Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Department for Work and Pensions
Peel Park Control Centre, Brunel Way
Blackpool
Contact
Liz Johnstone
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
£124,144,297
Reference number
Publication reference: 2018/S 160-367327
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72223000 - Information technology requirements review services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Lot No
72000000
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement at the time of conclusion of the contract:
This modification is an extension of the contract awarded to the supplier in 2018 as last modified in 2018 under publication reference 2018/S 160-367327. The contract is for the provision of managed IT services to the Authority. Following this modification, the contract is now due to expire on 28.2.2025 (the ASIS Contract). The ASIS Contract supports the Authority’s separate contract for health and disability assessment services (HDAS) for a range of social security and other benefits (including Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit). It was extended under this modification for 3 years to enable the service to be safely transitioned prior to the ultimate migration to the DWP Health Assessment Service (HAS) digital service.
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or concession
Start date
9 June 2014
End date
28 February 2025
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
Section five. Award of contract/concession
Contract No
ecm_2208
Title
Assessment Service Information Systems (ASIS) Contract
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:
9 June 2014
five.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract/concession has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
Atos IT Services UK Limited
Second Floor, Mid City Place, 71 High Holborn
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (at the time of conclusion of the contract;excluding VAT)
Total value of the procurement: £124,144,297
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
Suppliers Instructions:
How to Express Interest in this Tender:
1. Register on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once):
https://dwp.bravosolution.co.uk & click the link to register - Accept the terms & conditions & click 'continue' - Enter your correct business & user details - Note your chosen username & click 'Save'. You will receive an email with your password (keep this secure)
2. Express an Interest in the tender - Login to the portal with the username/password - Click the 'PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers' link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier) - Click on the relevant exercise to access the content. - Click the 'Express Interest' button at the top of the page. - This will move the PQQ /ITT into your 'My PQQs/ My ITTs' page. (A secure area reserved for your projects only) -You can now access any attachments by clicking 'Buyer Attachments' in the 'PQQ/ ITT Details' box
3. Responding to the tender - Click 'My Response' under 'PQQ/ ITT Details', you can choose to 'Create Response' or to 'Decline to Respond' (please give a reason if declining) - You can now use the 'Messages' function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification - Note the deadline for completion. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT - There may be a mixture of online & offline actions to complete (detailed online help available). To submit your reply use the 'Submit Response' button (top of the page).
For further assistance please consult the online help, or the eTendering help desk.
DWP expressly reserves the rights(i)to use a reverse auction; (ii)to cancel this procurement at any stage; (iii)to not award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice; (iv)and in no circumstances will DWP be liable for any costs incurred by potential suppliers.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Royal Courts of Justice
London
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
Review procedures are as set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Proceedings under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 are time limited, and any such proceedings must be brought in the High Court of England and Wales.
Section seven: Modifications to the contract/concession
seven.1) Description of the procurement after the modifications
seven.1.1) Main CPV code
- 72223000 - Information technology requirements review services
seven.1.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
seven.1.3) Place of performance
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
Main site or place of performance
UK - United Kingdom
seven.1.4) Description of the procurement:
This modification is an extension of the Contract awarded to the Supplier in 2014 as last modified in 2018 under publication reference: 2018/S 160-367327 for the provision of managed IT services to the Authority. Following this modification, the contract is now due to expire on 28.2.2025 (the ASIS Contract). The ASIS Contract supports the Authority’s separate contract for health and disability assessment services (HDAS) for a range of social security and other benefits (including Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit). It was extended under this modification for 3 years to enable the service to be safely transitioned prior to the ultimate migration to the DWP Health Assessment Service (HAS) digital service.
seven.1.5) Duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or concession
Start date
9 June 2014
End date
28 February 2025
seven.1.6) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession:
£124,144,297
seven.1.7) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
Atos IT Services UK Limited
Second Floor, Mid City Place, 71 High Holborn
London
WC1v 6EA
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
seven.2) Information about modifications
seven.2.1) Description of the modifications
Nature and extent of the modifications (with indication of possible earlier changes to the contract):
The ASIS Contract was awarded on 9 June 2014. It was modified in 2018 to include options to extend and under that modification was due to expire on 28 February 2022. This notice confirms that a further extension has been made to the ASIS Contract to effect a necessary extension of 3 years so the ASIS Contract will now expire on 28 February 2025.
The extension period is necessary to ensure the Department can continue to support live service for health and disability assessments, provide business continuity for the HDAS contract, ensure this digital service is able to support the Department’s future requirements for health assessment services and support the DWP’s proposed future strategy for the ASIS service which, in essence, is continued provision of ASIS through to a controlled migration to DWP’s Health Assessment Service (HAS). In order to bridge the period between the existing ASIS contract and this migration, DWP will initially need to extend the current ASIS Contract.
A 3-year extension of the service is required due to the significant technical and time restrictions of all other options. Extension of the contract will provide the following benefits:
• service continuity will be maintained;
• implementation of the optimum solution for delivery of ASIS services post February 2025 will continue to be taken forward in the period following execution of the extension
• implementation of the necessary mandatory projects required to both ensure that the ongoing services for health and disability assessments continue to be supported and facilitate transition to another provider prior to expiry of the extension .
For these reasons, as explained more fully in Section IV and Annex D, the Department considers the proposed extension to be justifiable under Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, namely Regulation 72(1)(b). The amendments comprising the extension will not be made before the end of a period of at least 10 days from the day after the date of publication of this notice.
seven.2.2) Reasons for modification
Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire.
Description of the economic or technical reasons and the inconvenience or duplication of cost preventing a change of contractor:
The extension of the ASIS Contract was necessary to maintain the service for the health and disability assessments it supports, and accommodate the changing requirements for future delivery of assessments following Covid-19. Not extending the Contract would ultimately have resulted in a virtual closure of the gateway to income replacement benefit of c.£15b of AME spend per annum.
The previous DWP strategy, reflected in the last extension of the ASIS Contract in 2018, was transition from the ASIS Contract into a new in-house digital solution by February 2022. However, substantial changes in the direction of the Health Transformation Programme (HTP) and in the IT strategy underpinning the HTP mean that completing the transition to HAS by February 2022 was no longer achievable. The HTP has also been significantly impacted by Covid-19 and the revised strategy imposed operational constraints on the timelines and transition for the ASIS services required to support delivery.
seven.2.3) Increase in price
Updated total contract value before the modifications (taking into account possible earlier contract modifications, price adaptions and average inflation)
Value excluding VAT: £91,732,642
Total contract value after the modifications
Value excluding VAT: £124,144,297