Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU
FreightContractNotices@dhsc.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKI32 - Westminster
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
Buyer's address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
The provision of freight services for the supply of personal protective equipment and medical equipment
Reference number
C15743
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 63521000 - Freight transport agency services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.2) Description
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:
Direct Award under Reg 32 of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 for COVID-19 response. Contract Award Notice Reference: 2020/S 232-573975. Link: https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:573975-2020:HTML:EN:HTML&tabId=1&tabLang=en.
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or concession
Start date
30 March 2020
End date
31 March 2021
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 four. Procedure
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Contract award notice concerning this contract
Notice number: 2020/S 232-573975
Section five. Award of contract/concession
Contract No
C15743
Title
Contract for the provision of freight services for the supply of personal protective equipment and medical equipment
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:
30 March 2020
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
Uniserve
London Mega Terminal, Thurrock Park Way
Tilbury
RM18 7HD
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
National registration number
Uniserve Group
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: £473,390,310
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
DHSC awarded a contract on 30 March 2020 to Uniserve Limited for the provision of freight services for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical equipment in response to COVID-19 (Contract Award Notice reference 2020/S 232-573975:https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:573975-2020:HTML:EN:HTML&tabId=1&tabLang=en, Contracts Finder Awarded Opportunity Notice: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/1bf4f122-e452-4c32-bf49-d4e002206198). DHSC has agreed to extend the existing agreement by an additional 9 months to now expire on 31.12 2021. DHSC is extending the contract relying on Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to:a) Ensure continuity of services whilst competed contracts are fully mobilised, and;b) Enable goods in transit to complete their journey to long term warehousing including the unloading and release of PPE storage containers.This will include an increase in contract value under this agreement of £99,500,000.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The High Court
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
generaloffice@administrativecourtoffice.justice.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Internet address
Section seven: Modifications to the contract/concession
seven.1) Description of the procurement after the modifications
seven.1.1) Main CPV code
- 63521000 - Freight transport agency services
seven.1.3) Place of performance
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
seven.1.4) Description of the procurement:
Direct Award under Reg 32 of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 for COVID-19 response. The Authority has agreed to extend the agreement by an additional 9 months under Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015.
seven.1.5) Duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or concession
Start date
30 March 2020
End date
31 December 2021
seven.1.6) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession:
£572,890,310
seven.1.7) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
Uniserve
London Mega Terminal, Thurrock Park Way
Tilbury
RM18 7HD
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
National registration number
Uniserve Group
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):
DHSC has agreed to extend the existing agreement by an additional 9 months to now expire on 31.12 2021, under Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015.Regulation 72(1)(b) states: contracts may be modified without a new procurement procedure for additional works, services or suppliers by the original contract that have become necessary and were not included in the initial procurement, where a change of contractor(i) cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability with existing equipment, services or installations procured under the initial procurement, [and](ii) would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the contracting authority,provided that any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.(a) The duration and severity of the COVID 19 pandemic has prompted high levels of demand for various international freight and storage requirements. At this time high volumes of goods are in transit, many in containers awaiting palletisation and transportation to final warehousing storage. The extension of the existing agreement to 31.12.2021 has become necessary to ensure that all of the containers currently in transit are unloaded and returned to their owners, and to ensure that the goods once unloaded are transported to warehousing for longer term storage.(b) Uniserve has in place arrangements with a number of third parties to facilitate these Services under bookings entered in to by it with third parties within the transport logistics chain. Interchangeability with existing services is not possible for practical reasons and to attempt to do so would cause significant inconvenience and substantial duplication in costs for DHSC. Without the extension DHSC will be forced to transfer responsibility for goods in transit including containers from Uniserve on expiry of the contract.(c) DHSC has currently awarded contracts for International Freight and Logistics services under an advertised competitive tender procedure (open procedure) (Contract Notice reference 2020/S 247-615613), which have not yet been fully mobilised. The extension to the existing agreement with Uniserve will preserve continuity of services whilst newly awarded tendered contracts are fully mobilised.(d) the value of the modification is £99,500,000, which is less than 50 % of the original contract value.Note that the modification does not alter the overall nature of the Uniserve agreement. The Services available to the Authority will remain consistent with that upon contract extension.
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:
DHSC awarded a contract on 30 March 2020 to Uniserve Limited for the provision of freight services for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical equipment in response to COVID-19 (Contract Award Notice reference 2020/S 232-573975). DHSC is extending the contract relying on Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to:a) Ensure continuity of services whilst competed contracts are fully mobilised, and;b) Enable goods in transit to complete their journey to long term warehousing including the unloading and release of PPE storage containers.Given that COVID-19 is a new virus, there was no historic data upon which to base requirements at Contract Award. A failure to extend the agreement would cause significant inconvenience and substantial duplication of costs for DHSC.
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: £473,390,310
Total contract value after the modifications
Value excluding VAT: £572,890,310