Contract notice
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Transport Scotland
Buchanan House, 58 Port Dundas Road
Glasgow
G4 0HF
UK
Contact person: Dominick Cafferkey
E-mail: Dominick.cafferkey@transport.gov.scot
NUTS: UKM82
Internet address(es)
Main address: http://www.transport.gov.scot
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00099
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
I.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge at:
www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent electronically to:
www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
National or federal agency/office
I.5) Main activity
Other: Transport
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Transport Scotland Communications Support Services Framework - 2022-2026
II.1.2) Main CPV code
63712000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
The service provider will be required to supply communication support across all directorates within
Transport Scotland. Information on the directorates within Transport Scotland is available at
https://www.transport.gov.scot/about/our-directorates/
Communication support will include, but is not limited to, the following services: Strategic Planning;
Stakeholder engagement and liaison, Crisis and issues management, Internal communications, Events
and exhibition support, Evaluation and media monitoring, Press trip organisation, and Media
intelligence.
II.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT:
6 000 000.00
GBP
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
71311100
79956000
75130000
79822500
79416000
79416200
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Transport Scotland is an agency of the Scottish Government and contracts in the name of and on behalf of the Scottish Minsters.
Transport Scotland has identified the need to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced communications specialist to provide critical communication support services to allow Transport Scotland to meet its statutory obligations in engaging with the community and wider stakeholders when planning, developing and delivering quality public facing communications for our major transport related projects over the next four years.
The typical scope of services anticipated under this Single-Supplier Framework Agreement may include, but will not be limited to:
the preparation for public engagement events, including the production of communications materials such as exhibition panels and leaflets, as well as providing support at these events, social media engagement and advertising, and mapping of stakeholders for our major projects.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Criteria below:
Quality criterion: Quality
/ Weighting: 60
Price
/ Weighting:
40
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 48
This contract is subject to renewal: No
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
Envisaged number of candidates: 5
II.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted:
No
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 III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III.1) Conditions for participation
III.1.2) Economic and financial standing
List and brief description of selection criteria:
Economic Operators shall be required to satisfy minimum standards of economic and financial standing. To determine these standards, Economic Operators shall:
(a) in response to SPD, Question Ref. 4B.1.a provide the specified annual turnover for the last two years of trading, or for the period which is available if trading for less than two years;
(b) in response to SPD Question Ref 4B6 provide the name, range and score of nine financial criteria for each year for the last two years of trading, or for the period which is available if trading for less than two years; and
(c) in response to SPD, Question Ref. 4B5a, 4B5b and 4B5c confirm they already have or can commit to obtain, prior to commencement of the contract the required levels of insurance.
In addition to the information requested under (a) to (c), Economic Operators must provide a link/ copies of the associated annual accounts as filed at Companies House (or equivalent if not a UK registered company). For the avoidance of doubt, if an Economic Operator fails to provide accounts relating to its last two full years of trading that are due to have been filed, that Economic Operator will be excluded from this procurement competition.
Where Economic Operators have not yet been trading for a full two year period, such that filed accounts are not yet due and available, and limited only to that circumstance, the required information to support (a) to (c) above may take the form of appropriate third party / statements setting out turnover, profit and loss, cashflow (current and forecast) and the Economic Operator’s credit facility position. Note there will, however, be a negative scoring implication as noted below and in the Additional Documents.
This information has been requested to enable Transport Scotland to perform their own assessment and confirm the financial ratios submitted. Ultimately, ensuring the correct score is allocated, and to ensure no misinterpretation. Where there exist differences in ratios, between those provided and those calculated by Transport Scotland, clarification will be sought.
Minimum level(s) of standards required:
Economic Operators shall be required to satisfy minimum standards of economic and financial standing. These are described below:
Evaluation Criteria Ratios (Question Ref. 4B.6)
The following nine evaluation criteria shall be scored, for each year for the last two years of trading, or for the period which is available if trading for less than two years:
1. Acid Test Ratio
2. Cash Interest Cover Ratio
3. Return on Capital Employed
4. Operating Profit Ratio
5. Net Worth
6. Gearing
7. Annual Contract Value to Turnover
8. Filed Accounts
9. Audit Report
The scoring mechanism can be downloaded via the Additional Documents, located within the Additional Notice Options of the Public Contracts Scotland portal (www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk).For the purpose of calculating the Annual Contract Value to Turnover ratio the estimated value in II.1.5 of this Contract Notice shall be adopted.
The nine evaluation criteria will be individually scored and given a total aggregated score, out of a possible 50 marks, for each year of trading. Subsequently, each year’s score will be weighted, with the most recent (“Year 1”) weighted at 2/3rds and the previous (“Year 2”) weighted at 1/3rd, and then aggregated to form an overall score for the two years out of 50 marks.
If the Economic Operator is trading for less than 2 years, their financial ratios for the most recent full year of trading will be weighted at 2/3rds scored out of the total 50 marks. If the economic operator is trading for less than 1 year the information provided under III.1.2) b), will be prorated up to 1 year to calculate financial ratios for the full year and this will be weighted at 2/3rds and scored out of the total 50 marks.
A submission shall be marked as a FAIL and will not be considered further if the score achieved by an Economic Operator (either a single Economic Operator or a group of Economic Operators) is less than 25 marks, out of the potential total aggregated score of 50 marks.
A submission shall be marked as a FAIL and will not be considered further if the economic operator is unable to provide appropriate information to enable the calculation of the financial ratios.
Where the submission has been submitted by a group of economic operators, the information submitted by each group member will be evaluated in the proportion of the percentage shareholdings or percentage equity/interest of each group member and a score determined for such group of Economic Operators on that basis.
A “group of Economic Operators” is defined as an unincorporated consortium or joint venture.
Insurance (Question Ref. 4B5)
In response to Question Ref. 4B5 a, b and c Economic Operators must confirm they already have or can commit to obtain, prior to the commencement of the framework agreement, the following levels of insurance:
Professional Indemnity Insurance = 5 million GBP
Public Liability Insurance = 5 million GBP
Employer's (Compulsory) Liability Insurance = 5 million GBP
In responding to Question Ref 4B.5 a, b and c, where the Economic Operator responds “No, and I cannot commit to obtain it” they shall be marked as FAIL and shall be excluded from this procurement competition.
III.1.3) Technical and professional ability
List and brief description of selection criteria:
For 4C1.2 Economic Operators shall be required to insert suitable responses to Statements (a) to (e) set out below, demonstrating that they have the required minimum standards of eligibility and technical and professional ability. Answers to these statements shall be provided by single Economic Operators and by groups of Economic Operators (group members should not respond individually). Response to Statement (a) shall be assessed on the basis of PASS or FAIL. Economic Operators who fail to satisfy this minimum standard (either they answer ‘No’ or fail to provide an acceptable answer) shall be excluded from the procurement competition. Statement (b) is not scored but is required to be completed in order to answer Statements (c) to (e) inclusive. The responses to Statements (c), (d), (e) shall be assessed on the basis of a score with a minimum threshold, using the following scoring mechanism: The responses to (c), (d) and (e) shall be assessed on the basis of a score from 0 – 5, with a minimum threshold. The scoring criteria can be downloaded via the Additional Documents, located within the Additional Notice Options of the Public Contracts Scotland portal (www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk). A submission shall be marked as FAIL and will not be considered further if the score achieved for any statement is less than 2. Where a response scores an average of 2 or greater it shall be weighted in accordance with the following weightings: Statement (c) = 40%; Statement (d) = 40%; Statement (e) = 20%. The weighted scores shall be aggregated to calculate a score out of 100 for the 3 statements. Words in excess of the maximum word limit for each statement will neither be considered nor scored.
Minimum level(s) of standards required:
To ensure minimum levels of ability, Transport Scotland require that evidence of specific project experience be provided under Statements (a) to (e) inclusive.
Statement (a) Demonstrate that you have provided communication support services, including public consultation, associated graphic design services, social media campaigns, and paid advertising with a total fee of at least 0.5 million GBP per year within three of the last five years (Max 500 Words).
Statement (b) Provide information on no more than 3 reference projects which reflect your previous experience in undertaking Communications Support Services, predominantly carried out within the last 4 years detailing your role and the scope of the services performed (Max 500 Words per reference project).
Statement (c)Team Resourcing – Provide details from the reference projects of effective staff management, and how staff have been utilised effectively in the delivery of Communications Support Services detailing the team structures you have implemented (including the provision of one relevant example organogram from the reference projects (not included in word count))(Max 500 Words).
Statement (d) Stakeholder communication – Provide evidence from the reference projects of how you effectively managed engagement with clients to successfully achieve the desired outcomes, and how you successfully managed third parties and subcontractors to deliver for your clients (Max 500 Words).
Statement (e) Digital and Social Media – Provide details from the reference projects of how you have successfully leveraged digital and social media to achieve successful outcomes for your clients (Max 500 Words)
III.2) Conditions related to the contract
III.2.1) Information about a particular profession
Participation is reserved to a particular profession: Yes
Reference to the relevant law, regulation or administrative provision:
The Scottish Ministers shall require staff at management and senior grades to hold appropriate qualifications and experience. These include an academic qualification (BA/BSc Degree) and be able to demonstrate substantial experience relevant to the provision and performance of the Services.
III.2.2) Contract performance conditions
It is the Employer’s policy to measure the performance of the Economic Operator on a regular basis. In the event that the Economic Operator's performance falls below a satisfactory level, the Economic Operator will be invited to determine a means of rectifying the situation. Repeated or continual service failures may result in suspension or termination of the contract.
III.2.3) Information about staff responsible for the performance of the contract
Obligation to indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff assigned to performing the contract
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Restricted procedure
IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement with a single operator.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date:
21/01/2022
Local time: 12:00
IV.2.3) Estimated date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
Date:
25/02/2022
IV.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
EN
IV.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Tender must be valid until:
27/05/2022
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement:
No
VI.2) Information about electronic workflows
Electronic ordering will be used
Electronic invoicing will be accepted
Electronic payment will be used
VI.3) Additional information
Please see attached additional document for further information.
NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=658658.
The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx.
Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.
The Contracting Authority does not intend to include a sub-contract clause as part of community benefits (as per Section 25 of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014) in this contract for the following reason:
TBC
Community benefits are included in this requirement. For more information see: https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-procurement/community-benefits-in-procurement/
A summary of the expected community benefits has been provided as follows:
Under the terms of this contract the successful supplier(s) will be required to deliver Community Benefits in support of the authority’s economic and social objectives. Accordingly, contract performance conditions may relate in particular to social and environmental considerations. Further information will be contained in the tender documents.
(SC Ref:658658)
Download the ESPD document here: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ESPD/ESPD_Download.aspx?id=658658
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Sheriff Clerk’s Office
PO Box 23, 1 Carlton Place
Glasgow
UK
E-mail: Glasgow@scotcourts.gov.uk
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
10/12/2021