Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
The Legal Aid Agency
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKI32 - Westminster
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/legal-aid-agency
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Other activity
Other publicly funded services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Detained Duty Advice Scheme Services at Derwentside from 1 January 2022
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79100000 - Legal services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The LAA invited Applicants to submit a Tender for an IRC Exclusive Schedule under a 2018 Standard Civil Contract to deliver work conducted in an Immigration Removal Centre (“IRC”) setting through the Detained Duty Advice Scheme (“DDAS”) at the following new IRC;
• Derwentside, County Durham.
The LAA intended to award IRC Exclusive Schedules to a minimum of 3 organisations but there was no upper limit on the number of organisations that may be awarded IRC Exclusive Schedules under this procurement process.
Applicants did not need to be a current legal aid provider to submit a tender, enabling organisations new to legal aid to bid to deliver this work. To have been awarded Contract Work Applicants must:
a) Either:
• Hold a 2018 Standard Civil Contract with authorisation in the Immigration and Asylum Category of Law; or
• Bid for and be awarded a 2018 Standard Civil Contract with authorisation in the Immigration and Asylum Category of Law; and
b) meet the Generic Requirements and the Derwentside IRC requirements set out in section 2 of this Information For Applicants document (“IFA”).
Organisations solely regulated by OISC were not eligible to bid as they would not be able to meet all the tender requirements.
A revised supervisor standard was introduced for this procurement process to ensure the quality of advice provided. This required supervisors to provide additional case examples of common elements of work encountered at IRCs.
Applicants who wished to deliver the above service must have submitted a Tender which consisted of a response to the SQ and the Derwentside IRC ITT.
This opportunity opened on 22 July 2021. The deadline for submitting a Tender was 12 noon on 23 August 2021.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79100000 - Legal services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKC14 - Durham CC
Main site or place of performance
IRC Derwentside, County Durham
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The LAA invited Applicants to submit a Tender for an IRC Exclusive Schedule under a 2018 Standard Civil Contract to deliver work conducted in an Immigration Removal Centre (“IRC”) setting through the Detained Duty Advice Scheme (“DDAS”) at the following new IRC;
• Derwentside, County Durham.
The LAA intended to award IRC Exclusive Schedules to a minimum of 3 organisations but there was no upper limit on the number of organisations that may be awarded IRC Exclusive Schedules under this procurement process.
Applicants did not need to be a current legal aid provider to submit a tender, enabling organisations new to legal aid to bid to deliver this work. To have been awarded Contract Work Applicants must:
a) Either:
• Hold a 2018 Standard Civil Contract with authorisation in the Immigration and Asylum Category of Law; or
• Bid for and be awarded a 2018 Standard Civil Contract with authorisation in the Immigration and Asylum Category of Law; and
b) meet the Generic Requirements and the Derwentside IRC requirements set out in section 2 of this Information For Applicants document (“IFA”).
Organisations solely regulated by OISC were not eligible to bid as they would not be able to meet all the tender requirements.
A revised supervisor standard was introduced for this procurement process to ensure the quality of advice provided. This required supervisors to provide additional case examples of common elements of work encountered at IRCs.
Applicants who wished to deliver the above service must have submitted a Tender which consisted of a response to the SQ and the Derwentside IRC ITT.
This opportunity opened on 22 July 2021. The deadline for submitting a Tender was 12 noon on 23 August 2021.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 100
Cost criterion - Name: Price / Weighting: N/A
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
Open procedure
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2021/S 000-017422
Section five. Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded: No
five.1) Information on non-award
The contract/lot is not awarded
Other reasons (discontinuation of procedure)
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
On 22 July 2021, the LAA published an invitation to tender for Detained Duty Advice Scheme (“DDAS”) Services at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre (“IRC”) from 1 January 2022 on its eTendering portal.
In accordance with the LAA’s right to do so pursuant to paragraph 9.24 of the Invitation to Tender Information for Applicants (“IFA”) document, Applicants are notified that the LAA has cancelled the procurement process in its entirety.
This means that the LAA will not proceed with the award of any IRC Exclusive Schedules or 2018 Standard Civil Contracts under that procurement process.
The decision to cancel the procurement process for DDAS Services has been taken as a result of receiving insufficient compliant tenders that met the minimum requirements detailed in the IFA. The procurement process would not have resulted in the award of at least 3 Exclusive Schedules to adequately provide DDAS Services.
To provide access to DDAS services for Clients at Derwentside IRC from 1 January 2022, the LAA will seek to continue the existing contingency arrangements, which were established on 18 August 2021 (but which have not yet been used due to the postponement of the IRC opening), for a period of 6 months (until 30 June 2022). During this time the LAA will review the volumes of Clients at the IRC and how services are being delivered to inform its approach to procuring these services.
The published Cancellation Notice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-tender-activity-2021
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Legal Aid Agency
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR)
70 Fleet Street
London
EC4Y 1EU
Country
United Kingdom