Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Directive 2014/24/EU
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
East Lothian Council
John Muir House
Haddington, East Lothian
EH41 3HA
UK
Telephone: +44 620827827
E-mail: procurement@eastlothian.gov.uk
NUTS: UKM73
Internet address(es)
Main address: http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00181
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
HR and Payroll Systems VEAT Notice
Reference number: ELC-24-0325
II.1.2) Main CPV code
79631000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
This is a voluntary ex ante transparency(VEAT) notice. East Lothian Council intends to award of contract for it's HR and Payroll System to MHR International for 5 years.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
646 609.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
79631000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM73
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
This is a voluntary ex ante transparency(VEAT) notice. East Lothian Council intends to award of contract for it's HR and Payroll System to MHR International for 5 years.
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 IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition
Justification for selected award procedure:
The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the Directive
Explanation:
East Lothian Council’s HR and Payroll System is essential to organisational service delivery. In this instance, cost and resource implications of changing to a new platform would have significant cost of change implications.
The business rationale for continuing with MHR International products links to the costs of change, which is not necessarily limited to the direct costs of licensing new software, but holistic costs pertaining to the migration of data, implementation of organisation wide training to embed a new system.
The current system is embedded within processes and cross departmentally. Given the costs outlined above, an alternative system would need to be a consolidation of software systems to deliver efficiencies which provide the most economically advantageous solution. It was not judged that this could be achieved in this contractual cycle.
For these reasons, there are no financially, administratively reasonable, viable alternative, substitute systems, or products other than the iTrent software that can meet East Lothian Council's needs during the period of the proposed contract.
The required licensing and support of this product can only be provided by MHR International for technical reasons and due to the supplier’s exclusive rights in and to the proprietary [iTrent products.
Accordingly, it is considered that the proposed award of contract to MHR International meets with the requirements Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, Regulation 33(1)(b)(ii) and (iii).
The Council will continue, during the life of the contract, to carry out market testing for tendering opportunities beyond this contract.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section V: Award of contract/concession
Contract No: ELC-24-0325
V.2 Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession
27/03/2025
V.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
MHR
Ruddington Hall, Loughborough Road
Ruddington
NG116LL
UK
NUTS: UK
The contractor is an SME:
No
V.2.4) Information on value of the concession and main financing terms (excluding VAT)
Total value of the concession/lot:
646 609.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional 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=797518.
(SC Ref:797518)
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Edinburgh Sherriff Court
Edinburgh
UK
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
30/04/2025