Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-09-30
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, C&C
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Restricted procedure
CPV classification: 80000000
Estimated value: 3900000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2017-10-30
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: The Provision Of A Part Time Distance Learning BEng Foundation Degree For Non Commissioned Officer Engineers Within The Royal Air Force.
To develop and maintain a Foundation Degree for Non Commissioned Officer Engineers. To deliver a part time online virtual learning environment Level 5 Foundation Degree in various engineering disciplines related to Royal Air Force Engineering trade groups. Each course shall run for 2 years and shall provide online access for 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. The requirement is to run for over 5 years with 2 Option periods. The anticipated commencement date for the first intake is February 2018 with course completion of the final intake in March 2023. The course shall have 2 cohorts during years 1 to 3 and 1 cohort in year 4. There are 2 option periods (with 2 intakes per year), with the first intake anticipated to commence September 2021 and the final intake completing March 2025.
To develop and maintain a Foundation Degree for Non Commissioned Officer Engineers. To deliver a part time online virtual learning environment Level 5 Foundation Degree (FD) in various engineering disciplines related to Royal Air Force (RAF) Engineering Trade Groups. The course must have an ultimate aspiration of delivering a BEng/BSc FD recognised on the National Qualification Framework at Level 5 that must also be recognised by a relevant engineering professional, Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMECHE), The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Each course shall run for 2 years and shall provide online access for 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. The contractor must be a recognised degree awarding body in the UK and have a proven track record in the fields of mechanical, avionic, electrical and production engineering plus engineering management and computer science. The course shall also be made available to the general public, international military and government attendees, which in turn shall create a wide and diverse student experience for the RAF attendees.
The requirement is to run for 5 years with 2 option periods. The anticipated commencement date for the first intake is February 2018 with course completion of the final intake in March 2023.The course shall have 2 cohorts during years 1 to 3 and 1 cohort in year 4. There are 2 option periods (2 intakes per year) with the first intake anticipated to commence September 2021 and the final intake completing March 2025.
There are two option periods (2 intakes per year) with the first anticipated intake to commence September 2021 with course completion of the final intake in March 2025.
Suppliers must provide two years audited accounts or equivalent information with their Pre Qualification Questionnaire Response (PQQ). Please see additional information in VI.3.
Potential suppliers 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 only be made via CP&F. You can find details on CP&F at http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-contracting-purchasing-and-finance-e-procurement-system
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) and the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin (www.contracts.mod.uk).
The Cyber Essentials DCPP (Defence Cyber Protection Partnership) internet based Cyber Security Model Risk Assessment has been completed by the RAF User (the Customer), thus the Cyber Risk of this requirement is classified as very low risk. If your company is subsequently invited to tender then your tender must include the completion of the ‘Supplier Assurance Questionnaire’ via the internet based DCPP Cyber Security Model online link: https://suppliercyberprotection.service.gov.uk. This is to demonstrate a supplier's compliance with the required cyber risk level. More information will be published with regards to this process, the evaluation criteria and how to access the information/website within the tender documentation.
The Authority will use a Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) response to create a shortlist of Tenders who are eligible to participate; fulfil any minimum economic, financial, professional and technical standards; and best meet in terms of capacity and capability the selection criteria set out in this PQQ. Full details of the method of choosing the Tenders are set out in the PQQ. It is the intention to down select to between approximately 2 and 6 highest scoring suppliers who will be invited to Tender, providing they meet the overall percentage pass mark of 60 %, do not score any lower than 2 points and receive a pass in any pass/fail questions within the PQQ. If the supplier scores below 2 in any of the questions or receives a fail in a pass/fail question then they will automatically fail the evaluation and will not be invited to participate any further.
The estimated annual contract value is 600 000 GBP. If the estimated annual contract value is greater than 40 % of the supplier's turnover, the Authority reserves the right to exclude the supplier from being selected to tender except where the supplier provides, to the satisfaction of the Authority, evidence showing it has sufficient economic and financial capability, e.g. such evidence may include:
(1) Any additional information proving it has sufficient economic and financial resources to deliver the requirement; and
(2) State whether the supplier is willing to provide the Authority with an indemnity, guarantee or bank bond.
A financial assessment will be undertaken on the supplier's financial status. An overall pass / fail judgement will be made after considering areas such as turnover, profit, net assets, liquidity, gearing and capacity. This assessment will include the Parent company where applicable.

Eligibility requirements: Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents.

Award value: 3900000