The Contracting Authority seeks expressions of interest from service providers for securing concessions to provide Employers’ Checking Service (ECS) to potential employers of migrants who hold Biometric Residence Permits (BRP) issued by UK Border ...
Contract award notice
Services
Section I: Contracting authority
I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s)
Home Office
UK Border Agency, IG Commercial Team, 5th Floor St Anne House, Wellesley Rd, Surrey
Contact point(s): Croydon
For the attention of: Jim Cairns
CR0 9XB Croydon
UNITED KINGDOM
Telephone: +44 2086041675
E-mail:
I.2)Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.3)Main activity
General public services
Public order and safety
Social protection
Public order and safety
Social protection
I.4)Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities
The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: yes
Section II: Object of the contract
II.1)Description
II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract
Provision of an Employers’ Checking Service (ECS) to employers of migrants who hold Biometric Residence Permits.
II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance
Services
Service category No 27: Other services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: United Kingdom.
Service category No 27: Other services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: United Kingdom.
NUTS code UK
II.1.3)Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)
II.1.4)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)
The Contracting Authority seeks expressions of interest from service providers for securing concessions to provide Employers’ Checking Service (ECS) to potential employers of migrants who hold Biometric Residence Permits (BRP) issued by UK Border Agency (UKBA).
This is a voluntary notice as it relates to a service concession under Regulation 6 (2)(m) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 and as such, in carrying out this competitive process the Contracting Authority is not obliged to follow the detailed rules and procedures set out in Directive 2004/18/EC and the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, SI 2006 05. This notice is to alert interested economic operators of the start of a competitive process, and does not mark the start of a regulated procedure. The competitive process will involve proposals from suppliers on the scope of services and the nature of commercial terms. This process will be similar to the restricted procedure as detailed in the Public Procurement Regulations 2006 and will be set out in the tender documentation.
The Contracting Authority intends to award service concession agreements for 4 years, with options for two further 1 year extensions. These concessions are available for use by other government departments and agencies, including other agencies of the Home Office.
The services which are the subject of the concessions may comprise in outline:
- provide a web-based, high availability interface comprising:
-- user management,
-- data gathering,
-- data staging,
-- secure transfer of data to and from the authority in near real time,
-- display of return data,
-- check history management,
- maintain data in flight and in storage in a secure fashion in line with the HMG Security Policy Framework,
- take and manage payments from customers,
- produce and provide regular Management Information,
- implement a support framework to internally resolve issues with its ICT equipment and maintain customer service,
- promote the service in line with the concession agreement,
- the architecture must be capable of supporting future entitlement verification services.
The Authority may require optional future services enabling remote checks, which may include:
- biometric chip reading technology for download,
- biometric chip reading hardward for sale/rent.
The concession will be offered in one lot comprising the services required for Employers’ Checking Service. Economic operators may only tender for the lot in its entirety. Further details are given below.
1. Variant bids may only be considered if they meet UKBA standards and offer superior customer value.
2. Any service providers who are successful in being granted a concession to provide employers' checking services to the public will generate income through charging a fee to those members of the public who wish to use the service. UKBA anticipates a period of technological and service development and testing after the award of concession and before the service is offered to the public. Service providers will be responsible for funding all development and deployment activities. This service is to be cost neutral to the Contracting Authority.
3. Service providers who progress to the invitation to tender stage will be asked to quote prices that they propose to charge for the services. These proposed prices will be assessed for competitiveness as part of the tender evaluation.
4. The services must be available widely within the UK.
5. UKBA is looking for one supplier to provide the Employers’ Checking Service, but may consider a greater number depending on the nature of offers made. UKBA reserves the right to make the concessions available to other parts of the Home Office and other government departments.
This is a voluntary notice as it relates to a service concession under Regulation 6 (2)(m) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 and as such, in carrying out this competitive process the Contracting Authority is not obliged to follow the detailed rules and procedures set out in Directive 2004/18/EC and the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, SI 2006 05. This notice is to alert interested economic operators of the start of a competitive process, and does not mark the start of a regulated procedure. The competitive process will involve proposals from suppliers on the scope of services and the nature of commercial terms. This process will be similar to the restricted procedure as detailed in the Public Procurement Regulations 2006 and will be set out in the tender documentation.
The Contracting Authority intends to award service concession agreements for 4 years, with options for two further 1 year extensions. These concessions are available for use by other government departments and agencies, including other agencies of the Home Office.
The services which are the subject of the concessions may comprise in outline:
- provide a web-based, high availability interface comprising:
-- user management,
-- data gathering,
-- data staging,
-- secure transfer of data to and from the authority in near real time,
-- display of return data,
-- check history management,
- maintain data in flight and in storage in a secure fashion in line with the HMG Security Policy Framework,
- take and manage payments from customers,
- produce and provide regular Management Information,
- implement a support framework to internally resolve issues with its ICT equipment and maintain customer service,
- promote the service in line with the concession agreement,
- the architecture must be capable of supporting future entitlement verification services.
The Authority may require optional future services enabling remote checks, which may include:
- biometric chip reading technology for download,
- biometric chip reading hardward for sale/rent.
The concession will be offered in one lot comprising the services required for Employers’ Checking Service. Economic operators may only tender for the lot in its entirety. Further details are given below.
1. Variant bids may only be considered if they meet UKBA standards and offer superior customer value.
2. Any service providers who are successful in being granted a concession to provide employers' checking services to the public will generate income through charging a fee to those members of the public who wish to use the service. UKBA anticipates a period of technological and service development and testing after the award of concession and before the service is offered to the public. Service providers will be responsible for funding all development and deployment activities. This service is to be cost neutral to the Contracting Authority.
3. Service providers who progress to the invitation to tender stage will be asked to quote prices that they propose to charge for the services. These proposed prices will be assessed for competitiveness as part of the tender evaluation.
4. The services must be available widely within the UK.
5. UKBA is looking for one supplier to provide the Employers’ Checking Service, but may consider a greater number depending on the nature of offers made. UKBA reserves the right to make the concessions available to other parts of the Home Office and other government departments.
II.1.5)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
75130000
II.1.6)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): no
II.2)Total final value of contract(s)
II.2.1)Total final value of contract(s)
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1)Type of procedure
IV.1.1)Type of procedure
Accelerated restricted
IV.2)Award criteria
IV.2.1)Award criteria
The most economically advantageous tender in terms of
1. Qualitative. Weighting 60
3. Financial. Weighting 40
1. Qualitative. Weighting 60
3. Financial. Weighting 40
IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction
An electronic auction has been used: no
IV.3)Administrative information
IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority
IMO 11 215/2
IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract
no
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: IMO 11 215/2V.1)Date of contract award decision:
15.2.2012
V.2)Information about offers
Number of offers received: 2
V.3)Name and address of economic operator in favour of whom the contract award decision has been taken
Atos IT Services UK Ltd
1 Triton Square Regents Place
NW1 3HG London
UNITED KINGDOM
V.4)Information on value of contract
V.5)Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1)Information about European Union funds
VI.2)Additional information:
Organisations who have complied with the foregoing will receive details of how to access and complete the online non-disclosure and ethical behaviour agreement request. This request must be fully completed and submitted no later than "12:00 hrs 18.8.2011 GMT".
Tenderers will be required to complete this agreement before they will be granted access to the PQQ/RFI which will close "12:00 hrs 5.9.2011 GMT".
The contracting authority reserves the right to:
- abandon the competitive process and not award any contract,
- award more than one contract,
- make any changes it sees fit to the competitive process,
- remove and/or amend element(s) from the scope of the requirements,
- accept any tender unless the tenderer expressly stipulates otherwise.
Tenderers should note that the contracting authority regards evaluation of tenders as a continuous process right up to award of contract. Due consideration will be given to any relevant factors that come to light during this process and further information may be sought at any time.
In the event of an unsatisfactory finding at any stage in the evaluation process, the contracting authority reserves the right to disqualify the company concerned from the competition without compensation.
The contracting authority uses an eSourcing toolkit to enable its sourcing activities to be conducted over the internet. Any organisation intending to submit an expression of interest must be registered as a supplier with the Home Office eSourcing Portal. To register, visit the portal’s login page at https://sourcing.homeoffice.gov.uk and complete the online registration form by clicking on the "register supplier organisation" link in the top right-hand corner of the page. The entire process should take no more than 10 minutes and need only be completed once. Passwords are issued via email, normally within 1 working day.
Please contact the eSourcing Help Desk for support in completing the online registration process; call +44 1633813950 or email .
Once registered, organisations intending to submit an expression of interest must send an email to any time up to, but no later than "12:00 hrs 17.8.2011 GMT". The email should be entitled "IMO 11 215/2 ECS - non-disclosure and ethical behaviour agreement" and contain the following details:
Your organisation’s name; your contact’s email address; your contact’s name and your contact’s telephone number.Organisations who have complied with the foregoing will receive details of how to access and complete the online non-disclosure and ethical behaviour agreement request. This request must be fully completed and submitted no later than "12:00 hrs 18.8.2011 GMT".
Tenderers will be required to complete this agreement before they will be granted access to the PQQ/RFI which will close "12:00 hrs 5.9.2011 GMT".
Any expressions of interest not submitted in the required form (or containing the requested information) may be rejected. If, however, you believe that there are reasons as to why you would be unable to use the eSourcing service, please let us know by emailing and we will consider how best to overcome your difficulties.
The contracting authority is not responsible for any bidding costs incurred by interested suppliers in respect of this competition.The contracting authority reserves the right to:
- abandon the competitive process and not award any contract,
- award more than one contract,
- make any changes it sees fit to the competitive process,
- remove and/or amend element(s) from the scope of the requirements,
- accept any tender unless the tenderer expressly stipulates otherwise.
Tenderers should note that the contracting authority regards evaluation of tenders as a continuous process right up to award of contract. Due consideration will be given to any relevant factors that come to light during this process and further information may be sought at any time.
In the event of an unsatisfactory finding at any stage in the evaluation process, the contracting authority reserves the right to disqualify the company concerned from the competition without compensation.
VI.3)Procedures for appeal
VI.3.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures
VI.3.2)Lodging of appeals
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: The contracting authority will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar day standstill period at the time the award of contract(s) is communicated to tenderers. This period allows unsuccessful tenderers to seek further debriefing from the contracting authority before the contract is entered into. Such additional information should be requested from the address at I.1.
VI.3.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained
VI.4)Date of dispatch of this notice:
17.2.2012