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Services - 547575-2020
13/11/2020    S222

United Kingdom-London: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

2020/S 222-547575

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Services

Legal Basis:
Directive 2014/24/EU

Section I: Contracting authority/entity

I.1)Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Justice
Postal address: 102 Petty France
Town: London
NUTS code: UK UNITED KINGDOM
Postal code: SW1H 9AJ
Country: United Kingdom
Contact person: Rachel Scott
E-mail: rachel.scott@justice.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 2033343555
Internet address(es):
Main address: https://www.justice.gov.uk
I.4)Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5)Main activity
General public services

Section II: Object

II.1)Scope of the procurement
II.1.1)Title:

Application Maintenance and Support Services

II.1.2)Main CPV code
72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
II.1.3)Type of contract
Services
II.1.4)Short description:

Contract for the supply of application maintenance and support services.

II.1.6)Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7)Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: 90 000 000.00 GBP
II.2)Description
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
48000000 Software package and information systems
72200000 Software programming and consultancy services
72262000 Software development services
72266000 Software consultancy services
72267000 Software maintenance and repair services
II.2.3)Place of performance
NUTS code: UK UNITED KINGDOM
Main site or place of performance:

Nationally, to include MoJ headquarters, HM Courts and tribunals centres, and a range of other locations.

II.2.4)Description of the procurement:

To provide:

(i) application maintenance and support for over 50 business-critical applications the majority of which are used by HM Courts and Tribunal Service; and

(ii) potential application development and enhancement services, as and when required.

The applications vary in size, complexity, component technologies, user numbers, interfaces with other applications, security requirements, service and support hours, business criticality and hosting arrangements. Most of the applications are classed as ‘heritage applications’ due to their age. Many are business critical case management or case progression systems used by the courts and are typically complex and bespoke. Applications may be removed from scope as they are retired/replaced.

II.2.5)Award criteria
II.2.11)Information about options
Options: no
II.2.13)Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
II.2.14)Additional information

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)Description
IV.1.1)Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without prior publication
  • The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
    • absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:

The authority relies on Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) (Use of negotiated procedure without prior publication) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 namely: the services can only be provided by a particular economic operator, the incumbent supplier (CGI IT UK Limited), who has been providing the services forming the subject matter of this contract under a contract with the authority for the last 5 years three months which is due to expire on 30 November 2020, because competition is absent for technical reasons, and no reasonable alternative substitute exists and the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement for the following reasons.

(a) no other supplier has the necessary technical knowledge and experience to provide the services, because

(i) most of the applications are bespoke and ‘heritage applications’ with many over 15 years old. The heritage applications are difficult to maintain because of their age and complexity and the extent to which they have been changed over the years and require very specialist technical knowledge and experience, e.g. skills/experience in using aged programming languages such as Fortran, COBOL, Pascal and C. The number of people with the skills, knowledge and experience to maintain and/or enhance them is limited outside CGI, which has developed significant knowledge and experience of how the applications were built and developed and how they operate and interface with each other; and

(ii) delivering the services relies on non-live development and test environments, and management access to the live environments, both to provide ongoing support and to undertake application development/enhancement. For a replacement supplier to provide the services, they would need access to the same/equivalent existing non-live development and test environments. To build and implement equivalent development and test environments would take around 12 months and be challenging, expensive and risky without the necessary application knowledge/experience. A replacement supplier would additionally need to establish infrastructure, connectivity and processes to allow secure management access to the live environments, e.g. to investigate maintenance issues or for boarding purposes i.e. to deploy new applications/code.

(b) even if it was theoretically possible that another supplier did have the necessary technical knowledge/experience, which the authority does not consider to be the case, it is estimated to take a minimum of 18-24 months for a procurement to be run and any replacement supplier to be able to deliver the services (6 to 12 months to run a competition to award to another supplier depending on the route/process and around 12 months to transition) whereas the services are required from 1 December 2020.

IV.1.3)Information about framework agreement
IV.1.8)Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: no
IV.2)Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession

Title:

Application Maintenance and Support Services

V.2)Award of contract/concession
V.2.1)Date of contract award decision:
09/11/2020
V.2.2)Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: no
V.2.3)Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
Official name: CGI IT UK Ltd
Postal address: 20 Fenchurch Street, 14th Floor
Town: London
NUTS code: UKI LONDON
Postal code: EC3M 3BY
Country: United Kingdom
The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: no
V.2.4)Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: 90 000 000.00 GBP
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: 90 000 000.00 GBP
V.2.5)Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Value or proportion likely to be subcontracted to third parties
Proportion: 19 %
Short description of the part of the contract to be subcontracted:

Support and/or optional development services for some of the applications.

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.3)Additional information:

The initial term of the contract is for 21 months (1 December 2020 — 31 August 2022), with an option to extend for a further period of up to 12 months. The contract enables the authority to terminate services at its convenience and it is envisaged that a number of applications will be removed from scope over the term as they are retired/replaced and as in-house software delivery capability is developed. The authority intends to commence a competitive procurement process for the maintenance/support of the remaining applications during the initial term.

The estimated maximum contract value for this contract (GBP 90 000 000) is based on estimated service charges of GBP 45 000 000 and potential project work charges of up to GBP 45 000 000, and assumes the option to extend the term is exercised. The project work is entirely optional and is not guaranteed, the extension may not be necessary, and applications may be removed from scope over the term, so the actual cost of this contract may be lower than the estimated maximum contract value.

VI.4)Procedures for review
VI.4.1)Review body
Official name: High Court
Postal address: Royal Courts of Justice, Strand
Town: London
Postal code: WC2A 2LL
Country: United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 2079476000
VI.4.2)Body responsible for mediation procedures
Official name: High Court
Postal address: Royal Courts of Justice, Strand
Town: London
Postal code: WC2A 2LL
Country: United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 2079476000
VI.4.4)Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
Official name: High Court
Postal address: Royal Courts of Justice, Strand
Town: London
Postal code: WC2A 2LL
Country: United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 2079476000
VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:
09/11/2020