Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Office for National Statistics
Government Buildings,Cardiff Road
NEWPORT
NP108XG
Contact
Sophie Keal
Telephone
+44 1329890246
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Justification for not providing organisation identifier
Not on any register
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/ons/aspx/Home
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Other type
Non departmental government body
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Provision of ONS Field Interviewers
Reference number
PU-24-0178
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79620000 - Supply services of personnel including temporary staff
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Field Interviewers at ONS conduct interviews, collect household data and provide support to complete online surveys with members of the public for a number of official surveys, to help inform Government about the state of the nation. Sampled addresses for ONS interviewers to visit are nationally spread and ONS currently has a fieldforce of c500 permanent interviewers.
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: £970,000
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Field Interviewers at ONS conduct interviews, collect household data and provide support to complete online surveys with members of the public for a number of official surveys, to help inform Government about the state of the nation. Sampled addresses for ONS interviewers to visit are nationally spread and ONS currently has a fieldforce of c500 permanent interviewers. This represents a shortfall of interviewers across England, Wales & Scotland in certain locations within which Contingent labour is required on a fixed term basis to provide ONS field interviewer resource. There are a number of limitations on civil service recruitment rules currently impacting on ONS ability to recruit field interviewers into targeted areas on a permanent basis. A specialist recruitment agency is required to source and place candidates to fulfil the ONS field interviewer role in specified areas on a fixed term basis.
The current contract is governed by the Crown Commercial Services RM6277; Provision of Non Clinical Staff Lot1 - Admin & Clerical
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: 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:
ONS are currently nearing completion of a major survey transformation project, moving its Labour Force survey from an offline data collection survey (i.e interviewer administered data collection ) to a predominantly online survey (i.e self completion, as per census).
The survey design for the new transformed labour force survey requires field interviewers to visit addresses in certain areas who have not completed the online survey, in order to encourage completion and provide support. These addresses tend to be more clustered within major conurbations and 'harder to reach' community groups - such as those living in flats, younger people and those within the lower classifications of the index of multiple deprivation (i.e the more deprived). Given this profile of addresses to visit, ONS has a higher demand for interviewer resource in certain geographic areas and is struggling to recruit requisite interviewer resources into these areas through its current civil service recruitment process.
ONS Social Surveys Operations is responsible for collecting the data for the social and economic surveys commissioned by government departments and other public bodies. It acts as a bridge between the Government and the people, providing information and making it possible for policy makers to keep in touch with the circumstances and opinions of the general public and to plan for future public services to meet the needs of the population.
ONS is seeking to increase the extension available with Randstad Solutions Limited to 5 months, increasing the contract value by £300k. This is due to the numbers of additional staff being increased due to the continuation of the Labour force survey (LFS). Randstad recruited field staff meet all essential criteria to fulfil the role and had the necessary training needed to continue to carry out the work.
ONS may extend the contract by up to 5 months.
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
5 January 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
Randstad Solutions Limited
450 Capability Green
Luton
LU1 3LU
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
Companies House
02389033
Internet address
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: £970,000
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £970,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
High Court of England and Wales
Royal Courts of Justice, Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
Telephone
+44 2079477882
Country
United Kingdom