CONTRACT NOTICE – OFFICIAL JOURNAL

Section I: Contracting Authority

I.1)

Name, Address and Contact Point(s)

I.2)

Type of contracting Authority and Main Activity or Activities

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions National or federal agency/Office Regional or local Authority Regional or local Agency/Office Body governed by public law European Institution/Agency or International Organisation

General public services Defence Public order and safety Environment Economic and financial affairs Health Housing and community amenities Social protection Recreation, culture and religion Education

Section II: Object of the Contract

II.1)

Description

II.1.1)

Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority

II.1.2(a))

Type of works contract

II.1.2(b))

Type of supplies contract

II.1.2(c))

Type of service contract

II.1.2)

Main site or location of works, place of delivery or performance

Primarily in the UK with some limited requirements overseas.

II.1.3)

This notice involves

A public contract
The setting up of a Dynamic Purchasing System
The establishment of a framework agreement

II.1.4)

Information on framework agreement (if applicable)

Framework agreement with a single operators
Framework agreement with several operators

Number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged

Duration of the framework agreement

Justification for a framework agreement the duration of which exceeds four years

Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement

Frequency and value of the contracts to be awarded

II.1.5)

Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT) is seeking to establish a Framework Agreement for the provision of Financial Management Reform Costing Programme Services for HMT and other UK Central Government Departments and their Arm's Length Bodies (ALBs) and agencies; Non-Ministerial Departments and Executive Agencies; and the Wider Public Sector (and any future successors to these organisations).

The duration of this Framework Agreement is for a 2-year period. The Contracting Authority may extend the duration of this Framework Agreement for any period or periods up to a maximum of 2 years in total from the expiry of the Initial Framework Period for a maximum of 2 consecutive further terms, each of these terms being up to a maximum of 12 months duration. Any extension will be exercised at the sole discretion of the Contracting Authority.

The main aim of this Framework Agreement is to support a more accurate costing and build costing capability across Her Majesty's Government (HMG). The Supplier shall work in partnership with the Contracting Authority and/or Other Contracting Authorities in delivering individual Costing Projects to drive understanding of costs in difficult, cross-cutting areas of Government spend.

A detailed description of the Services that the Potential Provider will be required to supply under this Framework Agreement are set out in full in Part A (Services) of Framework Schedule 2 of the Framework Agreement.

II.1.6)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

II.1.7)

Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

II.1.8)

Division into lots

II.1.9)

Will variants be accepted

II.2)

Quantity or Scope of the Contract

II.2.1)

Total quantity or scope

II.2.2)

Options

Provisional timetable for recourse to these options

Number of possible renewals

In the case of renewable supplies or service contracts, estimated time frame for subsequent contracts

Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information

III.1)

Conditions Relating to the Contract

III.1.1)

Deposits and guarantees required

Potential Providers will be advised if this is necessary during the Procurement. Parent company and/or other guarantees of performance and financial liability may be required by the Contracting Authority if considered appropriate.

III.1.2)

Main Terms of financing and payment and/or reference to the relevant provisions

III.1.3)

Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract is to be awarded

No legal form is required but if a contract is awarded to a Group of Economic Operators, the Contracting Authority may require the Group of Economic Operators to form a legal entity before entering into the Framework Agreement.

III.1.4)

Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject

III.2)

Conditions for Participation

III.2.1)

Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met; Potential Providers will be assessed in accordance with Section 5 of Chapter 2 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, (implementing Title II, Chapter III, Section 3, Sub-section I of Directive 2014/24/EU), on the basis of information provided in response to an Invitation to Tender (‘ITT’).

This Procurement will be managed electronically via the Agents e-Sourcing Suite. To participate in this Procurement, participants must first be registered on the e-Sourcing Suite. If you have not yet registered on the eSourcing Suite, this can be done online at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk by following the link ‘Register for CCS eSourcing’. Please note that, to register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so.

Full instructions for registration and use of the e-Sourcing Suite can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/become-a-crown-commercial-service-supplier/becoming-a-supplier-through-the-crown-commercial-service-what-you-need-to-know

Once you have registered on the eSourcing Suite, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement. This is done by emailing: expressionofinterest@crowncommercial.gov.uk

Your email must clearly state:

— the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for;

— the name of the registered Supplier; and

— the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email.

The Agent will process the email and then enable the Supplier to access the Procurement online via the e-Sourcing Suite. The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done. As a user of the e-Sourcing Suite you will have access to e-Sourcing Suite email messaging service which facilitates all messages sent to you and from you in relation to any specific RFX event. Please note it is your responsibility to access these emails on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information. For technical assistance on use of the e-Sourcing Suite please contact Crown Commercial Service Support Desk email: eenablement@crowncommercial.gov.uk

Responses must be published by the date in IV.3.4).

III.2.2)

Economic and financial capacity

III.2.3)

Technical capacity

III.2.4)

Reserved contracts

The contract is restricted to sheltered workshops
The execution of the contract is restricted to the framework of sheltered employment programmes

III.3)

Conditions Specific to Service Contracts

III.3.1)

Is provision of the service reserved to a specific profession?

III.3.2)

Will legal entities be required to state the names and professional qualifications of the personnel responsible for the execution of the service?

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)

Type of Procedure

Open		Restricted
Accelerated restricted		Negotiated
Accelerated negotiated		Competitive dialogue

Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure

IV.1.1)

Have candidates already been selected?

IV.1.2)

Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates

IV.1.3)

Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated

IV.2)

Award Criteria

IV.2.2)

An electronic auction will be used

IV.3 Administrative Information

IV.3.1)

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

RM4681

IV.3.2)

Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

Prior Information Notice
Notice on a Buyer Profile

Other previous publications

IV.3.3)

Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents

IV.3.4)

Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

IV.3.5)

Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

IV.3.7)

Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender 

IV.3.8)

Conditions for opening tenders

Section VI: Other Information

VI.1)

Indicate whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the Estimated timing for further notices to be published

VI.2)

Does the contract relate to a Project/Programme financed by Community Funds?

VI.3)

Additional Information

This Framework Agreement will be accessible for use by all UK Central Government Departments and their Arm's Length Bodies and agencies; Non-Ministerial Departments and Executive Agencies; and the Wider Public Sector (and any future successors to these organisations). As at the publication of this Contract Notice the latest list of these Contracting Authorities can be found in the Office for National Statistics' Public Sector Classification Guide — Sept 2015 (see the ‘Central Government’ worksheet in the ‘Public Sector Classification Guide — Sept 2015’ spreadsheet found at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/na-classification/national-accounts-sector-classification/classification-update-and-forward-workplan--september-2015/rft-table-1.xls

Entities which are not public sector bodies may also use the Framework Agreements if the Contracting Authority is satisfied that:

— such entity is Call Off Agreement Services directly, solely and exclusively in order to satisfy contractual obligations to 1 or more public sector bodies, all of which are entitled to use the Framework Agreements on their own account;

— all goods to be called-off by it are to be used directly, solely and exclusively to provide energy at sites occupied by such public sector body(ies); and

— it will pass the benefit of the call-off contract to such public sector body(ies) directly, in full and on a purely ‘pass-through’ basis. Accordingly there must be no mark-up, management fee, service charge or any similar cost solely in relation to the supply of energy imposed on the relevant public sector body(ies), who must be able to benefit from the terms of the Framework Agreements in a like manner and to the same extent as if using the Framework Agreements on its/their own account.

This Framework Agreement will also be accessible for use by any corporation established, or a group of individuals appointed to act together, for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character, and

(i) financed wholly or mainly by another Contracting Authority listed above in this section VI.3) of this notice;

(ii) subject to management supervision by another Contracting Authority listed above in this section VI.3) of this notice; or

(iii) more than half of the board of directors or members of which, or, in the case of a group of individuals, more than half of those individuals, are appointed by another Contracting Authority listed above in this section VI.3) of this notice;

(iv) an association of or formed by one or more of the Contracting Authorities listed above in this section VI.3) of this notice.

Potential Providers should note that there may be some disruption to the eSourcing Suite during the Tender Period. The Agent will notify all Potential Providers in advance of any disruption. In the event of any disruption timetable will be adjusted accordingly.

Potential Providers should note that, in accordance with the UK Government's policies on transparency, the Agent intends to publish the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document and the text of any Framework Agreement awarded, subject to possible redaction's at the discretion of the Agent. The terms of the proposed Framework Agreement will also permit a public sector Contracting Authority, awarding a contract under this Framework Agreement, to publish the text of that contract, subject to possible redaction's at the discretion of the Contracting Authority. Further information on transparency can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-and-contracting-transparency-requirements-guidance

The Agent expressly reserves the right:

(i) not to award any contract as a result of the Procurement process commenced by publication of this notice; and

(ii) to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering competition; and in no circumstances will the Contracting Authority be liable for any costs incurred by the Potential Provider.

If the Contracting Authority decides to enter into a Framework Agreement with the successful Supplier, this does not mean that there is any guarantee of subsequent contracts being awarded.

Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken prior to contract award is accordingly a matter solely for the commercial judgement of Potential Providers.

Any orders placed under this Framework Agreement will form a separate contract under the scope of this Framework Agreement between the Supplier and the specific requesting Other Contracting Authorities. The Contracting Authority and Other Contracting Authorities utilising the Framework Agreement reserve the right to use any electronic portal during the life of the Framework Agreement.

The duration referenced in Section II.1.4) is for the placing of orders.

The value provided in Section II.1.4) is only an estimate. The Contracting Authority does not provide any guarantee in respect of the levels or aggregate value of the Services which the Contracting Authority shall require the Supplier to provide during the Framework Period.

In reference to Section II.1.4), Maximum number of participants allowed. Framework Agreements will be concluded with the maximum number of Potential Providers. This may increase only where 2 or more Potential Providers have tied scores and are placed in the last position. The Contracting Authority will award a Framework Agreement to additional Potential Providers where their Final Score is within 1 % of the original awarded last place position only. For the avoidance of doubt, last position is 5th.

VI.4)

Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)

Body responsible for appeal procedures

Body responsible for mediation procedures

VI.4.2)

Lodging of appeals
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals:

VI.4.3)

Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)

Dispatch date of this Notice