Contract notice
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Association of North East Councils Limited trading as NEPO (Central Purchasing Body)
Guildhall, Quayside
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 3AF
UK
Contact person: Kadie Boon
Telephone: +44 1916380040
E-mail: kadie.boon@nepo.org
NUTS: UKC
Internet address(es)
Main address: www.nepo.org
Address of the buyer profile: www.nepo.org
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
I.3) Communication
Access to the procurement documents is restricted. Further information can be obtained at:
www.nepo.org
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent electronically to:
www.nepo.org
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to the abovementioned address
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
I.5) Main activity
General public services
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
NEPO311 Water Retail Services
Reference number: NEPO311
II.1.2) Main CPV code
65100000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
The Association of North East Councils Trading as the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) Is seeking tenders for water retail services. At the time of submitting an SQ and throughout the life of the framework agreement, tenderers must hold a valid water supply and sewerage licence with the appropriate retail authorisation, as issued by Ofwat. Also included within the scope of the framework agreement is the provision of automatic meter reading and associated services and systems. The framework agreement will also include provisions for assisting in the reduction of consumption and supporting users efficiency schemes.
II.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT:
300 000 000.00
GBP
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
65000000
71800000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
This is to replace the recent procurement exercise that was abandoned due to Covid-19.
NEPO are using a two-stage, restricted procedure for this framework agreement. The first is a selection questionnaire which will be used to shortlist organisations. It should be noted that one of the key mandatory criteria at selection questionnaire stage is for organisations to hold a relevant water supply and sewerage licences with the appropriate retail authorisation, as issued by Ofwat. Shortlisted organisations will then be invited to tender in August 2020. The selection questionnaire document also contains an ITT overview that sets out the high-level requirements of the framework agreement. This document will allow organisations to determine if they are interested in this opportunity and consider whether they have the required capability and capacity to deliver the framework agreement prior to submitting a selection questionnaire.
The framework contract will be a sole supplier framework contract with one lot. Those organisations shorlisted from the selection questionnaire and invited to tender will be evaluated in accordance withe award criteria contained within the invitation to tender documents. The opportunity can be accessed via the NEPO eTender system. Suppliers wishing to be considered for this contract must register their expression of interest and submit a tender through the NEPO eTender System. If not already registered, candidates should register on the NEPO eTender system at https://procontract.due-north.com/register Tenders must be submitted using the link above. Tenders submitted via post or email methods will not be accepted. If you require time-critical assistance on submitting your Tender please contact the system support team on 0330 0050352. For non time-critical issues, such as passwords, general account queries and location of information, etc., please contact Proactis Supplier Support Helpdesk Ticketing System (http://proactis.kayako.com/) and select ProContract V3 support. You will then need to log in or submit a ticket to register your issue. Alternatively, you can email ProContractSuppliers@proactis.com This will automatically log a support ticket on the Proactics Supplier Support Helpdesk. NEPO does not give any guarantee and/or warrant the actual value of goods (if any) which will be placed with the successful supplier by any contracting authority using the framework contract pursuant to this process and accepts no liability there of.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Criteria below:
Quality criterion: Quality
/ Weighting: 80 %
Cost criterion: Cost
/ Weighting: 20 %
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
300 000 000.00
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:
It is anticipated that the framework contract will be subject to future renewals.
Framework contract period: 3 months implementation, 24 months supply contract commencing 1 April 2021, with the option to extend for a further 1 x 24 months.
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
Envisaged number of candidates: 8
Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates:
A maximum of eight organisations will be shortlisted from this selection questionnaire (SQ) and invited to tender, assuming that there are at least eight suitably qualified organisations that pass the minimum criteria. If there are less than eight organisations that pass the minimum criteria then only those that pass will be invited to tender. If there are more than eight organisations that pass the minimum criteria then the eight highest scoring organisations only, based on the scored question in the SQ, will be invited to tender. The minimum criteria is documented in Schedule 1 Selection questionnaire. This includes a minimum threshold that must be achieved on the scored question.
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
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
III.2.2) Contract performance conditions
Details are contained within the procurement documents.
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.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2019/S 174-424227
IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date:
03/08/2020
Local time: 12:00
IV.2.3) Estimated date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
Date:
24/08/2020
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
Duration in months: 6 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement:
Yes
Estimated timing for further notices to be published:
24-48 months from framework contract supply commencement date.
VI.3) Additional information
NEPO is a Central Purchasing Body as defined in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR15). The agreement will be available for use by all NEPO members. A list of member organisations is available in the About section of the NEPO website at: www.nepo.org
This agreement will also be made available to all current and future NEPO associate members. Current associate members are listed in the associate member section of the NEPO website at: www.nepo.org/associate-membership/list NEPO intends to make the resulting agreement available for use by all contracting authorities throughout all administrative regions of the UK (as defined by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015) including but not limited to government departments and their agencies, non-departmental public bodies, central government, NHS bodies, local authorities, emergency services, coastguard emergency services, educational establishments, registered social landlords and registered charities who have a need to purchase the above services. Please see the following websites for further details:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/Localcouncils/index.htm
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education
https://www.gov.uk/check-a-university-is-officially-recognised/recognised-bodies
http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/localauthorities.php
http://www.ukschoolsdirectory.net
https://www.gov.uk/find-school-in-england
https://education.gov.scot/ParentZone
http://hwb.wales.gov.uk/
https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development
http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/institutions/
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/workprovide/unicoll/heis/
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/workprovide/unicoll/fecs/
http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/AcuteTrustListing.aspx
http://www.wales.nhs.uk/nhswalesaboutus/structure
http://www.scottishambulance.com/TheService/organised.aspx
http://www.hscni.net/index.php?link=trusts
http://www.scottishambulance.com/AboutUs/HowWeOrganised.aspx
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/A-ZOfCentralGovernment/index.htm
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations
http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/gov.htm
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/local-councils-in-northern-ireland
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/02/2421/1
https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/contact
https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/articles/list-public-bodies-which-ni-public-procurement-policy-applies
https://www.ons.gov.uk/
https://www.police.uk/forces/
http://www.police-information.co.uk/index.html
http://www.psni.police.uk/index.htm
http://www.scotland.police.uk/
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency
http://www.fireservice.co.uk/information/ukfrs
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/archive/law-order/Police/PoliceServiceofScotland
http://www.fire.org.uk/fire-brigades.html
http://www.nifrs.org/areas-districts/
http://www.firescotland.gov.uk/your-area.aspx
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/current-registered-providers-of-social-housing
http://directory.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk/pages/default.aspx
https://gov.wales/topics/housing-and-regeneration/publications/registered-social-landlords-in-wales/?lang=en
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/housing-associations
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/About_us/Regulation/Registering_charities_index.aspx
http://www.oscr.org.uk/
https://idea.org.uk/
http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/registerhomepage.aspx
http://www.sell2wales.gov.uk/Search/search_Auth.aspx
http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsroom/factsandfigures/housingplanning1/facts/socialhousing/?id=1822644
A complete list of permissible users is shown on the NEPO website: https://www.nepo.org/associate-membership/permissible-users Organisations wishing to access the NEPO agreement will be required to register as a NEPO associate member in the first instance. Further information can be found at: www.nepo.org
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
NEPO
Guildhall, Quayside
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 3AF
UK
E-mail: marie.perriam@nepo.org
Internet address(es)
URL: www.nepo.org
VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
NEPO
Guildhall, Quayside
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 3AF
UK
E-mail: kadie.boon@nepo.org
Internet address(es)
URL: www.nepo.org
VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
NEPO
Guildhall, Quayside
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 3AF
UK
E-mail: kadie.boon@nepo.org
Internet address(es)
URL: www.nepo.org
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
29/06/2020