Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-02-15
Buyer: Department of Finance
Country: UK
Region: Northern Ireland
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 72222300: Information technology services | 72700000 | 72800000 | 72820000: Computer testing services | 73430000
Estimated value: 2000000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2017-03-15
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Central Procurement Directorate. CPD. as a Central Purchasing Body. CPB., as defined by the Public Contract Regulations 2015, intends to establish a collaborative Framework Agreement for the provision of CHECK Services. This Framework will be established on behalf of Northern Ireland Civil Service. NICS. Departments, Agencies, Non Departmental Public Bodies and other Participating Bodies or other nominated individuals working on behalf of the Client. Any public body subject to the Northern Ireland Public Procurement Policy. NIPPP. listed in https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/publications/list-public-bodies-which-can-participate-cpd-collaborative-frameworks may choose to participate in this Framework at any time as a ‘Client’. In addition to this the Northern Ireland Office. NIO. , Public Prosecution Service. PPS. , Northern Ireland Audit Office. NIAO. and NI Assembly. NIA. and the other bodies can avail of this Framework Agreement.
Estimated Value:. The figure indicated in II.1.5 represents the upper limit of an estimated framework.. value which ranges from 1 000 000 GBP to 2 000 000 GBP. This range reflects the potential scale of the framework and takes into account. such changes to the scope/and or scale which may result from future operational requirements.
The Contractor must ensure that it has achieved and maintains CHECK ‘Green Light’ status throughout the life of the contract. The Contractor must inform CPD immediately if it's status changes. The Contractor can only provide services while CHECK ‘Green Light’ status is held. Further information can be found at https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/ and https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/articles/check-fundamental-principles
The Contractor must ensure that it has achieved and maintains CHECK ‘Green Light’ status throughout the life of the contract. The Contractor must inform CPD immediately if it's status changes. The Contractor can only provide services while CHECK ‘Green Light’ status is held. Further information can be found at https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/ and https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/articles/check-fundamental-principles.
The Contractor(s) performance on the contract will be regularly monitored. If a contractor fails to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance they will be given a specified time to improve. If, after the specified time, they still fail to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance, the matter will be escalated to CPD for further action. If this occurs and their performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, it may be regarded as an act of grave professional misconduct and they may be issued with a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance and the contract may be terminated. The issue of a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance will result in the contractor being excluded from all procurement competitions being undertaken by CoPE on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Procurement Policy for a period of 12 months from the date of issue of the certificate”.
The Framework Agreement for the provision of CHECK Services will commence on 3.4.2017 and will run for 2 years. Any public body subject to the Northern Ireland Public Procurement Policy (NIPPP). listed in https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/publications/list-public-bodies-which-can-participate-cpd-collaborative-frameworks may choose to participate in this Framework at any time as a ‘Client’. The list of public bodies. covered by the NIPPP may change from time to time and any additional bodies may choose to receive the services as a Client.  In addition to this the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), Public Prosecution Service (PPS), Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) and NI Assembly (NIA) and the other bodies listed in Annex A can avail of this Framework Agreement.  An estimate of the number of days required under this Agreement per Client is set out. . The Contracting Authority through CPD may modify this Agreement where the specific services fall under the scope of CHECK Services and the modification would not alter the overall nature of the Agreement. Any modification would be subject to a value for money consideration and the Public Contract Regulations 2015. and would be in line with the rates quoted by the Contractors in the pricing schedule at the time of tendering. NI Public Bodies have a range of existing arrangements in place for the delivery of CHECK services as set out in the Specification of services. It is the intention of these bodies to utilise this Framework once the existing arrangements end. However public bodies may avail of other arrangements if these are proved to offer better value for money.

Eligibility requirements: The Contractor must ensure that it has achieved and maintains CHECK ‘Green Light’ status throughout the life of the contract. The Contractor must inform CPD immediately if it's status changes. The Contractor can only provide services while CHECK ‘Green Light’ status is held. Further information can be found at https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/ and https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/articles/check-fundamental-principles

Award value: 2000000