Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Cornwall Council
County Hall, Treyew Road
Truro
TR1 3AY
Contact
Mr Jeff Goostrey
Telephone
+44 1872322024
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKK3 - Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Community Testing: Lateral Flow Device (LFD) Testing
Reference number
DN528256
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 85140000 - Miscellaneous health services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Urgent Covid-19 response requirement for Community Testing to conduct Lateral Flow Device (LFD) testing services at a number of testing centres across Cornwall in order to allow businesses to book LFD tests for their employees.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £350,000 / Highest offer: £602,000 taken into consideration
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKK3 - Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Urgent Covid-19 response requirement for Community Testing to conduct Lateral Flow Device (LFD) testing services at a number of testing centres across Cornwall in order to allow businesses to book LFD tests for their employees.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Cost criterion - Name: LFD Testing / Weighting: 100
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
- Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority
Explanation:
1. There are genuine reasons for treating this contract with extreme urgency.
The Government asked local authorities to provide a testing service for people who have to go to work during the current lockdown.
2. The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable.
The need for large scale LFD testing could not have been predicted as it relates mainly to the increased infectivity of the new variant of coronavirus.
3. It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCRs. The Council could conduct an accelerated procurement under the open procedure (15 days).
Standard procedure with accelerated timescales of 15 days could have a significant impact on covid transmission and also business continuity at this difficult phase in the pandemic. The programme is due to run until 31st March (but may be extended). Therefore 15 days is a significant proportion of the programme timescale.
4. The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority..
Previously community testing (known as DPH led testing) was only available to LAs in Tier 3 and above restriction levels so not available to Cornwall. Most learning has come from urban models such as Liverpool. Therefore, we have no local experience and very little experience from rural areas to draw on.
Since the announcement on 10th January we have been developing a workplace based model that will be run using Council staff working with local businesses to set up their own programme. This is because the need to travel to a community testing site twice weekly for testing will be considerable barrier to taking part in this scheme for many workers in our rural county. It was previously proposed that home based testing would be authorised by MHRA and previous communication from DHSC suggested this may be from 18th January. On this basis we also worked up a home testing proposal with Devon and Cornwall Police but we have now been informed that home based testing will not be authorised for this programme.
On January 18th the Government announced asymptomatic testing for primary schools and nurseries. On January 21st it was confirmed that private, voluntary and independent providers would not be included and there was an expectation that these settings and childminders would be covered by LA community testing programmes. At this point the delivery model had to be revised to include some community testing sites as workplace based testing could not cover this cohort.
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
DN528256
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
1 March 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
Cornwall Ambulance Service Limited
Gloweth House Unit 10 Great Brynn Barton Roche
St Austell
PL26 8LH
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKK3 - Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
National registration number
12299846
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Lowest offer: £350,000 / Highest offer: £602,000 taken into consideration
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The Cornwall Council
County Hall
Truro
TR1 3AY
Country
United Kingdom