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Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions

Other: Public Procurement

The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: no

Whitehall social mobility internship programme.

Services
Service category No 27: Other services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: UK.

NUTS code UK

The notice involves a public contract

To appoint a supplier who can manage and deliver key aspects of the Whitehall social mobility internship programme that will enable individuals from underrepresented backgrounds to increase their professional experiences and workplace skills.

The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): yes

This contract is divided into lots: no

Variants will be accepted: no

To appoint a supplier who can manage and deliver key aspects of the Whitehall social mobility internship programme that will enable individuals from underrepresented backgrounds to increase their professional experiences and workplace skills.
Estimated value excluding VAT:
Range: between 220 000 and 485 406 GBP

Options: yes
Description of these options: This Contract is for a period of 3 years (36 months). The Authority retains the unilateral right, by providing not less than 3 months’ written notice to the supplier, to extend the Contract by any number of further periods, the aggregate of which shall not exceed 2 years (24 months). The estimated value figures given are estimates only for the initial 3 year period of the Contract.

Duration in months: 36 (from the award of the contract)

Potential providers will be advised if this is necessary during the procurement. Parent company and/or other guarantees of performance and financial liability may be required by the Government procurement service if considered appropriate.

No special legal form is required but if a Contract is awarded to a consortium, Government procurement service may require the consortium to form a legal entity before entering into the Contract.

The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: no

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: Potential providers will be assessed in accordance with part 4 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, as amended (implementing title II, Chapter V11, Section 2 of Directive 2004/18/EC), on the basis of information provided in response to a pre-qualification questionnaire (“PQQ”).

Potential providers must express interest and submit completed pre-qualification questionnaires using the Government procurement service e-Sourcing Portal that can be accessed at https://governmentprocurementservice.bravosolution.co.uk using the following instructions:

1. Navigate to the Portal: https://governmentprocurementservice.bravosolution.co.uk;

2. Select the ‘Click here to register!’ link;
3. Read, accept the terms and conditions and select ‘continue‘;
4. Enter the correct business and user details;
5. Note the username you chose and select [Save] when complete, then [Close Window];
6. You will be sent an e-mail with a unique password (keep this secure);
7. Login to the Portal with your username/password;
8. Select the link ‘PQQs Open to All Suppliers’;
9. Select the name of the PQQ to access information about the procurement;
10. Select the ‘Express Interest’ button (Note: this will move the PQQ from the open area into the ‘My PQQs’ section);
11. You can now access the published documents from the ‘Buyer Attachments’ area.
For assistance please contact our Helpdesk operated by BravoSolution: freephone: +44 8003684850.

E-mail: help@bravosolution.co.uk.

Responses must be published by the date in IV.3.4.

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: Potential Providers will be assessed in accordance with Part 4 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, as amended (implementing Title II, Chapter V11, Section 2 of Directive 2004/18/EC), on the basis of information provided in response to a PQQ.

The PQQ can be accessed at https://governmentprocurementservice.bravosolution.co.uk using the instructions detailed in III.2.1.

Government Procurement Service may take into account any of the following information:
(a) appropriate statements from banks or, where appropriate, evidence of relevant professional risk indemnity insurance;
(b) the presentation of balance-sheets or extracts from the balance-sheets, where publication of the balance-sheet is required under the law of the country in which the economic operator is established;
(c) a statement of the undertaking's overall turnover and, where appropriate, of turnover in the area covered by the contract for a maximum of the last three financial years available, depending on the date on which the undertaking was set up or the economic operator started trading, as far as the information on these turnovers is available.

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met:
Potential providers will be assessed in accordance with part 4 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, as amended (implementing title II, Chapter V11, Section 2 of Directive 2004/18/EC), on the basis of information provided in response to a PQQ.

The PQQ can be accessed at https://governmentprocurementservice.bravosolution.co.uk using the instructions detailed in III.2.1.

The Government Procurement Service may have regard to any of the following means in its assessment:
(a) A list of the works carried out over the past 5 years, accompanied by certificates of satisfactory execution for the most important works. These certificates shall indicate the value, date and site of the works and shall specify whether they were carried out according to the rules of the trade and properly completed. Where appropriate, the competent authority shall submit these certificates to the contracting authority direct;
(b) A list of the principal deliveries effected or the main services provided in the past 3 years, with the sums, dates and recipients, whether public or private, involved. Evidence of delivery and services provided shall be given:
— Where the recipient was a contracting authority, in the form of certificates issued or countersigned by the competent authority,
— Where the recipient was a private purchaser, by the purchaser's certification or, failing this, simply by a declaration by the economic operator.
(c) An indication of the technicians or technical bodies involved, whether or not belonging directly to the economic operator's undertaking, especially those responsible for quality control and, in the case of public works contracts, those upon whom the contractor can call in order to carry out the work;
(d) Where the products or services to be supplied are complex or, exceptionally, are required for a special purpose, a check carried out by the contracting authorities or on their behalf by a competent official body of the country in which the supplier or service provider is established, subject to that body's agreement, on the production capacities of the supplier or the technical capacity of the service provider and, if necessary, on the means of study and research which are available to it and the quality control measures it will operate;
(e) The educational and professional qualifications of the service provider or contractor and/or those of the undertaking's managerial staff and, in particular, those of the person or persons responsible for providing the services or managing the work;
(f) A statement of the average annual manpower of the service provider or contractor and the number of managerial staff for the last 3 years;
(g) A statement of the tools, plant or technical equipment available to the service provider or contractor for carrying out the contract;
(h) An indication of the proportion of the contract which the services provider intends possibly to subcontract.

Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: no

Accelerated restricted
Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure: To benefit people from underrepresented communities and contribute to the Government's ambition to improve social mobility, a Whitehall social mobility internship programme is being developed which will run from March / April 2012 to March / April 2014 (or March / April 2016 if the Contract is extended). The programme in 2012 must take place in the two week window, 13th to 24th August, between the Paralympics and Olympics to ensure the Health and Safety of the interns by avoiding the peak periods when the highest levels of disruption are expected within London, therefore the accelerated restricted procedure is required to ensure sufficient lead in time for the supplier to start the application and selection procedure to meet this two week window. Using this procedure is essential as any other procedure would be rendered impractical for reasons of urgency, as only this procedure would meet the urgent need of the Authority for the programme in 2012 to take place in the two week window between the Paralympics and Olympics, 13th to 24.8.2012.

Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates: Any potential provider who achieves a Pass mark for all of the questions contained within the pre-qualification questionnaire will be invited to tender.

The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

An electronic auction will be used: no

RM925

no

6.2.2012 - 15:00

14.2.2012

English.

Place:

Electronically, via e-tendering tool.

Persons authorised to be present at the opening of tenders: no

This is a recurrent procurement: no

The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no

Potential providers should note that, in accordance with the United Kingdom Government’s policies on transparency, the Government procurement service (who is undertaking this procurement on behalf of the Authority) intends to publish the invitation to tender (ITT) document, and the text of any Contract awarded, subject to possible redactions at the discretion of the Government procurement service.
The Government procurement service expressly reserves the right:
(i) Not to award any Contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice; and
(ii) To make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering competition; and in no circumstances will the Government procurement service be liable for any costs incurred by the potential providers. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken prior to Contract award is accordingly a matter solely for the commercial judgement of potential providers.
This Contract will be owned, controlled and maintained by the Cabinet Office; however other public bodies may benefit from the services to be provided to Cabinet Office under it.

Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: The Government procurement service on behalf of the Authority will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar day standstill period at the point information on the award of the Contract is communicated to potential providers. Those who are unsuccessful shall be informed by the Government procurement service as soon as possible after the decision has been made as to the reasons why they were unsuccessful. If an appeal regarding the award of the Contract has not been successfully resolved, The Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (SI 2006 No. 5) provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by breach of the rules to take legal action. Any such action must be brought within the applicable limitation period. Where a Contract has not been entered into, the Court may order the setting aside of the award decision or order the Government procurement service to amend any document and may award damages. If the contract has been entered into the Court may, depending on the circumstances, award damages, make a declaration of ineffectiveness, order the Government procurement service or the Authority to pay a fine, and/or order that the duration of the Contract be shortened. The purpose of the standstill period referred to above is to allow the parties to apply to the Courts to set aside the award decision before the Contract is entered into.

26.1.2012