CONTRACT NOTICE – OFFICIAL JOURNAL

Section I: Contracting Authority

I.1)

Name, Address and Contact Point(s)

I.2)

Type of contracting Authority and Main Activity or Activities

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions National or federal agency/Office Regional or local Authority Regional or local Agency/Office Body governed by public law European Institution/Agency or International Organisation

General public services Defence Public order and safety Environment Economic and financial affairs Health Housing and community amenities Social protection Recreation, culture and religion Education

Section II: Object of the Contract

II.1)

Description

II.1.1)

Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority

II.1.2(a))

Type of works contract

II.1.2(b))

Type of supplies contract

Purchase		Rent		Lease
Hire-purchase		Combination of these

II.1.2(c))

Type of service contract

II.1.2)

Main site or location of works, place of delivery or performance

II.1.3)

This notice involves

A public contract
The setting up of a Dynamic Purchasing System
The establishment of a framework agreement

II.1.4)

Information on framework agreement (if applicable)

Framework agreement with a single operators
Framework agreement with several operators

Number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged

Duration of the framework agreement

Justification for a framework agreement the duration of which exceeds four years

Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement

Frequency and value of the contracts to be awarded

II.1.5)

Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

Hertfordshire County Council (the Council) are going out to tender for the Supply and Delivery of School Milk.

Full details are in the tender documentation.

The Council support the government's directive for all schools to provide access to school milk for pupils. The pupils at schools in Hertfordshire currently consume 4 500 000 one third of a pint size cartons of milk per annum across the nursery and primary schools. As part of the school food plan all maintained primary, infant and junior schools are legally required to make milk available for drinking by the pupils during school hours.

School milk, on the present Contract, is currently supplied to 90 % of schools across Hertfordshire in 189 ml cartons. The current Contract expires on the 31.8.2017 and the Council will be looking for a new Contract to start on the 1.9.2017. The annual spend is currently approximately 920 000 GBP pa. This spend includes a small value for staff room and kitchen milk which is also supplied on the current Contract.

The Council requires fresh milk delivered to schools within good time so that the milk can be distributed to pupils for morning break on each school day. Break time in schools is at 10.30am. During 2016/2017 the Council have ordered 1 800 000 full fat cartons for the nursery pupils and 2 700 000 semi skimmed cartons for the infants and junior pupils. The Council will also require milk to be delivered to academy schools in the future.

Please submit your completed bid in the In-Tend System by 12 noon on Monday 22.5.2016.

Please Note The TUPE Staffing Information for this procurement has been provided along with other documentation for this procurement. TUPE related information must be treated as protected data in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 and must be kept confidential. By clicking on the View Details button and accessing the documentation for this procurement, Tenderers agree:

a) To undertake to treat the information as confidential and commercially sensitive at all times and take all reasonable steps to prevent any inadvertent disclosure to any third party.

b) That under no circumstances will any of the information be disclosed by your organisation or your personnel to any third party without the Council's prior consent in writing.

c) That the information supplied will be stored securely and destroyed or returned to the Council, after your Organisation's bid has been submitted or you decide not to proceed with a tender submission.

d) That you will indemnify the Council for any losses, arising from your breach or breach by any of your personnel of these confidentiality requirements specified above and data protection requirements in relation to TUPE Staffing Information.

e) The requirements above apply whether the supplier uploads a tender response to this procurement or not.

Tenderers should be aware that due to the nature of the Services provided, any Contract formed as a result of this procurement process shall be executed as a deed. Tenderers should seek independent legal advice on the implications of this prior to submitting their Tender, where appropriate.

II.1.6)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

II.1.7)

Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

II.1.8)

Division into lots

II.1.9)

Will variants be accepted

II.2)

Quantity or Scope of the Contract

II.2.1)

Total quantity or scope

II.2.2)

Options

Provisional timetable for recourse to these options

Number of possible renewals

In the case of renewable supplies or service contracts, estimated time frame for subsequent contracts

II.3)

Duration of the contract or limit for completion

Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information

III.1)

Conditions Relating to the Contract

III.1.1)

Deposits and guarantees required

Please refer to the Invitation to Tender Documents.

III.1.2)

Main Terms of financing and payment and/or reference to the relevant provisions

Please refer to the Invitation to Tender Documents.

III.1.3)

Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract is to be awarded

Please refer to the Invitation to Tender Documents.

III.1.4)

Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject

III.2)

Conditions for Participation

III.2.1)

Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

Please refer to the Invitation to Tender Documents.

III.2.2)

Economic and financial capacity

III.2.3)

Technical capacity

III.2.4)

Reserved contracts

The contract is restricted to sheltered workshops
The execution of the contract is restricted to the framework of sheltered employment programmes

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)

Type of Procedure

Open		Restricted
Accelerated restricted		Negotiated
Accelerated negotiated		Competitive dialogue

Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure

IV.1.1)

Have candidates already been selected?

IV.1.2)

Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates

IV.1.3)

Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated

IV.2)

Award Criteria

IV.2.2)

An electronic auction will be used

IV.3 Administrative Information

IV.3.1)

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

HCC1609349

IV.3.2)

Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

Prior Information Notice
Notice on a Buyer Profile

Other previous publications

IV.3.3)

Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents

IV.3.4)

Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

IV.3.5)

Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

IV.3.7)

Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender 

IV.3.8)

Conditions for opening tenders

Section VI: Other Information

VI.1)

Indicate whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the Estimated timing for further notices to be published

VI.2)

Does the contract relate to a Project/Programme financed by Community Funds?

VI.3)

Additional Information

Hertfordshire County Council has worked closely with its Districts and Partners to create a joint procurement portal called Supply Hertfordshire. This portal provides an eTendering system which is run by In-Tend.

To access this procurement opportunity please visit www.supplyhertfordshire.uk and follow the on-screen guidance.

This is a one stage procurement process. Therefore, if you wish to be considered as a tenderer you must complete and submit a tender by the Closing date and time. Tenders cannot be uploaded after the closing date/time.

Any clarifications regarding this opportunity must be raised through Correspondence area in the eTendering system.

If you are experiencing problems In-Tend offer a help section which includes a dedicated UK Support Desk which can be contacted via email support@in-tend.com or telephone +44 (0)114 407 0065 for any website / technical questions. Monday to Friday 8:30 — 17:30

The Council reserves the right at any time to cease the procurement process and not award a contract or to award only part of the opportunity described in this notice. If the Council takes up this right then they will not be responsible for, or pay the expenses or losses, which may be incurred by any tenderer as a result.

The Council undertakes to hold confidential any information provided in the proposal submitted, subject to the Council's obligations under the law, including the Freedom of Information Act 2000. If the applicant considers that any of the information submitted in the proposal should not be disclosed because of its sensitivity then this should be stated with the reason for considering it sensitive. The Council will then endeavour to consult with the applicant about such sensitive information when considering any request received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 before replying to such a request.

The Council reserves the right to carry out additional financial checks on all companies tendering for this Contract at any time during the procurement process, to ensure that they continue to meet the Council's requirements and remain financially viable to perform the Contract.

VI.4)

Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)

Body responsible for appeal procedures

Body responsible for mediation procedures

VI.4.2)

Lodging of appeals
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals:

The Contracting Authority will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar day (when using electronic means) standstill period at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. This period allows unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the decision to award a contract before a contract is executed/signed (as appropriate). The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (‘Regulations’) provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or at risk of harm by a breach of the rules to take action in the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Any such action must be brought promptly and within the time limits as defined in the above regulations. Where a contract has not been entered into the court may order the setting aside of the award decision or order the contracting authority to amend any document and may award damages. If the contract has been entered into the court has the options to award damages and/or to shorten or order the contract ineffective.

VI.4.3)

Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)

Dispatch date of this Notice