Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-07-12
Buyer: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 79710000: Security services
Estimated value: 5000000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2017-09-07
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: It is proposed to offer and award a contract for ‘Security Guarding Services’ for the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which is located at, Parliament Square, Westminster, London, SW1P 3BD.
The contract will run for an initial period of three (3) years from 1.12.2017 with a discretionary extension available from The Authority for a further two (2) years in the format of, one year plus one year. This brings the possible maximum term for The Contractor is five (5) years.
On this basis the projected value of the contract excluding VAT is between: 3 000 000 GBP and 5 000 000 GBP depending on whether the extensions are exercised.
The Supreme Court currently spends approximately 1 000 000 GBP per annum on the provision of security guarding services. In the light of recent Government cuts and budgets the court is looking to increase the competitive nature of the contracts it currently holds and all future contracts.
The United Kingdom Supreme Court (UKSC) is located on the West side of Parliament Square, and was formerly the Middlesex Guildhall. It has three storeys, as well as a lower level and a dormered attic storey with a steep hipped roof which is nine bays wide. There is also an open roof space housing much of the maintenance machinery.
Facing onto Parliament Square, the UKSC building is enclosed on two sides by buildings, on the North by The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the West by The Queen Elizabeth 2 Conference Hall. To the South is Westminster Abbey with Broad Sanctuary (the continuation of Victoria Street) running between the two. There is public access to the outside of the building on all sides. The building rises direct from the pavement so there is no curtilage to accommodate security features, although on three sides there is a moat, giving access to the lower ground floor, which has metal railings around it. Windows front onto the street at all levels of the building. The outside of the building is monitored by CCTV.
There is no permanent police presence outside the building although, due to its location, there is always a major police presence in the area, including armed police and sits in the GSZ.
The Authority wishes to enter into a Contract with the successful tenderer for the provision of guarding services. The Authority is managing this procurement process in accordance with a competitive Part B services procurement which will be conducted in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (insofar as they apply to Part B procurements) and the Treaty for the Functioning of the European Union principles of non-discrimination, equal treatment and transparency.
The Supreme Court is axiomatically unique in the United Kingdom. The nature of its operations and its remit for transparency together with controlled public access makes the provision of guarding services a sensitive and important feature of the Court.
The Supreme Court is the highest appeal court in the land and an integral part of the UK justice system. At present, the court has 12 justices and around 50 staff. In addition, there are contracted staff on site. There are three courts within the building but generally only a maximum of two are in session at any one time.
The court has a statutory duty to be ‘accessible’ to the public, and this includes public tours, opening the courts to the public and TV cameras for the first time, and use of the web and online press summaries. The UKSC is open to the public, Monday to Friday 0930 to 1630. Presently the through put of visitors per day is around 400 and can be as high as 700. This includes anything from parties of school children up to 20 or 30 strong, to groups of visiting tourists UK and foreign, and to visiting barristers, lawyers and their teams.
In addition to this, the court holds roughly 7 events a year that creates roughly 7000 extra foot fall a year. These events will be an opportunity for additional work and will have to be covered by the tenderer.
The current provision of security utilises up to 18 staff in working hours and 3 staff by night and at weekends. All staff are first aid trained, fire wardens and vetted to an appropriate level. Some key staff have additional defibrillator training. An appropriate number of staff are trained on the use of the CCTV systems and the security scanners in the reception area.

Eligibility requirements: Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents.

Award value: 5000000