement and centralised services.
“So some of these slides might be familiar. That, as I said what we've started with is that the timeline of how our GPS central came about. So I'm I'm not quite sure what patient is, but, you know, for I might as well just say. I think it was starting pre 2018. Before that, callin…”
The committee approved extra funding for software support to help deliver the McCloud remedy in the pensions administration system. Officers said the software supplier had not delivered the needed functionality in time, creating a risk that the fund may miss the August 2026 deadline and need to report the issue to the regulator.
“The report requests additional funding for additional days of software support. Before I kindly hand over to Martin Griffith to set the report, I moved the recommendation on page 97 of that report that the Nottinghamshire Pension Fund Committee, number one, next requirement to ap…”
The committee voted to cease membership of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum. The case for leaving centred on the annual subscription, officer and member time, possible reputational risk, and the view that pooled investment arrangements mean the forum now offers less direct value to the fund.
“So I'm gonna ask now I'm gonna go over to Thompson, do you wish to discuss that item? Yep. Just introduce it. ... The Nottingham pension fund values that membership supporting funds responsibility for the stewardship of its assets. And membership of that helps Nottingham pension…”
The council is actively building a procurement pipeline to deliver more supported living and extra care homes, with market engagement, co-production and discussions with developers and providers. Officers said the authority needs over 300 more supported living homes over five years and over 200 more extra care homes, and that the council is exploring framework and contractual routes to accelerate delivery.
“And through that, we've done a raft of procurement activity, and we've built what we call a pipeline, which is a list of places that are being developed for people.
And over the last year in terms of supported living, so people 65, over”
Officers confirmed that Futures Advice, Skills Employment Limited and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Youth Support meet the criteria for vertical arrangement exemptions under the Procurement Act 2023. This allows the council to award certain contracts directly to those entities without a competitive procurement process, which is relevant to future commissioning of youth, skills, and employment support services.
“I think with the changing landscape and funding for, EMCO where we can support futures to access those opportunities, we are doing that too.”
The inaugural Cabinet Shareholder Sub-Committee focused on establishing governance arrangements for council-owned companies and setting a work programme. Members approved reserve matters and a strengthened oversight approach, including annual letters of expectation, annual company reports, and a proposed policy on company director appointments. The main procurement-relevant discussion was the Futures Advice, Skills and Employment review, where officers confirmed the company and its youth support subsidiary can receive certain contracts directly under the Procurement Act 2023 vertical arrangements exemption, while a wider options review is carried out in response to changing funding and the creation of EMCCA.
The committee focused heavily on LGPS Central’s Fit for the Future changes, including pooled investment governance, local investment strategy, and the new principal adviser role. It also approved or noted several operational spending and compliance items: additional funding for mortality screening and address tracing, software support for McCloud remedy delivery, and a new LGPS senior officer post. Other items covered treasury returns, proxy voting, peer support arrangements, and a work programme update.
The committee debated imminent national reforms to planning committee delegation, including local triage rules for Schedule 2 applications and the continued role of members and parish councils. It then received a detailed annual enforcement report showing high inspection activity, complaint handling, and several serious waste and minerals breaches requiring notices, appeals, and possible prosecutions. The meeting also noted the regular development management progress report and a small procedural change to committee seating.
Cabinet approved a revised corporate environmental policy and sustainability framework, then backed the withdrawal of discretionary faith school transport as a £1m annual saving to protect statutory services. Members also discussed financial pressure, including higher borrowing and lower capital receipts, plus major capital/asset decisions: the Gapson development site, disposal strategy, and a paused secondary school places programme after reduced DfE funding. The meeting also noted progress on peer challenge recommendations, digital/governance improvements, fostering reforms, and adult social care efficiencies.
The committee focused on how adult social care can reduce pressure on residential care through more supported living, extra care, home adaptations and occupational therapy. Officers described an active procurement pipeline, new market engagement and a planned provider framework to secure more accommodation and care capacity. Members also pressed for better evidence, faster delivery, and stronger links with community and voluntary-sector support.
The committee focused mainly on two children’s services pressures with procurement implications: the sustainability of small schools, including collaboration/federation options, possible school reorganisation and estate decisions; and foster care recruitment/retention, including advertising campaigns, council tax and leisure incentives, ICT support, and recognition events. Members repeatedly asked for fuller data, clearer definitions, and more confidential handling of sensitive school information. The committee also reviewed positive performance and improvement work in the virtual school, including targeted interventions funded through grants and improved outcomes for looked-after children.