Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
National Audit Office
157-197 Buckingham Palace Road
LONDON
SW1W9SP
UK
Contact person: ima orosei
E-mail: nao.procurement@nao.org.uk
NUTS: UKI32
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.nao.org.uk/
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
General public services
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
CPT_23_11 External Audit services
II.1.2) Main CPV code
79212000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK's independent public spending watchdog. We support Parliament in holding government to account and we help improve public services through our high-quality audits work.
NAO sought an External Auditor who will be expected to audit the financial years ending 31 March 2025, 2026, and 2027 to an appropriate timetable. The NAO aims to have its Annual Report and Accounts (which include the financial statements) ready for publication in June each year following the 31 March year end.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
700 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The appointment of the External Auditor was subject to approval of Parliament's Public Accounts Commission at a hearing which took place in early March 2024.
Examples of prior year studies can be found on the Commission website: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications?SearchTerm=value+for+money&DateFrom=&DateTo=&SessionId=
The selected External Auditor will be expected to provide an opinion on whether:
• the financial statements give a true and fair view for the year;
• the statements are prepared in accordance with the Government Financial Reporting Manual;
• the NAO's expenditure is within its Parliamentary Control Totals for the year (capital, resource, cash); and
• expenditure and income have been applied correctly for the purposes intended by Parliament.
The External Auditor will also be expected to:
• provide an independent review of the annual statement of financial impacts arising from the NAO's work and providing an opinion on whether the reported impacts are reasonable based on the underlying methodologies on which they are prepared.
• deliver a value for money study of an aspect of the NAO's operations when commissioned by the NAO's Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) to an appropriate timetable. The nature of the topic may change. Examples of recent value for money studies have covered the NAO's Human Resources department, and Finance and Procurement.
• attend meetings of the NAO's ARAC Committee and, when requested to do so, meetings of the Public Accounts Commission.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
Yes
Description of options:
The contract is anticipated to commence September 2024 for an initial period of 3 years with an option for the NAO to extend the contract for a period of up to two years subject to approval by the Public Accounts Commission (on the basis of two periods of 12 months) (potentially making it a maximum term of 5 years.
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
Open procedure
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
No
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2023/S 000-026681
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: CPT_23_11 External Audit services
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
06/03/2024
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 0
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Crowe U.K. LLP
OC307043
55 Ludgate Hill,
London
EC4M 7JW
UK
NUTS: UK
The contractor is an SME:
No
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot:
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 700 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
National Audit Office
157-197 Buckingham Palace Road
Victoria
SW1W 9SP
UK
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
09/08/2024