Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Ministry of Defence
Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX
Contact
Jonathan McNiven
jonathan.mcniven101@mod.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Defence
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
HOLMES 2 Application
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72512000 - Document management services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Acquisition of HOLMES 2 application to investigate major incidents
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: £375,742
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
IT system specifically designed to investigate major incidents
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:
The Secretary of State for Defence intends to enter into a supply contract with Unisys Ltd for the purchase of HOLMES 2 application to enable MOD to set up a Major Incident Room (“MIR”) functionality within the ModNet (Secret) Cloud. This application is an IT system specifically designed to investigate major incidents. This is In accordance with the provisions of The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 SI No. 2020/1319, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as amended (in particular by SI 2020/1319). Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (as required by the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 32(b)(ii) of the PCR 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons
Within Defence, the Service Justice System is required to operate in accordance with the Armed Forces Act 2006 and the Laws of England and Wales. This includes operating to College of Policing guidelines (MIRSAP 2021 and the Major Crime Investigation Manual 2021) which lay out how serious and complex crime must be investigated. Unisys HOLMES 2 is the only system accredited by the NPCC (National Police Chiefs Council) for the purpose of setting up MIRs. The MIR is the repository for all material gathered from the public, enquiry officers and other sources. It is managed using standardised administrative procedures and supports the Senior Investigating Officer to direct and control the investigation. As such, the Service Justice System is held up against the same levels of scrutiny as other Home Office Police Forces and hence the required application must enable the Service Prosecuting Authority and Military Court Service to obtain the same performance data as the Crown Prosecution Service and His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service in order to be compliant with Home Office and College of Policing Standards.
The Defence Serious Crime Command (DSCC) is establishing a MIR which requires a system for gathering and processing evidence which is SUKEO (Secret for UK Eyes Only). The HOLMES 2 application has been developed by Unisys (built on the Unisys Law Enforcement Application Framework (U-LEAF) and is a bespoke application designed to meet the complex requirements of MIR Standard Administrative Procedures (“MIRSAP 2021”) in line with the unique technical requirements for investigating serious, complex crimes/incidents.
The HOLMES 2 application is the only accredited UK national application for investigating complex crime and is accredited by the Home Office. The DSCC have an urgent operational requirement to bring the application into service within the ModNet (Secret) Cloud by 4 December 2023 in order to conduct urgent investigations at SUKEO and respond to allegations identified from the Independent Inquiry into Deliberate Detention Operations in Afghanistan.
Unique technical features of HOLMES 2 include but are not limited to:
• Searching
• Incident Linking
• Exhibit/Property Management
• Disaster Victim Identification compliant with Interpol standards.
• Associations
• Tag Management
• Disclosure & Case Preparation
• Covert Operations.
• Digital Evidence Vault and Management Store
• Ensures chain of custody of evidence through preservation of original assets with an audit trail
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
HOLMES 2 Application
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
22 October 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
Unysis Ltd
51-55 Gresham Street,
London
EC2V 7EL
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
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: £375,742
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
MOD
Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX
Country
United Kingdom