Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Government Legal Department
102 Petty France
London
SW1H9GL
procurement@governmentlegal.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Justification for not providing organisation identifier
Not on any register
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-legal-department
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
National or federal Agency/Office
one.5) Main activity
Other activity
Legal Services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Legal Subscription Services
Reference number
GLD048 2023
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79980000 - Subscription services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
An online legal subscription service.
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: £8,600,000
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79980000 - Subscription services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
An online legal subscription service, which provides large and sophisticated databases of legal information (e.g. case law) for the UK and abroad.
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated without a prior call for competition
- The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
- protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights
Explanation:
The Government Legal Department ("the Contracting Authority") is intending to enter into a contract with Thomson Reuters Professional UK Limited ("TR") for the provision of online legal resource information services.
In summary, TR provides access to an online legal database containing unique content that the Contracting Authority requires. This content can only be made available from the source publisher i.e. TR. Further, Westlaw Edge and Practical Law are proprietary services which contain unique content only published by TR.
The purpose of this VEAT notice is to provide sufficient notice of the intention to award a four year contract to TR, in accordance with Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) and 32(b)(iii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("PCR").
Having reviewed its requirements for this contract, the Contracting Authority has concluded that an award to TR is permissible under Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) and (iii) of the PCR because TR (i) is the only supplier in the market that can provide these technical services to the required specification and (ii) has protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights. The Contracting Authority is satisfied that no reasonable alternative or substitute exists and the absence of competition is not as a result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement.
The Contracting Authority shall enter into the contract with TR ten days after the date on which this VEAT notice is published.
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/concession
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
18 April 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
Thomson Reuters Professional UK Limited
London
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
Companies House
1679046
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £8,600,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Government Legal Department
London
Country
United Kingdom