Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Westminster City Council
64 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6QP
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKI32 - Westminster
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.westminster.gov.uk/
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
Collection of Waste, Street Cleansing and Ancillary Services
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 90000000 - Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Collection of Waste, Street Cleansing and Ancillary Services in Westminster City Council’s administrative area. This VEAT notice is in respect of a proposed extension to the contract awarded in 2010. It is not the award of a new contract. See additional information at Sections II.2.4, IV.1.1 and Annex D.
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: £795,662,526
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKI32 - Westminster
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Council is not awarding a new contract, it is modifying an existing contract awarded to Veolia ES (UK) Limited (“Veolia”) on 16th September 2010 to extend the term of the contract by a further three years. See further information at IV.1.1 and Annex D.
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:
This notice does not relate to the award of a new contract, but rather the modification of an existing contract described at Section II.2.4 above (the “2010 Contract”). The Council considers that the proposed modification to the 2010 Contract must necessarily be carried out by the current contractor pursuant to Regulation 72(1)(b) Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (‘PCR’) and is not ‘substantial’ pursuant to Regulation 72(1)(e) PCR. Accordingly the modification may lawfully be agreed between the parties and implemented without the need to conduct a fresh procurement procedure.
Regulation 72(1)(b) PCR has been satisfied for the following reasons:
• The Council considers that the current contractor must continue to provide the services for the extension period for economic and technical reasons as Veolia provides the depot sites for the services and there is no other suitable land currently available in the region. The Council has conducted a land availability exercise and is in the process of finding land to develop its own depot solution in order to offer these facilities to all potential bidders and thereby run a meaningful procurement exercise in the near future.
• Soft market testing of the relevant waste industry, conducted by the Council, has shown that were the Council to advertise a relet of the services at this time, only the current contractor would be able to meet its tendered requirements, and this would likely be at a significantly higher price than the current contract for the same level of service, due to the lack of available land other than that held by the current contractor. Therefore a change of contractor would cause substantial duplication of costs for the Council.
The Council’s forecasting exercise shows that the extension period is commensurate with the period required to procure and develop its depot solution. Further, the value of the extension will not exceed 50% of the original contract value in accordance with Regulation 72(1)(b) PCR. The original contract value was £518,000,000, the anticipated spend to 15 September 2024 is £594,576,840 and the value of the proposed 3-year extension is £201,085,686.
Further, the proposed modification is not ‘substantial’ within the meaning set out in Regulations 72(1)(e) and 72(8) PCR for the following reasons:
• The character of the 2010 Contract and the services to be delivered by the Contractor will remain substantially the same and is not rendered materially different in character from the one originally concluded.
• The extended contract term would have made no difference to the outcome of the procurement had it been part of the initial procurement procedure.
• The proposed extension does not considerably extend the scope of the 2010 Contract.
• The proposed extension does not change the economic balance of the 2010 Contract in favour of the Contractor in a manner not provided for in the 2010 Contract.
• There is to be no replacement of the contractor to whom the Council had initially awarded the 2010 Contract.
Notwithstanding the above and without prejudice to the Council’s reasons for considering the proposed modification to be permitted under Regulation 72 PCR, in the event that the proposed modification is deemed to be an award of contract under the PCR, it would in any case be permitted under Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) PCR because competition is absent for technical reasons and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists, and the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement. As described above, market testing has demonstrated that the services can only be provided by the current contractor due to the lack of available land meaning that no other provider would currently be able to provide the contract.
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
Title
Collection of Waste, Street Cleansing and Ancillary Services
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
8 August 2023
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
Veolia ES (UK) Limited
210 Pentonville Road
London
N1 9JY
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKI - London
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: £795,662,526
five.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
High Court
London
Country
United Kingdom