Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2020-08-18
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, DE&S Mat Strat, DE&S Mat Strat
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Restricted procedure
CPV classification: 79210000
Estimated value:  GBP
Submission deadline: 2020-09-11
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Accounting and auditing services. The authority, led by the UK MOD's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) is notifying the market of a procurement to appoint a finance support delivery partner.
This procurement will meet the requirements for an initial 24 months, with one 12-month option year (24+12).
Electronic trading: tenderers must note the mandatory requirement for electronic trading using the contracting, purchasing and finance (CP&F) electronic procurement tool. All payments for contractor deliverables under the contract shall be made via CP&F. You can find details at http:/www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-contracting-purchasing-and-finance-e-procurement-system.
Tenderers will be asked to declare during invitation to tender stage the details of their proposed bidding model, including details of any consortium, if applicable. Please note that the authority may require the consortium to assume a specific legal form if awarded the contract, to the extent that it is necessary for the satisfactory performance of the contract.
The MOD has a duty to protect itself from Cyber threats and this is extended to suppliers we engage with. The MOD, working together with Industry and other Government Departments, has developed a more robust Cyber Security Model, as an extension to the Government Cyber Essentials Scheme and under the umbrella of the Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP). All key contractors must have the cyber security controls specified in DEF-STAN 05-138 (Cyber Security for Defence Suppliers), as appropriate to the cyber risk level in the contract.
The Authority has determined the level of risk to be moderate (reference RAR-X24A58MW) as defined in the DEF-STAN 05-138. In order to do business with the MOD you must have cyber security controls as required above.
The authority will apply all the offences listed in Article 39(1) of Directive 2009/81/EC (implemented as Regulation 23(1) of the Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations (DSPCR) 2011 in the UK) and all of the professional misconducts listed at Article 39(2) of Directive 2009/81/EC (see also Regulation 23(2) in the DSPCR 2011) to the decision of whether a Candidate is eligible to be invited to tender.
A full list of the Regulation 23(1) and 23(2) criteria are at http://www.contracts.mod.uk/delta/project/reasonsForExclusion.html#dspr
Candidates will be required to sign a declaration confirming whether they do or do not have any of the listed criteria as part of the pre-qualification process.
Candidates who have been convicted of any of the offences under Article 39(1) are ineligible and will not be selected to bid, unless there are overriding requirements in the general interest (including defence and security factors) for doing so.
Candidates who are guilty of any of the offences, circumstances or misconduct under Article 39(2) may be excluded from being selected to bid at the discretion of the authority.
The estimated contract value is GBP 15 million over a the 2-year period inclusive of one potential option year. If the estimated annual contract value (GBP 5 million) is greater than 40 % of the contractor or contractor group turnover, the authority reserve the right to exclude the supplier from selection to tender unless the supplier provides a statement that it is willing to provide the authority with an indemnity, guarantee or bank bond (in a form that satisfies the authority).
Interested suppliers are required to complete the DPQQ to provide information that allows the authority to evaluate the supplier’s capacities and capabilities against the selection criteria set out at Sections III of this contract notice.
The contracting authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement. The authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by instructions on safeguarding classified information (e.g. a Security Aspects Letter), the authority reserves the right to amend the terms of these instructions to reflect any changes in national law or government policy, whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies, or otherwise. The link below to the Gov.uk website provides information on the Government Security Classification.
Advertising Regime OJEU: this contract opportunity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin and www.contracts.mod.uk

Eligibility requirements: This will be detailed in the dynamic pre-qualification questionnaire (DPQQ)
The estimated contract value is GBP 15 million over a the 2-year period inclusive of one potential option year. If the estimated annual contract value (GBP 5 million) is greater than 40 % of the contractor or contractor group turnover, the authority reserve the right to exclude the supplier from selection to tender unless the supplier provides a statement that it is willing to provide the authority with an indemnity, guarantee or bank bond (in a form that satisfies the authority).
This will be detailed in the dynamic pre-qualification questionnaire (DPQQ).