Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Highways England
The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN
Contact
Andrew Gowanlock
Roadsidetechnologyteam@highwaysengland.co.uk
Telephone
+44 7590629217
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/highways-england
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Highways England Stopped Vehicle Detection Framework - Accelerated Requirements
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 34920000 - Road equipment
two.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
two.1.4) Short description
Highways England requires the accelerated supply of Stopped Vehicle Detection (SVD) technology to detect individual stopped vehicles in live lanes on Smart Motorway All Lane Running sections of the Network in England.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £16,200,000
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 32352200 - Radar spare parts and accessories
- 34920000 - Road equipment
- 35121900 - Radar detectors
- 38115100 - Radar surveillance equipment
- 48000000 - Software package and information systems
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
To provide the accelerated supply of SVD radar:
• roadside installation will be undertaken by third parties but the supplier will be required to commission the radar solution and may be required to support installation;
• detection technology and a supporting system which provide operators in our Regional Operational Centres with stopped vehicle alerts, enabling action to be taken to intervene;
• the solution will need to be capable of detecting any vehicle permitted to use motorways.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
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.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations
Explanation:
In March 2020 the Government published a smart motorway evidence stocktake and action plan that had been commissioned by the Transport Secretary.
The Transport Secretary has since requested that Highways England consider an acceleration of actions from that plan. In February 2021 the Transport Secretary made a commitment to bring forward the development and installation of stopped vehicle detection (SVD) on the Strategic Road Network (SRN) to 2022. It is for Highways England to deliver on this commitment and it is therefore necessary for Highways England to bring forward the deployment of SVD radar on all existing all lane running sections of the SRN from March 2023 to September 2022.
To achieve this accelerated programme, Highways England had to secure the provision of additional SVD equipment by February 2022.
Highways England previously had two agreements in place for SVD technology both awarded following competed procurement procedures. On 16 July 2020 Highways England awarded a framework (“Lot 1 Framework”) for the provision of a radar SVD solution to Navtech Radar Limited (“Navtech”). A second framework (“Lot 2 Framework”) was awarded to multiple SVD technology providers on 26 February 2021.
Navtech is currently the only provider of technology that has been adequately tested on the SRN and Navtech owns the intellectual property rights to key aspects of the software relating to the radar operation. However, the Lot 1 Framework had already been fully utilised, so it was not possible to acquire further SVD technology under that agreement.
It is also not yet possible to procure a SVD technology solution via the Lot 2 Framework as the suppliers on this framework have not yet had their technologies adequately tested. Even once technology under the Lot 2 Framework is successfully tested, it is estimated that a Lot 2 Framework supplier would not be able to commence supply of a SVD solution until early 2022 at the earliest. This timeframe and the uncertainty around when and if a solution would be successfully tested would not have allowed Highways England to meet its requirement within the necessary timescale.
To meet the deadline to acquire the additional SVD technology by February 2022, Highways England entered into a new agreement with Navtech. The estimated value of the supplies along with associated commissioning and support services under this new agreement is approximately £16.2 million.
This agreement was awarded in accordance with the negotiated procedure without prior publication under Regulation 32(2)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as amended. As set out above, the supplies or services can be supplied only by Navtech because competition is absent for technical reasons, and by virtue of Navtech’s intellectual property rights. No reasonable alternative or substitute existed and the absence of competition was not the result of artificially narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement.
four.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
Highways England Stopped Vehicle Detection Framework - Accelerated Requirements
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
27 April 2021
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Navtech Radar Ltd
Wantage
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £16,200,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Highways England Ltd
The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN
Roadsidetechnologyteam@highwaysengland.co.uk
Country
United Kingdom