Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

The Scottish Parliament, Procurement Services

Edinburgh

EH99 1SP

UK

Telephone: +44 1313486617

E-mail: karyn.hynd@parliament.scot

NUTS: UKM75

Internet address(es)

Main address: http://www.parliament.scot

Address of the buyer profile: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA10284

II.1.1) Title

Reference number: SPCB-0512

II.1.2) Main CPV code

79540000

II.1.3) Type of contract

Services

II.1.4) Short description

The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) requires a Contractor to provide Sign Language Interpretation Services. The main part of the requirement is from English to/from British Sign Language. The Contractor must provide simultaneous BSL interpreting for parliamentary business as requested. This will be filmed live and broadcasted on the BSL Channel on the Scottish Parliament TV (SPTV), other broadcast channels and will be archived.

There will also be a requirement to provide other forms of sign languages or supporting services as required.

II.1.5) Estimated total value

Value excluding VAT: 150 000.00  GBP

II.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

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:

For SPD question 4A.1 - Not used

For SPD question 4A.2 - Not used

III.1.2) Economic and financial standing

List and brief description of selection criteria:

For SPD questions 4B.1 to 4B.4 - Not used

For SPD question 4B.5 - It is a requirement of this contract that bidders hold, or can commit to obtain prior to the commencement of any subsequently awarded contract, the types and levels of insurance indicated below:

Employers Liability Insurance 5,000,000

Professional Indemnity 5,000,000

For SPD question 4B.6 - The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) uses Creditsafe, an independent provider of online business credit reports, to assess the financial standing of tenderers. We highly recommend that tenderers review their financial performance on Creditsafe to understand their credit score rating which will be used by the SPCB to evaluate the financial standing of the tenderer and that they read the information about how that data is collected and used prior to submitting a tender. Information and the opportunity to run a free report can be found at http://www.creditsafe.com/products/business-credit-reports/

The SPCB requires tenderers to have a Creditsafe Risk Score of 40 or higher to demonstrate satisfactory financial standing. If a tenderer has a lower credit risk score than 40 on Creditsafe and has the backing of a parent company with a credit risk score of 40 or higher, then the provision of a parent company guarantee will be required prior to the award of any contract. If a tenderer has a lower credit risk score than 40 and cannot provide a parent company guarantee, they must submit evidence to support a stable and improved financial standing with their tender or the tender may be rejected. If no evidence is provided with the tender or the evidence provided is not sufficient to demonstrate a satisfactory financial position to the satisfaction of the SPCB (whose decision in this regard shall be final), then the tender will be rejected and will not be evaluated further.

If a tenderer is not listed on Creditsafe, for whatever reason, then it will be asked to submit equivalent accounts to enable the required assessment of financial standing to be carried out. If the information provided does not, in the SPCB’s opinion, demonstrate a satisfactory financial position, the bid may be rejected.

Minimum level(s) of standards required:

The SPCB requires tenderers to have a Creditsafe Risk Score of 40 or higher to demonstrate satisfactory financial standing. If a tenderer has a lower credit risk score than 40 on Creditsafe and has the backing of a parent company with a credit risk score of 40 or higher, then the provision of a parent company guarantee will be required prior to the award of any contract. If a tenderer has a lower credit risk score than 40 and cannot provide a parent company guarantee, they must submit evidence to support a stable and improved financial standing with their tender or the tender may be rejected. If no evidence is provided with the tender or the evidence provided is not sufficient to demonstrate a satisfactory financial position to the satisfaction of the SPCB (whose decision in this regard shall be final), then the tender will be rejected and will not be evaluated further

III.1.3) Technical and professional ability

List and brief description of selection criteria:

For SPD question 4C.1 - Not used

For SPD question 4C.1.2 - Please provide 2 examples of your organisation delivering real-time, BSL/English interpreting in a high-pressure, public-facing live environment within the last 3 years.

The example must demonstrate experience equivalent to live broadcast interpreting such as:

- Live or live-streamed events (e.g. large webinars, hybrid or virtual conferences)

- High-stakes public communication (e.g. press conferences, media statements)

- Time-critical interpreting environments where speakers do not pause, content may be unscripted and there is a rapid turn-taking (e.g. simultaneous conference interpreting, panel events with live Q&A)

Failure to provide examples which demonstrate the relevant experience will result in the bidder’s submission being rejected.

For SPD questions 4C2 -4C5 - Not Used

For SPD question 4C.6 - Please confirm that the following educational and professional qualifications are held by the service provider or the Contractor itself:

All interpreters who will provide BSL interpreting services and all others providing specified services must be registered (where relevant) as either Registered Sign Language Interpreters (RSLIs), or Trainee Sign Language Interpreters (TSLIs), with either:

- The Scottish Register of Language Professionals with the Deaf Community (SRLPDC)

- The National Register of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind People (NRCPD).

For SPD question 4C.7 - Bidders will be required to provide evidence that their organisation has taken steps to build their awareness of the climate change emergency and how they will respond, including knowledge of their emissions sources and actions to address these. Accepted evidence includes but is not limited to: - a completed copy of the Bidder's 'relevant contract' Climate Change Plan Template, including planned projects and actions to reduce the bidder's carbon emissions. This does not need to contain calculated carbon emissions.

Template plans and guidance on how Bidder Climate Change Plans are evaluated is available on the Sustainable Procurement Tools: Sustainable Procurement (sustainableprocurementtools.scot)

For SPD questions 4C.8 to 4C.12 - Not used

III.2.2) Contract performance conditions

In order to ensure the highest standards of service quality in this contract the SPCB requires the contractor to take a positive approach to fair work practices. Full details of all performance conditions are set out in the procurement documents.

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: Yes

IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

Date: 18/05/2026

Local time: 14:00

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: 03/08/2026

IV.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders

Date: 18/05/2026

Local time: 14:00

VI.4.1) Review body