Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Caxton House, Tothill Street
London
Contact
Mark Cranshaw
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
Development and Live Support of the DWP Digital Children's Platform
Reference number
ecm_5692
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
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:
The supplier currently provides Application Development and Live Support services to the Department for Work and Pensions under a contract awarded on 27/09/2018.
The primary purpose of the contract is to provide development and maintenance in relation to the core Child Maintenance Scheme (CMS) 2012 application so that it remains operational and fit for use. The CMS2012 application underpins the CMS 2012 System and enables the Child Maintenance Group’s (CMG's) administration of child maintenance services.
The services provided under the contract include the provision of delivery of products, projects and programmes, architecture strategy, product design, engineering and quality (build and test), service management and support/development/enhancement of application functionality to meet and deliver evolving business requirements.
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or concession
Start date
1 October 2018
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: 2021/S 000-005376
Section five. Award of contract/concession
Contract No
ecm_5692
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:
27 September 2018
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
Tata Consultancy Services Limited
18 Grosvenor Place
London
SW1X 7HS
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: £36,000,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
This notice links to the voluntary ex ante transparency notice, 2021/S 000-005376, published on 17th March 2021.
DWP will be imminently publishing the relevant notices with regards the procurement to re-tender the services provided under this contract.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London
WC24 2LL
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
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
seven.1.3) Place of performance
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
seven.1.4) Description of the procurement:
The contract was awarded as a call-off contract under the Digital Outcomes and Specialists 2 framework. It provided for a 2-year initial term from 1st October 2018 with a right for DWP to extend for a further period of up to 6 months, which was exercised in August 2020 and is currently due to expire on 31st March 2021.
This notice confirms that an extension of up to an additional 12 months to 31st March 2022 has become necessary to mitigate the high risk of disruption to the critical public services provided by CMG which are dependent on the CMS2012 application. The extension will allow for the delivery of key business and transformation initiatives to enable DWP to efficiently transition and exit from the contract.
Under the contract, the supplier provides digital teams for the Development and Live Support of the DWP Digital Children & Families service line technology estate, primarily the Child Maintenance Scheme (CMS) 2012 System which is underpinned by the CMS2012 application. Digital teams support the delivery of outcomes for required regular releases to deploy a range of additional business and technical requirements and provide live support to the production system, within a complex multi-application, multi-supplier environment, to ensure it remains current with legislation, operational and fit for use.
In addition, the contract supports all applications in the CMG IT estate which have interfaces to various other applications used within DWP. The CMG IT estate is integrated into the critical public services provided by DWP that UK citizens rely on for the payment of their benefit and pensions. Issues with the service continuity of CMG’s systems, including those supported under this contract, are likely to impact other areas of DWP service provision.
For these reasons, as explained below, DWP considers the proposed extension to be justifiable under Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, namely Regulation 72(1)(b), 72(1)(c) and 72(1)(e)
Technical (including interoperability) reasons prevent a change of contractor: Significant elements of the CMG IT estate are based on tightly coupled, highly customised Commercial Off the Shelf products. Detailed functional knowledge of the customisations to support CMG’s processes is required in addition to product knowledge. This functional knowledge rests with the incumbent supplier. Transferring responsibility for managing, supporting and modifying the solution to another supplier without having completed CMG’s planned key business and transformation initiatives would therefore carry a high risk of disruption to service continuity, with elements that another supplier may be unable to support or replicate.
A change of contractor would cause significant inconvenience: Transition to a new supplier before 31 March 2021 would have led to inevitable service disruption of the critical public services delivered by the Child Maintenance Scheme (CMS) 2012 System which is underpinned by the CMS2012 application resulting in significant inconvenience to DWP.
Unforeseen circumstances: The COVID-19 pandemic is an event that DWP could not have foreseen. The impact of COVID-19 resulted in the decision to extend the contract rather than re-compete during 2020 as COVID-19 delayed delivery of all CMG planned work.
No alteration in the overall nature of the contract: The variation will extend the length/increase the value of the contract but will not alter the nature of the contract.
Any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract: The maximum value for the extension period will be limited to £14.58m. The original published contract value was £36m, and the extension value will therefore fall within the 50% threshold.
No substantial change: Aside from length and value, there will be no changes made to the contract’s terms.
seven.1.5) Duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or concession
Start date
1 October 2018
End date
31 March 2022
seven.1.6) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession:
£14,583,333
seven.1.7) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
Tata Consultancy Services Limited
18 Grosvenor Place
London
SW1X 7HS
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 modification will extend the length/increase the value of the contract but makes no substantial change to the nature of services provided by the supplier.
This notice confirms an extension of up to an additional 12 months to 31st March 2022 and an increase to the total contract value of up to £14,583,333.
Aside from as regards length and value, there will be no changes made to the contract's terms.
seven.2.2) Reasons for modification
Need for modification brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority/entity could not foresee.
Description of the circumstances which rendered the modification necessary and explanation of the unforeseen nature of these circumstances:
This extension is permissible under Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, namely Regulation 72(1)(b), 72(1)(c) and 72(1)(e).
The extension has become necessary to accommodate CMG’s changing requirements bought about by the impact of COVID-19. Services provided under the contract had to be refocused on COVID-19 related priorities. This meant that the delivery of key business and transformation initiatives to enable DWP to safely transition and exit from the contract were delayed. An extension of up to 12 months will allow for delivery of these key projects and safe exit and transition from the contract.
Unforeseen circumstances: The COVID-19 pandemic is an event that DWP could not have foreseen. As explained above, the impact of COVID-19 resulted in the decision to extend the contract rather than re-compete during 2020 as COVID-19 delayed delivery of all CMG planned work.
Further explanation is set out in section VII.1.4 of this notice.
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: £36,000,000
Total contract value after the modifications
Value excluding VAT: £50,583,333