Contract notice
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through Crown Commercial Service
9th Floor, The Capital, Old Hall Street
Liverpool
L3 9PP
UK
Telephone: +44 345410222
E-mail: supplier@crowncommercial.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.gov.uk/ccs
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:
https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent electronically to:
https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to the abovementioned address
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5) Main activity
General public services
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Audit and Assurance Services Two (A&AS2)
Reference number: RM6310
II.1.2) Main CPV code
79212000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Crown Commercial Service (CCS), hereby known as the Authority, is seeking to establish a multi-supplier Framework Contract for the supply of audit and assurance services.
Audit and Assurance Services Two (A&AS2) (RM6310) will be available for use by organisations, and their successors, listed in the authorised customer list cited at VI.3 (Additional Information) of this Notice.
Services will be delivered primarily within the United Kingdom, with some limited requirements overseas.
A&AS2 will replace Audit and Assurance Services (RM6188).
A&AS2 will have 4 lots -
Lot 1 - Internal audit and assurance
Lot 2 - External audit
Lot 3 - Counter-fraud and investigation
Lot 4 - Other independent assurance
II.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT:
500 000 000.00
GBP
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
Yes
Tenders may be submitted for all lots
Maximum number of lots that may be awarded to one tenderer: 4
II.2) Description
Lot No: 1
II.2.1) Title
Internal audit and assurance
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
72224200
72225000
72810000
75211200
79200000
79210000
79212000
79212100
79212110
79212200
79313000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Provision of services relating to all aspects of internal audit to provide independent and objective assurance and consulting activity on the effectiveness of governance, risk management and controls in line with public sector internal audit standards and other Standards.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Criteria below:
Quality criterion: Quality
/ Weighting: 70
Price
/ Weighting:
30
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
200 000 000.00
GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 48
This contract is subject to renewal: Yes
Description of renewals:
The initial duration of the Framework is 36 months, with an option to extend for a further 12 months
CCS reserve the right to extend lots by varying durations
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
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
II.2.14) Additional information
100 places are available on this lot.
Lot No: 2
II.2.1) Title
External audit
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
66113000
66113100
66151000
66152000
75211200
79200000
79210000
79212000
79212100
79212300
79212500
79311410
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Provision of services relating to all aspects of external audits including inspecting documents, re-performing calculations and reviewing and reporting on controls and systems. Statutory audits requested by grant providers are included.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Criteria below:
Quality criterion: Quality
/ Weighting: 70
Price
/ Weighting:
30
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
100 000 000.00
GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 48
This contract is subject to renewal: Yes
Description of renewals:
The initial duration of the Framework is 36 months, with an option to extend for 12 months
CCS reserve the right to extend lots by varying durations
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
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
II.2.14) Additional information
100 places are available on this lot.
Lot No: 3
II.2.1) Title
Counter-fraud and investigation
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
72810000
75211200
79200000
79210000
79212000
79212100
79212400
79311410
79313000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Provision of services relating to proactive counter-fraud work and reactive investigations including forensics.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Criteria below:
Quality criterion: Quality
/ Weighting: 70
Price
/ Weighting:
30
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
125 000 000.00
GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 48
This contract is subject to renewal: Yes
Description of renewals:
The initial duration of the Framework is 36 months, with an option to extend for 12 months
CCS reserve the right to extend lots by varying durations.
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
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
II.2.14) Additional information
100 places are available on this lot.
Lot No: 4
II.2.1) Title
Other Independent assurance
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
66113000
66113100
72224200
72225000
72810000
75211200
79200000
79210000
79212000
79212100
79212110
79212400
79311410
79313000
90714000
90714200
90714300
90714400
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Provision of services relating to assurance over aspects of organisational, operational and programme performance, benefiting from objective examination and assessment.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Criteria below:
Quality criterion: Quality
/ Weighting: 70
Price
/ Weighting:
30
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
75 000 000.00
GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 48
This contract is subject to renewal: Yes
Description of renewals:
The initial duration of the Framework is 36 months, with an option to extend for 12 months
CCS reserve the right to extend lots by varying durations.
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
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
II.2.14) Additional information
100 places are available on this lot.
Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III.1) Conditions for participation
III.1.1) Suitability to pursue the professional activity, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
List and brief description of conditions:
Candidates will be assessed in accordance with Section 5 of the 2015 Public Contract Regulations (implementing the directive) on the basis of information provided in response to an invitation to tender (ITT) registering for access.
III.1.2) Economic and financial standing
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
III.1.3) Technical and professional ability
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
III.2) Conditions related to the contract
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement with several operators.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2023/S 000-025601
IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date:
18/03/2025
Local time: 15:00
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:
14/09/2025
IV.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date:
18/03/2025
Local time: 15:01
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
As part of this contract notice the following documents can be accessed at: [https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/2231fcbd-cb4a-4ee3-a9a6-961a16b3a138]
1) Contract notice transparency information for the agreement;
2) Contract notice authorised customer list;
3) Rights reserved for CCS framework.
The Government Security Classifications (GSC) Policy came into force on 2 April 2014 and describes how HM Government classifies information assets to ensure they are appropriately protected. It applies to all information that Government collects, stores, processes, generates or shares to deliver services and conduct business.
Cyber Essentials is a mandatory requirement for Central Government contracts which involve handling personal information or provide certain ICT products/services. Government is taking steps to reduce the levels of cyber security risk in its supply chain through the Cyber Essentials scheme. The scheme defines a set of controls which, when implemented, will provide organisations with basic protection from the most prevalent forms of threat coming from the internet. To participate in this procurement, bidders must be able to demonstrate they comply with the technical requirements prescribed by Cyber Essentials, for services under and in connection with this procurement.
Refer to https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/cyber-essentials-faqs for more information.
Some purchases under this framework Agreement may have requirements that can be met under this Framework Agreement but the purchase of which may be exempt from the Procurement Regulations (as defined in Attachment 1 – About the framework within the invitation to tender documentation). In such cases, Call-offs from this Framework will be unregulated purchases for the purposes of the Procurement Regulations, and the buyers may, at their discretion, modify the terms of the Framework and any Call-off Contracts to reflect that buyer’s specific needs.
In each Lot, CCS reserves the right to award a framework to any bidder whose final score is within 1% of the last awarded position.
Minimum standards of reliability:
CCS may also assess whether the selection criteria (in respect of III.1.3 Technical and professional ability), as set out in the procurement documents, is met on request from a buyer prior to the proposed conclusion of a call-off contract with a value in excess of 20 000 000 GBP.
Registering for access:
This procurement will be managed electronically via the eSourcing suite. This will be the route for sharing all information and communicating with bidders. If you have recently registered on the eSourcing suite for another CCS procurement you can use the same account for this new procurement. If not, you will first need to register your organisation on the portal.
Use the following link for information on how register and use the eSourcing tool: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esourcing-tool-guidance-for-suppliers
For assistance please contact the eSourcing Help desk operated by email at eEnablement@crowncommercial.gov.uk or call 0345 410 2222.
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through Crown Commercial Service
9th Floor, The Capital, Old Hall Street
Liverpool
L3 9PP
UK
Telephone: +44 3454102222
E-mail: supplier@crowncommercial.gov.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.gov.uk/ccs
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
28/01/2025