Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU
Contact
Eve Masters
Country
United Kingdom
Region 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
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Health
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Supply of Warehouse Services
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 63122000 - Warehousing services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The rationale for the bonded warehouse services was to provide bonded warehousing for the safe storage of crucial PPE products purchased by DHSC in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was part of an urgent requirement and response to the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring that PPE, which was required to be distributed across the country was safely stored for DHSC in Shanghai while DHSC arranged for the PPE to be transported to the UK. The contract provides bonded Warehouse services in Shanghai and was a direct award pursuant to Regulation 32 (permitting the use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication on the basis of extreme urgency as a result of the pandemic). A formal written contract was not finalised with Uniserve at the outset of this arrangement but the agreement was formalised and signed in January 2023 with a term of 30 October 2020 to 30 September 2022.
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: £33,000,000
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- CN - China
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, DHSC considers Covid-19 to be a state of urgency that has been brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority could not have foreseen. This was also confirmed by the European Commission. A response to the pandemic was therefore required in order to safeguard public health risks and risk to life by securing safe and continued provision of PPE and thus, provision of storage of that PPE.
Accordingly, DHSC entered into a contractual arrangement with Uniserve for the provision of PPE storage from October 2020 to 31 March 2021 with extensions to the arrangement from April 2021 to September 2022. The award of this contract followed the negotiated procedure without prior publication pursuant to Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, relying on Regulation 32(2)(c) ‘extreme urgency’.
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:
Pursuant to Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, contracting authorities are permitted to utilise the negotiated procedure without prior publication in cases of extreme urgency. The European Commission declared the Covid-19 Pandemic as an event of extreme urgency which was not foreseeable to diligent contracting authorities. DHSC was responsible for purchasing PPE as a response to the pandemic in safeguarding public health risks and risk to life. This contract was commenced at a time where PPE was in short supply and organisations from across the world required supply of PPE. As such DHSC purchased some of its PPE from Chinese suppliers and had to store the PPE supply in China while it arranged for the transport of the PPE to the UK. DHSC considers that the purchase of bonded storage for the PPE in China was strictly necessary, given the high demand for PPE across the world and the fact that the PPE needed to be stored before it could be transported to the UK; the Covid-19 pandemic did create circumstances of extreme urgency for the purchase and storage of PPE brought about by events unforeseeable to DHSC given the unforeseeable nature of the Covid-19 pandemic, which meant that the time limits for the open or restricted or competitive procedures could not be complied with. The events of extreme urgency were not brought about by DHSC.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
Section five. Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
24 January 2023
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
UNISERVE LIMITED
Upminster Court 133 Hall Lane, 133 Hall Lane Upminster Essex
Upminster
RM14 1AL
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKH31 - Southend-on-Sea
National registration number
01826635
Internet address
http://www.uniservegroup.co.uk
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: £33,000,000
Total value of the contract/lot: £33,000,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The High Court
The Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
Country
United Kingdom