Department of Health and Social Care

39 Victoria Street

London

SW1H 0EU

UK

E-mail: procurement.operations@dhsc.gov.uk

NUTS: UKI32

Internet address(es)

Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care

Address of the buyer profile: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care

II.1.1) Title

II.1.2) Main CPV code

79625000

II.1.3) Type of contract

Services

II.1.4) Short description

Contract for the supply services in relation to response management (including agency provision of personnel comprising of paid staff and volunteers) and payment functions on behalf of DHSC as part of the UK COVID-19 Testing Strategy.

II.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

II.1.7) Total value of the procurement

Value excluding VAT: 6 000 000.00  GBP

IV.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition

Justification for selected award procedure:

Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the Directive

Explanation

Negotiated procedure without prior publication:

1) The Government must protect the health and well-being of UK citizens. The Covid-19 outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Covid-19 is serious and its consequences pose a risk to life. Cabinet Office published PPN 01/20: Responding to Covid-19 on procuring with extreme urgency in March 2020 which states that contracting authorities may enter into contracts without competing or advertising the requirement where certain tests are met.

2) A key element of ensuring an effective response to the pandemic is ensuring that there is adequate testing. On 4 April, the Government announced its plans to scale up the testing programme. This contract supports this strategy, in particular Pillar 2.

3) DHSC is satisfied the tests permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32(2)(c)) are met:

A. As far as is strictly necessary: the response management services to bring in personnel such as those processing tests in labs were identified as strictly necessary to meet the demand to scale up the testing programme in the UK.

B. There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency as it is responding to Covid-19 immediately because of public health risks presenting a genuine emergency.

C. The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: the Commission itself confirmed: ‘The current coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency – precisely for such a situation our European rules enable public buyers to buy within a matter of days, even hours, if necessary.’ (Commissioner Breton, Internal Market, 1 April 2020).

D. It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: It is not possible to comply with the timescales of another procedure due to the urgent requirement to obtain the services being contracted for. It is imperative that security of supply is maintained. Demand for testing workforce is high, there are no existing suppliers that can provide labs workforce for testing readily at scale and there is little or no incentive for potential suppliers to participate in competitive procurement procedures.

E. The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority – DHSC has not done anything to cause or contribute the need for extreme urgency.

IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

Reed Specialist Recruitment Ltd

06903140

Academy Court, 94 Chancery Lane

London

WC2A 1DT

UK

NUTS: UK

The contractor is an SME: No

VI.4.1) Review body