Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2016-04-20
Buyer: The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through Crown Commercial Service
Country: UK
Region: UNITED KINGDOM
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 22462000 | 66172000 | 71244000 | 75100000 | 75112000
Estimated value: 20000000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2016-05-23
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Crown Commercial Service as the contracting authority is putting in place a pan government Framework Agreement for use by UK public sector bodies identified at VI.3 (and any future successors to these organisations), which include Central Government Departments and their Arm's Length Bodies and Agencies, Non Departmental Public Bodies, NHS bodies and Local Authorities.
Contracting Authority Call Off requirements under a Lot may be for one, any number and combination of, or all the Services within that specific Lot.
Potential Providers have the opportunity to bid for any of Lots 1 to 4. Please be aware that Lot 5 is different from the other Lots (1-4) in terms of bidding requirements in that you do not bid directly for, but express an interest in Lot 5, and become eligible to be awarded Lot 5 by virtue of having bid for and been successful at all of Lots 1, 2 and 3 inclusive. If you are successful at Lots 1, 2 and 3 inclusive you will be eligible to be awarded Lot 5, either as Lot 5 on its own (if you have indicated in your response to Attachment 2, Participation requirement and Selection Questionnaire SQ1.3 that you only want to be awarded Lot 5) or as part of a multiple lot award i.e. Lots 1, 2, 3 & 5. If you fail to be successful at any Lot out of Lots 1, 2 or 3 you cannot be considered for award of Lot 5, either on its own or as part of a multi Lot award.
If you have expressed an interest in Lot 5 or are bidding for other Lots as well as having expressed an interest in Lot 5, then failure to get the required Lots for award of Lot 5 will not prevent you from being considered for (in line with evaluation procedures at paragraphs 9 onward in this Attachment 1 ITT) and being successful in any of the other Lot(s) that you have bid for (i.e. Lots 1, 2, 3 or 4)
Potential Providers may bid for and be successful (in accordance with evaluation procedures and final decision to award to paragraphs 8 and 12) on multiple lots i.e. successful suppliers will not be limited on the number of Lots they may appear on.
Once the Framework Agreement is live, Suppliers on the Framework Agreement will only be able to bid for Call Off Contracts competed under the Lot in which the Supplier is listed — the Lot at which at which the Supplier has been successful at this Framework level Procurement. Where a Supplier has bid for Lots 1,2 and 3 and expressed an interest in Lot 5 and is successful in their bid they will have the option of being listed on Lots 1,2, 3 and 5 or on Lot 5 only. If a Supplier chooses to be on Lot 5 only they will not be permitted to participate in competitions for services under Lots 1, 2 or 3. Suppliers will be deemed not capable of delivering the services under Lots 1,2 and 3 where they have chosen to be on Lot 5 only.
The duration referred to in section II.1.4 is 2 years plus the option for two 12 month extensions (potentially a 4 year total framework).
This Lot includes customer and administrative support, basic grant assessment and award, and payment processing.
This Lot includes communications and marketing, the production and design of supporting materials and the design and development of templates.
This Lot includes the design and development of programme policy and guidance, grant assessment and/or award, monitoring and reporting, signposting and triage to sources of support, and technical ‘direct’ support.
This Lot will cover a managed service comprised of the requirements contained within Lots 1, 2 and 3.
Participants 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 Crown Commercial Service if considered appropriate.
No special legal form is required but if a contract is awarded to a consortium, the Contracting Authority may require the consortium to form a legal entity before entering into the Framework Agreement.
Candidates will be assessed in accordance with Section 5 of the 2015 Public Contract Regulations (implementing the Directive) on the basis of information provided in response to an Invitation to Tender (‘ITT’).
This procurement will be managed electronically via the Crown Commercial Service's e-Sourcing Suite. To participate in this procurement, participants must first be registered on the e-Sourcing Suite.

Eligibility requirements: Candidates will be assessed in accordance with Section 5 of the 2015 Public Contract Regulations (implementing the Directive) on the basis of information provided in response to an Invitation to Tender (‘ITT’). This procurement will be managed electronically via the Crown Commercial Service's 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 system 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. Crown Commercial Service 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 the Emptoris 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 messages 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. Candidates will be assessed in accordance with Section 5 of the 2015 Public Contract Regulations (implementing the Directive) on the basis of information provided in response to an Invitation to Tender (‘ITT’). The ITT can be accessed at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the instructions detailed in III.2.1 The Contracting Authority may take into account any of the following information: (a) appropriate statements from banks or, where appropriate, evidence of relevant professional risk indemnity insurance; (b) the presentation of balance-sheets or extracts from the balance-sheets, where publication of the balance-sheet is required under the law of the country in which the economic operator is established; (c) a statement of the undertaking's overall turnover and, where appropriate, of turnover in the area covered by the contract for a maximum of the last three financial years available, depending on the date on which the undertaking was set up or the economic operator started trading, as far as the information on these turnovers is available. Candidates will be assessed in accordance with Section 5 of the 2015 Public Contract Regulations (implementing the Directive) on the basis of information provided in response to an Invitation to Tender (‘ITT’). The ITT can be accessed at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the instructions detailed in III.2.1 The Contracting Authority may have regard to any of the following means in its assessment: (a) a list of the principal deliveries effected or the main services provided in the past three years, with the sums, dates and recipients, whether public or private, involved. Evidence of delivery and services provided shall be given: — where the recipient was a contracting authority, in the form of certificates issued or countersigned by the competent authority, — where the recipient was a private purchaser, by the purchaser's certification or, failing this, simply by a declaration by the economic operator; (b) an indication of the technicians or technical bodies involved, whether or not belonging directly to the economic operator's undertaking, especially those responsible for quality control and, in the case of public works contracts, those upon whom the contractor can call in order to carry out the work; (c) a description of the technical facilities and measures used by the supplier or service provider for ensuring quality and the undertaking's study and research facilities; (d) where the products or services to be supplied are complex or, exceptionally, are required for a special purpose, a check carried out by the contracting authorities or on their behalf by a competent official body of the country in which the supplier or service provider is established, subject to that body's agreement, on the production capacities of the supplier or the technical capacity of the service provider and, if necessary, on the means of study and research which are available to it and the quality control measures it will operate; (e) the educational and professional qualifications of the service provider or contractor and/or those of the undertaking's managerial staff and, in particular, those of the person or persons responsible for providing the services or managing the work; (f) for public works contracts and public services contracts, and only in appropriate cases, an indication of the environmental management measures that the economic operator will be able to apply when performing the contract; (g) a statement of the average annual manpower of the service provider or contractor and the number of managerial staff for the last three years; (h) an indication of the proportion of the contract which the services provider intends possibly to subcontract.
Candidates will be assessed in accordance with Section 5 of the 2015 Public Contract Regulations (implementing the Directive) on the basis of information provided in response to an Invitation to Tender (‘ITT’). The ITT can be accessed at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the instructions detailed in III.2.1 The Contracting Authority may take into account any of the following information: (a) appropriate statements from banks or, where appropriate, evidence of relevant professional risk indemnity insurance; (b) the presentation of balance-sheets or extracts from the balance-sheets, where publication of the balance-sheet is required under the law of the country in which the economic operator is established; (c) a statement of the undertaking's overall turnover and, where appropriate, of turnover in the area covered by the contract for a maximum of the last three financial years available, depending on the date on which the undertaking was set up or the economic operator started trading, as far as the information on these turnovers is available.
Candidates will be assessed in accordance with Section 5 of the 2015 Public Contract Regulations (implementing the Directive) on the basis of information provided in response to an Invitation to Tender (‘ITT’). The ITT can be accessed at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the instructions detailed in III.2.1 The Contracting Authority may have regard to any of the following means in its assessment: (a) a list of the principal deliveries effected or the main services provided in the past three years, with the sums, dates and recipients, whether public or private, involved. Evidence of delivery and services provided shall be given: — where the recipient was a contracting authority, in the form of certificates issued or countersigned by the competent authority, — where the recipient was a private purchaser, by the purchaser's certification or, failing this, simply by a declaration by the economic operator; (b) an indication of the technicians or technical bodies involved, whether or not belonging directly to the economic operator's undertaking, especially those responsible for quality control and, in the case of public works contracts, those upon whom the contractor can call in order to carry out the work; (c) a description of the technical facilities and measures used by the supplier or service provider for ensuring quality and the undertaking's study and research facilities; (d) where the products or services to be supplied are complex or, exceptionally, are required for a special purpose, a check carried out by the contracting authorities or on their behalf by a competent official body of the country in which the supplier or service provider is established, subject to that body's agreement, on the production capacities of the supplier or the technical capacity of the service provider and, if necessary, on the means of study and research which are available to it and the quality control measures it will operate; (e) the educational and professional qualifications of the service provider or contractor and/or those of the undertaking's managerial staff and, in particular, those of the person or persons responsible for providing the services or managing the work; (f) for public works contracts and public services contracts, and only in appropriate cases, an indication of the environmental management measures that the economic operator will be able to apply when performing the contract; (g) a statement of the average annual manpower of the service provider or contractor and the number of managerial staff for the last three years; (h) an indication of the proportion of the contract which the services provider intends possibly to subcontract.