Upcoming

Request for Information (RFI) - Auto Translation and Transcription Service

Home Office · Central government

In brief

Home Office has announced plans to buy IT and software work. This is an early notice: there is nothing to bid on yet, but it tells you a tender may follow.

The estimated value is £600,000 excluding VAT.

The contract runs for 1 year, up to 2 years with extensions, starting 10 October 2027.

The buyer says it is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.

Built from the notice's own fields. Always check the official notice before you bid.

Can I win this?

Competition

Typical: a median of 4 bids per contract for this buyer (from 18 awards in the last 12 months).

What the notice says

The Home Office is undertaking a Request for Information to improve its understanding of the current market for translation, transcription and interpretation technologies and services. The Home Office wishes to understand the maturity, capability, delivery considerations, constraints and limitations associated with solutions that may support operational processes across the Migration and Borders system. The exercise will explore capabilities relating to: speech-to-speech interpretation; speech-to-text transcription; text-to-text translation; recording, auditability and evidential traceability; accessibility; mobile and low-connectivity operation; security, hosting and data residency;…Read the full description
The Home Office is undertaking a Request for Information to improve its understanding of the current market for translation, transcription and interpretation technologies and services. The Home Office wishes to understand the maturity, capability, delivery considerations, constraints and limitations associated with solutions that may support operational processes across the Migration and Borders system. The exercise will explore capabilities relating to: speech-to-speech interpretation; speech-to-text transcription; text-to-text translation; recording, auditability and evidential traceability; accessibility; mobile and low-connectivity operation; security, hosting and data residency; integration with existing services, platforms and major cloud environments; and solution governance, quality assurance and human-review workflows. Suppliers will be invited to assess their current capabilities against representative operational scenarios covering formal interviews and hearings, operational and field conversations, and customer contact and correspondence. This exercise builds upon previous market-engagement activity and seeks updated information reflecting current market capabilities, service offerings and product maturity. This notice and the associated Request for Information are for information-gathering and market-understanding purposes only. They do not constitute a tender, request for a binding offer or commitment by the Home Office to undertake a procurement or award a contract. Any future procurement would be subject to separate approvals and the applicable procurement process. The estimated value range provided is indicative only and has been included for market-engagement purposes. No procurement has been approved at this stage. Should a future procurement be undertaken, the estimated value will be reviewed and updated to reflect the prevailing requirement, scope, funding position and market conditions.

How to bid

  1. Read the full notice on Find a Tender, including any tender documents it links to.
  2. Register your organisation on the Central Digital Platform (through Find a Tender) if you have not already. Suppliers need to be registered to take part in procurements under the Procurement Act 2023.
  3. Follow the submission instructions in the notice; it does not name an e-tendering portal.

Timeline

  1. Preliminary market engagement notice · UK2, notice 098201-2026
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice · UK2, notice 103371-2026

About the buyer

Home OfficeLast 12 months

Procurements

242

Awards

149

Suppliers it has used most for IT and software

  1. Adobe Licenses for the London Borough of Lewisham

    London Borough of BrentUK-wideIT services and software

    Closing soon12 hours leftSuitable for SMEs

    £55kestimated
  2. Client Support Framework (CSF)

    East West Rail Company LimitedUK-wideArchitecture and engineering, Environmental services

    Closing soon12 hours leftExpress interest3 lotsSuitable for SMEsFramework

    £350mframework ceiling
  3. Procurement of a 'Local Authority' Legal Case Management System

    North Tyneside Borough CouncilNorth EastIT services and software, Legal services

    Closing soon12 hours left

    £200kestimated
  4. Libraries Scotland eNewspaper and eMagazine

    Scottish Library and Information CouncilScotlandLeisure, culture and events, IT services and software

    Closing soon12 hours left

    £1.6mestimated
  5. Fleet Management System

    North East Derbyshire District CouncilEast MidlandsIT services and software, Vehicles and fleet

    Closing soon12 hours leftSmall contract

    £30kestimated

From notice 098201-2026 on Find a Tender, first published 16 October 2026, last updated 30 October 2026. We last checked for changes on 30 October 2026.