Coastal, Flood and Infrastructure Professional Services Framework Agreement: Southern Coastal Group and SCOPAC (covering England)

Portsmouth City Council ('the council') on behalf of the Southern Coastal Group (SCG) and SCOPAC (the Regional Coastal Group for central southern England), is inviting requests to participate, from suitably qualified consultants for inclusion onto a multi-supplier Coastal, Flood & Infrastructure Professional Services Framework Agreement.

The framework is due to be awarded on 29th October 2021 and will run for a period of four years until 28th October 2025. The established framework will consist of six suppliers split over two tiers. Tier 1 will consist of 3-4 suppliers. Tier 2 will consist of 2-3 suppliers and will act as a contingency resource.

All suppliers must have the ability to provide comprehensive multi-disciplinary services within the role of lead consultant. A non-exhaustive list of the essential and wider optional services that may be sourced via the framework agreement is stated within Section II.2.4.

The framework will be available to all current and future SCG and SCOPAC members who are classified as Contacting Authorities. The current list of members is provided within Section II.2.3. All current member organisations support the establishment of the framework agreement and have expressed interest in using the agreement once operational.

In addition, the framework will also be accessible to all contracting authorities situated within England. To date, no commitment to use the framework has been made by any contracting authorities outside of the SCG and SCOPAC region and the council cannot provide any guarantee of take-up.

The value of the framework is estimated to be in the region of £5M over 4 years based upon the forecast requirements of SCG and SCOPAC members. In the event of further schemes or take up by other Contracting Authorities across England, the total value of the framework could increase to up to £50M, however a figure £15M is more likely. The values attributed to additional schemes and additional take up is a top level estimate only and should not be taken as any form of guarantee.

The average value of commissions called off via the framework by SCG and SCOPAC is likely to range from £150K to £500K. However, there is also likely to be frequent commissions below £50K and on occasion in excess of £1million.

Once established, contracting authorities will have a variety of call-off mechanisms and contracting options available for use which include for both mini-competition and direct award options as summarised within Section II.2.4.

Call-off contracts will be let using either the NEC4 PSC or TSC in either the long or short form and with the choice of all options as proportionate and relevant to the services which are being commissioned.

The framework will be established using the Restricted Procedure as set out within the Public Contracts Regulations (2015). The council anticipates shortlisting a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 suppliers from assessment of returned Supplier Selection Questionnaire submissions who will then be invited to tender.

The procurement procedure will be run in accordance with the following summary programme:

• FTS Notice issued - Monday 17th May 2021
• SSQ documents published - Monday 17th May 2021
• SSQ deadline for clarification requests - Friday 11th June 2021 12:00
• SSQ return deadline - Monday 21st June 2021 12:00
• Conformation of shortlisted suppliers - Monday 12th July 2021
• Invitation to tender issued - Friday 30th July 2021
• Tender return deadline - 10th September 2021 12:00
• Interviews - W/C 27th September 2021
• Award decision notification - Monday 18th October 2021
• Award - 29th October 2021
• Framework commencement - November 2021

Application is via submission of completed Supplier Selection Questionnaire and associated documentation via the Council's e-sourcing system InTend which is accessible via: in-tendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/home ↗. The system will be used to administrate the procurement process.