Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-12-06
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, C&C, Other
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 98371000
Estimated value: 9800000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2018-01-09
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: The Ministry of Defence has a requirement for worldwide repatriation services including the provision of specialist services in the event of a major incident resulting in mass fatalities, for deceased Armed Forces and other entitled personnel. Any resultant contract will be a framework agreement with a single operator, which will not be open to other purchasers, and will be for an initial contract period of 24 months including an option for the Authority to extend for up to a further 24 months.
The Contractor will be required to provide worldwide repatriation services, on an individual or multiple basis for deceased Armed Forces and other entitled personnel. These services may include the provision of specialist services in the event of a major incident resulting in mass fatalities where the Authority is either required to lead the response to the incident or provide assistance. Due to the nature of the requirement, it is not possible to predict how frequently the contractor will be called upon to provide the services.
The Contractor must provide a 365 day/24 hour worldwide repatriation service. The Contractor will be responsible for ensuring the services carried out conforms to medical and legal requirements; the preparation of the body including embalming, facial reconstruction and dressing, provision of coffins and shrouds, preparation and marking of the coffin for movement and arrangement of transport (note: Civil flights will only be used where RAF flights are not available). The Contractor will be required to send staff to Theatres of Military Operation in order to effect repatriation's where there is no local funeral infrastructure and in the event of a major incident be able to provide suitable personnel and be responsible for their security in any Operational/Conflict Zone Worldwide, Overseas Location or, exceptionally in the UK. The Contractor may be required to provide a Mortuary Assistant for an in-Theatre Mortuary.
In the event of a major incident, the Contractor may be required to provide any or all of the following emergency services: deploy a Major Incident Specialist to JCCC to assist in planning; provide Incident Management at the scene; recovery of remains; establish, operate and maintain an incident mortuary (which may include identification and processing of remains) or a body holding provision; assist the Services / local authorities with handling personal effects at the scene under Service supervision; liaise with all agencies; crisis intervention services and critical incident stress management; recovery of deceased bodies or remains; supply, transportation and support maintenance of suitable body storage units in theatre with appropriate mortuary assistants; deal with contaminated/infectious and Bio Hazard issues which need careful handling in order to comply with current and future health and safety regulations; body/body part identification could include (though not be limited to) providing a Forensic Pathologist, Forensic Odontologist, Forensic Print Specialist, Forensic, Photographer, Mortuary Assistant and Embalmer. The Contractor may also be requested to assist the appointed Pathologist in identification.
There have been on average 16 repatriations to the UK or country of origin per year, over the last four years however, due to the nature of the requirement, exact numbers are unknown and could be higher or lower in the future. The figure for the past four years is provided for guidance purposes only and there have been occasions where 150 repatriations have occurred in a one year period. To date, specialist services due to a major incident have not been required, although this is no indication of potential future requirements.
No business whatsoever is guaranteed under any resultant framework agreement or contract indeed there is no guarantee that any framework agreement or contract will be put in place in relation to this notice. No compensation etc. will be paid if a tender or resulting framework agreement is subsequently withdrawn for any reason. Bidders should take part in this process only on the basis that they fully understand and accept this position.
An option will be included for the Authority at its discretion to extend beyond the two year contract in monthly or annual increments up to an additional 24 months.
Two years audited accounts or equivalent must be uploaded within the Suppliers SAQ response on http://www.contracts.mod.uk.
A financial assessment will be undertaken on the supplier's financial status. An overall pass/fail judgement will be made considering areas such as turnover, profit, net assets, liquidity, gearing and capacity. This assessment will include the Parent Company where applicable. An independent financial assessment obtained from a reputable credit rating organisation may be utilised as part of this process.
Any resultant Contract will be subject to the Conditions detailed in the draft HOCS4/00011 Terms and Conditions document, which as well as general conditions includes conditions relating to Specifications, Price, Intellectual Property Rights, Loans, Delivery/Performance, Payments/Receipts and Contract Administration.
TUPE - It is the Supplier's responsibility to consider whether or not TUPE applies to this re-let and to tender accordingly. Notwithstanding this, supplier's may wish to note that it is the Authority's view that TUPE is unlikely to be applicable as the contractor currently undertaking this task, Albin International Repatriation Ltd, has informed the Authority that no employees are in scope for transfer. The Authority shall not be liable for this opinion and it remains the supplier's responsibility to ensure that their tender takes full account of all the relevant circumstances of this contract re-let.
Contractors on Deployed Operations (CONDO) conditions - where the Authority has a requirement for the Contractor, a subcontractor, or both to Deploy to undertake a task at an Expected Work Location in a CONDO Applicable Area, CONDO conditions will apply.
Electronic Trading - 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 https://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),the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin and www.contracts.mod.uk.


Award value: 9800000