Modification notice

Modification of a contract/concession during its term

Section I: Contracting entity

I.1) Name and addresses

Section II: Object

II.1) Scope of the procurement

II.2) Description

Section IV: Procedure

IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession

Contract No: ID2283215

V.2 Award of contract/concession

V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession

10/09/2019

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/concessionaire

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)

Total value of the contract/lot: /concession: 750 000.00  GBP

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.3) Additional information

Contract Monitoring. The successful contractor’s performance on this contract will be managed as per the specification and regularly monitored (see Procurement Guidance Note 01/12 — Contract Management — Procedures and Principles). Contractors not delivering on contract requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is paying for. If a contractor fails to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance they will be given a specified time to improve. If, after the specified time, they still fail to reach. satisfactory levels of contract performance, the matter will be escalated to senior management in CPD for further action. If this occurs and their performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, it may be regarded as an act of grave professional misconduct and they may be issued with a notice of unsatisfactory performance and this contract may be terminated. A central register of such notices for supplies and services contracts will be maintained and published on the CPD website. Any contractor in receipt of a notice of unsatisfactory performance will be required to declare this in future tender submissions for a period of 3 years from the date of issue of the notice. It may also result in the contractor being excluded from all procurement competitions being undertaken by Centres of Procurement Expertise on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Procurement Policy.

VI.4) Procedures for review

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice

13/04/2021

Section VII: Modifications to the contract/concession

VII.1) Description of the procurement after the modifications

VII.1.1) Main CPV code

79341000

VII.1.2) Additional CPV code(s)

VII.1.3) Place of performance

NUTS code:

UKN0

VII.1.4) Description of the procurement

The Executive Office (TEO) wishes to appoint a Contractor to deliver an advertising and public information campaign, to support communication activity across the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS), in the event of the UK leaving the EU without an agreed EU Exit deal. A public information campaign has been developed by the UK Government, however a need for targeted and detailed NI specific communications will exist. The campaign will aim to:

• raise awareness of what EU exit means for Northern Ireland;

• target key stakeholders with relevant information; and where possible, provide reassurance to all citizens.

The contract duration is 19 months and it is anticipated this contract will commence in September 2019. The contracting authority are proceeding with a reduced time limit for this tender competition due to the urgency and nature of this requirement.

VII.1.5) Duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or concession

Duration in months: 19

VII.1.6) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)

Total value of the procurement: 750 000.00 GBP

The contract/concession has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No

VII.1.7) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire

VII.2) Information about modifications

VII.2.1) Description of the modifications

Original contract end date was 31 March 2021. Modified end date is now 31 December 2021 reasons for this are stated below.

VII.2.2) Reasons for modification

Need for modification brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority/entity could not foresee

Description of the circumstances which rendered the modification necessary and explanation of the unforeseen nature of these circumstances:

EU Exit Trade Deal was reached on 24 December 2020. As this was only a week before the end of the Transition period, the UK and the EU agreed a number of mitigations to help ease business and supply chain disruption in Northern Ireland ports on 1 January 2021.

When the Transition period ended on 1 January 2021 it created a new trade and customs border between the EU and Great Britain.

The first of these periods was set to expire at the end of March 2021, however the UK government announced that it will extend the grace period until October.

The Executive Office had been using the contract for paid-for advertising to communicate to NI citizens these changes. The steps taken by the UK Government at the beginning of March were unforeseen and it is not clear how the situation will develop over the coming weeks and months. With this uncertainty there is a need to extend the existing contract to the end of 2021 to cover the new grace periods.

VII.2.3) Increase in price

Updated total contract value before the modifications (taking into account possible earlier contract modifications and price adaptions and, in the case of Directive 2014/23/EU, average inflation in the Member State concerned)

Value excluding VAT: 750 000.00 Currency: GBP

Total contract value after the modifications

Value excluding VAT: 750 000.00 Currency: GBP