ELCAS CONTRACT · UK public procurement notice

CPV: Staff training services

Procedure method

Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition

Legal basis

CELEX · 32009L0081 Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (Directive 2009/81/EC)

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Awarded without competition

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Stand-alone contract (no framework)

Competition type

Direct award (no call for competition)

GPA / WTO covered

Yes (GPA)

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

9 May 2025, 12:24 BST

Last source update

12 May 2025, 09:41 BST

FTS notice number

2025/S 000-020304

Classification (CPV)

Staff training services

Delivery area

UK

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-050fa4 Find a Tender

Why no open competition

The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

Published justification

The Contracting Authority intends to extend the current Contract for the Provision of an Administrative Service for Enhanced Learning Credits (“ELC”) for Military Personnel (Contract Number 701027428) for a further two years. The Contract was let in May 2021, to M-Assessment Services, who later became QIA, after a Restricted procedure competition in which they were the sole bidder. The Contract was for three years with two option years, which have been taken up and is due to expire on 31st July 2026. The further two year extension with the current supplier will continue the Contract until 31st July 2028.

The legal framework for the extension is PCR 72 (1) (b) on the basis that a change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons and would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the contracting authority, as follows:

a. The ELC scheme is undergoing a complete review which is expected to take another 18-24 months. The review will not be completed in time to tender against a revised specification for a new contract from July 2026. Additionally, the Authority is mandated under the government Secure by Design initiative to procure all in scope systems to be designed and built within MoD Cloud. Therefore, if a new supplier were to win the tender for this contract (starting Jan 26 to include 6 month transition/phase in):

1. the Authority would firstly have to pay a new supplier to build their system within MoD Cloud against the current specification for a contract to run from July ’26- Jul ’28 only, and then pay a supplier to build another system against the revised future specification (which is a material change of scope) for another new contract commencing in Jul ’28. This is a clear duplication of costs.
2. Additionally, the architecture of a privately hosted solution (on supplier hosted sites) does not directly translate into the architecture required within MoD Cloud (creating substantial technical interoperability issues).

b. If the Authority extends the current contract under 72(1)(b)(ii):

1. the Authority will be in a position to complete its review of the ELC Scheme and re-procure against the new specification for a longer contract with an intended start date of July 2028;
2. with competitive pressure on suppliers to absorb some or all of the new system build costs (i.e. share the risk);
3. time for meaningful engagement with the market;
4. and a longer RoI period for suppliers due to longer contract length.

In summary, the economic and technical burden on both prospective bidders and the Authority for a new contract from July 2026 is not viable; the proposed extension overcomes this and provides time for a more lucrative tender for contract under the revised specification in 2 years’ time.”

• QIA SERVICES LIMITEDAwarded supplier TEWKESBURY, UK

No document links were published on the notice.