Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Directive 2014/24/EU
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Police & Crime Commissioner for South Wales
Police Headquarters, Cowbridge Road
Bridgend
CF31 3SU
UK
Telephone: +44 1656655555
E-mail: swp-procurement@south-wales.police.uk
NUTS: UKL17
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.south-wales.police.uk
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA0583
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Public order and safety
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Forensic Pathology Service
Reference number: JCPS 0548
II.1.2) Main CPV code
85111800
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Provision of a highly specialised, critical Forensic Pathology Service to South Wales Police, Gwent Police, Dyfed-Powys Police and Gloucestershire Constabulary as part of a joint service to the four police forces in areas of post-mortem and the interpretation of injury, including generation of reports, assistance in legal enquiries, court and other proceedings.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
750 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
85111800
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKL22
UKL17
UKL18
UKL15
UKL2
UKL1
UKL14
UKL21
Main site or place of performance:
South Wales Police force area
Other forces to use the same service - Gwent, Dyfed-Powys and Gloucestershire
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Provision of a highly specialised, critical Forensic Pathology Service across the region of four police forces in areas of post-mortem and the interpretation of injury, including generation of reports, assistance in legal enquiries, court and other proceedings.
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
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
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition
Justification for selected award procedure:
The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the Directive
Explanation:
South Wales Police and Gwent Police intend to award a contract to Cardiff University for the supply of a Forensic Pathology Service. This service is required by the forces of South Wales, Gwent, Dyfed-Powys and Gloucestershire to be provided by pathologists of suitable status, experience and qualifications. The service is currently provided by Cardiff University which hosts the Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine (WIFM). The WIFM is a 'School of Medicine' based unit, providing highly specialised, critical services to the police, coroners and the public in areas of post-mortem examination and interpretation of injury. It is relatively unique in conducting additional work to the post-mortem, known as 'sub-speciality' and includes areas of specific expertise in relation to examination of parts of the human body such as neuropathology, bone pathology and paediatric pathology.
Scoping work undertaken with forensic pathology consortia established across the UK to identify another host for the WIFM failed to find a party willing to take over the service. This is primarily due to the highly specialised service - there is a dearth of expertise across the UK in this highly skilled area and to obtain a Home Office licence to provide forensic pathology services to a police force, there must be a minimum of three qualified Home Office pathologists affiliated to a consortium; the size of the demand and geographical area and the alignment of Cardiff University with the University Hospital of Wales and its mortuary and laboratory capability.
Other forensic pathology consortia established around the UK provide a service to several forces and coronial areas and are generally location based. We approached the South West consortium during early scoping as the closest consortia to the WIFM but it has no appetite to take on the additional areas.
Therefore, the only economic operator able to supply the service is Cardiff University. Competition is absent for technical reasons due to the specialised service, scarcity of expertise, Home Office requirements and the level of demand across the area.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section V: Award of contract/concession
Contract No: JCPS0548
V.2 Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession
08/03/2024
V.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Cardiff University School of Medicine
University Hospital Wales, Heath Park
Cardiff
CF144XN
UK
Telephone: +44 2920688113
E-mail: medicine@cardiff.ac.uk
NUTS: UKL22
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/medicine
The contractor is an SME:
No
V.2.4) Information on value of the concession and main financing terms (excluding VAT)
Total value of the concession/lot:
1 260 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
NB The value of the contract shown is the SWP annual estimated value only. It does not include the value of spend by the other forces.
The estimated contract value is based on previous years' demand but by nature of the contracted service, most of the value will be dictated by demand.
(WA Ref:132805)
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
High Court
Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
UK
Telephone: +44 2079477501
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
11/03/2024