Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2020-09-21
Buyer: Ministry of Justice
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 72000000 | 72300000 | 72400000 | 72500000 | 72600000
Estimated value: 47785885.29 GBP

Technical requirements: Υπηρεσίες τεχνολογίας των πληροφοριών: παροχή συμβουλών, ανάπτυξη λογισμικού, Διαδίκτυο και υποστήριξη
End User Computing Services for Her Majesty's Prisons and Probations Service staff and HMPS Headquarters
The provision of end user computing and ancillary services to support the management of Her Majesty’s Prison Service staff in England and Wales and HMPS Headquarters. These will form the primary IT devices used by HMPPS staff The service will cover the provision of hardware (including laptops, desktops and thin clients), software and other ancillary services. It will be based on an application/desktop presentation service using a Citrix and Azure backend. It will enable access to and use of other services within the Ministry of Justice IT ecosystem through connection to these other services. It will provide some support for both hardware and software, engaging with other supplier functions to resolve incidents. It will provide ancillary services relating to the provision of IT infrastructure on this scale, including but not limited to elements of business continuity, capacity management, incident management, change management, etc.
The provision of end user computing and ancillary services to support the management of Her Majesty’s Prison Service staff in England and Wales and HMPS Headquarters. These will form the primary IT devices used by HMPPS staff The service will cover the provision of hardware (including laptops, desktops and thin clients), software, and other ancillary services. It will be based on an application/desktop presentation service using a Citrix and Azure backend. It will enable access to and use of other services within the Ministry of Justice IT ecosystem through connection to these other services. It will provide some support for both hardware and software, engaging with other supplier functions to resolve incidents. It will provide ancillary services relating to the provision of IT infrastructure on this scale, including but not limited to elements of business continuity, capacity management, incident management, change management, etc.
The authority relies on the ground set out within Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) (Use of negotiated procedure without prior publication) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. For technical reasons, the authority has concluded that the services can be provided only by a particular economic operator. This is the incumbent supplier (Entserv UK Ltd). who currently provide the services that form the subject matter of this contract under a contract with the authority since the 1 January 2018.
The term of the contract is for a period of 22 months to August 2022, with one optional year of extension to August 2023. The contract has been drafted to facilitate the volumetric decrease in services provided over the course of the term, decreasing spend from the maximum possible established in this VEAT.
Entserv currently provides the computer environment, operator systems and a number of tools and applications necessary for prison officers and head office staff to perform their jobs. The authority assists with the supply of computer devices to Entserv and they provide a managed end-to-end IT service. The infrastructure/platform used by Entserv is owned by them which means the authority could not transfer this infrastructure/platform to another provider for it to use to provide the same services to the authority.
In order for the authority to move away from Entserv it would have to build its own infrastructure and service or another provider would need to build/develop an infrastructure onto which an equivalent service would be run. This is a complex undertaking and would take several years of planning and implementation. Therefore, it is the authority’s view that it is likely that appointing a different supplier would not only involve prohibitive cost and an unacceptable level of risk but also that no other supplier would choose to bid for such a short term appointment.
The authority’s approach to replacing the EUCS Services is already underway as part of its Prison Technology Transformation Programme (‘PTTP’). One of the PTTP aims is to modernise the services within scope of this contract through a more strategic operating model. This project will deliver its services over the course of the next two to three years, transitioning services from the current contract to this different way of working – comprising some services provided in-house, and other elements disaggregated for further competition.
The absence of competition has not arisen as a result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement.
End User Computing Services for Her Majesty’s Prison and Probations Service staff and HMPS Headquarters


Winner: Entserv UK
Award value: 47785885.29