E.L.M Payments Development (Lot-1) and Payments Verification (Lot-2) Prior Information Notice

Defra’s E.L.M. programme requires the provision of two separate flexible contracts with suppliers with the agricultural and ecological expertise required for 1. developing payment rates and 2. the independent verification of the calculated rates.

The tender seeks to establish 2 separate call-off contracts for Lot-1 (consisting of sub lot-1A and Lot-1B) of the tender and Lot-2 of the tender.

It is expected that Lot 1A and 1B will be delivered by a single supplier, while Lot 2 will be delivered by a separate independent supplier to Lot 1A and 1B to maintain objectivity of the verification.

The contracts would initially be for a fixed 2 years, followed by the possibility of two 1-year extension up to a maximum of 4 years in total.

Further high level details of the lots are as follows:

LOT-1: Payments Data, Calculations and bespoke ad hoc research

• Lot-1A) Technical support for the calculation of E.L.M. payment rates
• The production of new building blocks that are needed for E.L.M actions, with clear sources of data and assumptions. Primarily this will be national averages, but some local/bespoke building blocks will be required (see Annex 1 for worked examples).
• Generate assumptions, in collaboration with DEFRA specialists, needed for payment calculations on how an E.L.M action affects a particular farming system.
• Construct payment calculations, using the above information, in our payments calculator and ensure our model can be scaled up in size for new payment calculations.
• Lot-1B) Provide support to E.L.M. payment policy development through bespoke research projects, as specified and agreed between E.L.M. and the supplier(s) throughout the contract.

LOT-2: Verification of Payments Data calculated (by the contractor awarded lot-1A).

An independent consultancy to provide assurance on the data, assumptions and payment calculations produced in lot-1A) to ensure they stand up to scrutiny from the main bodies interested in the technicalities of our payment calculations.