Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2020-06-15
Buyer: Office for National Statistics
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Contract award without prior publication
CPV classification: 18530000 | 38970000 | 79311100 | 79311210 | 79311300
Estimated value: 750000000 GBP

Technical requirements: The ONS has rapidly set-up the Covid-19 Infection Survey (CIS) which will run over the next 2 years, with an additional 1 year follow up. This study is trying to understand out how many people have Covid-19, and have already had Covid-19, even if they do not realise they have had it. ONS undertakes this by asking questions, taking a swab from participants nose and throat, and possibly taking a blood sample. Scientists will measure levels of the Covid-19 virus in a nose and throat swab and levels of these antibodies in blood to work out who has Covid-19 now and who has had it in the past.
The intention of this VEAT notice is notify the market of ONS’s intention to work at pace and award a/several commercial contract(s) through emergency procurement legislation to support various requirements of this survey. These requirements could be placed under one Prime contract or separated into multiple lots.
The contracting authority has an urgent requirement for the delivery of all operational aspects of a nationwide field force of study health workers for CIS throughout the period July 2020-May 2022. The field force shall comprise appropriately trained health workers to administer swab testing, and phlebotomists for the collection of blood samples. The contract shall include; full field force management (including recruitment, training and logistical planning), supply chain management, sample management system, data collection system, appointment scheduling, end-to-end data flow management, quality assurance and information security, helpdesk support, the delivery of swab samples for antigen testing, appropriate handling and delivery of blood samples for antibody testing. The geographical coverage of the field force shall cover England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Study health workers shall follow NHS guidance regarding protective equipment.
The study parameters are estimated and may change due to epidemiological requirements. Survey parameters and study design are subject to medical ethics approval. The study shall recruit approximately 20 000 participants per month throughout the period until April 2021, when the number of participants shall reach a maximum of approximately 250 000. All participants shall be swab tested, and 10 % of participants shall also receive antibody testing. The number of health worker visits shall therefore scale accordingly based on an average household of approximately 2.1. The current estimated number of health worker visits throughout the period is 1 850 000 based on an estimated 600,000 health worker days. The number of survey participants could substantially increase over and above current projections during the project period, hence the estimated contract value is GBP 350 m-GBP 500 m.
The contracting authority has an urgent requirement for the delivery of all operational aspects of a nationwide field force of phlebotomists for the ONS Covid-19 infection survey throughout the period July 2020-March 2022. The field force shall be responsible for swab testing and blood sampling of a sub-cohort of participants within the overall survey. The contract shall include; full field force management (including recruitment, training and logistical planning) in line with requirements flowed down from the prime contractor, the delivery of swab samples for antigen testing, appropriate handling and delivery of blood samples for antibody testing. The geographical coverage of the field force shall cover England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The study parameters are estimated and may change due to epidemiological requirements. All parameters and study design are subject to medical ethics approval. The study shall recruit approximately 20 000 participants per month throughout the period until April 2021, when the number of participants shall reach a maximum of approximately 250 000. All participants shall be swab tested, and 10 % of participants shall also receive antibody testing. This 10 % cohort is the subject of this Lot requirement. The number of health worker visits shall therefore scale accordingly based on an average household of approximately 2.1. The estimated number of health worker visits throughout the period is 1 850 000 based on an estimated 600 000 health worker days. The requirement within this lot will be scaled in accordance with the 10 % cohort that require swab testing and antibody testing. The number of survey participants could substantially increase over and above current projections during the project period, hence the estimated contract value is GBP 25 m-GBP 50 m.
The contracting authority has an urgent requirement for the delivery of research and serology testing services for the ONS Covid-19 infection survey throughout the period July 2020-May 2023. The research shall investigate the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and prevalence of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in the UK general population assessed through repeated cross-sectional household surveys with additional serial sampling and longitudinal follow-up. The total study duration is approximately 3 years (one year recruitment, one year serial sampling from the last recruited participant, and 1 year follow-up through existing electronic records from the final serial sampling timepoint of the last recruited participant). The outcome measures of the research shall be; presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 virus assayed from a nose and throat swab, presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in a nose and throat swab, separately in previously negative and previously positive individuals (after clearing the virus), analysis of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies assayed from blood, and concentration of neutralising antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 assayed from blood, how immunity to SARS-CoV-2 assayed by different methods affects future use of NHS resources and mortality. The requirement shall include full research lifecycle management including follow-up through existing electronic records, appropriate medical ethics approval, liaison with the survey supply chain including swab testing, field force management, and the Contracting Authority. The estimated number of blood tests throughout the survey period shall be approximately 427 000. The number of survey participants may substantially increase over and above current projections during the project period, hence the estimated contract value is GBP 8 m-GBP 20 m.
The contracting authority has an urgent requirement for a service provide to support with a method of incentivising respondents undertaking surveys throughout July 2020-May 2023. The requirement will provide incentives to the respondents for their participation during the study. The service provider will supply an e-voucher to every participant during each interview to which there will be over 1 million respondent interviews a year, to ensure high participation of surveys. The estimated value of incentives required is GBP 100 m-GBP 150 m.
Due to the extreme urgency of this requirement ONS is utilising PPN 01/20 Regulation 32(2c) which permits direct award of contracts due to the urgent nature.


Winner: Dependent upon lotting strategy
Award value: 750000000