Official UK procurement notice
Regular Asymptomatic Testing in NI Special Education Needs Schools
Authority: Education Authority NI (Education)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionRegular Asymptomatic Testing in NI Special Education Needs Schools
CPV: Health services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- 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
- 29 Mar 2021, 17:56 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Dec 2021, 12:35 GMT
- Authority reference
EDR 21-004- FTS notice number
2021/S 000-032061- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02a0a5Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons; Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority/entity and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive
- Published justification
The weekly asymptomatic testing service of 10,000 special school staff (teaching, non-teaching and ancillary) and students with special educational needs is urgently required due to the emergency situation regarding Covid-19 within Special Educational Needs schools in Northern Ireland and will ensure that these schools can remain open during the current period of restrictions. The service will run in all 39 Special Educational Needs schools within Northern Ireland from March 2021 to the end of June 2021. The samples will be tested using the direct LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) method as this is a viable and readily available deliverable method and is less invasive for children in Special Educational Needs schools and therefore uptake is likely to be maximised and testing objectives met. Queen’s University Belfast is part of the UK national plan for testing and is the only laboratory that is accredited within Northern Ireland to provide all elements of the testing service including the requirement for the testing to be turned around with results within several hours. The aim of this service is to find asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases so they can be isolated along with their contacts, therefore reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the school settings, and consequently the wider community. Special Educational Needs schools are remaining open during the current period of restrictions, and while children, even those with significant underlying medical conditions, do not generally become very unwell if they contract COVID-19, some children in Special Educational Needs schools have extremely complex medical needs and all possible steps must be taken to protect them from COVID-19. Any infection can be serious for them as their baseline condition is so fragile. The provision of this service will also contribute to reducing the rate of infections in Special Educational Needs Schools as regular testing will identify cases either before they are symptomatic, or asymptomatic cases, allowing immediate self-isolation, thereby reducing the potential for wider transmission, both within the school and in the contact groups of pupils and staff.
Publisher note: The weekly asymptomatic testing service of 10,000 special school staff (teaching, non-teaching and ancillary) and students with special. educational needs is urgently required due to the emergency situation regarding Covid-19 within Special Educational Needs schools in Northern Ireland and will ensure that these schools can remain open. The service will run in. all 39 Special Educational Needs schools within Northern Ireland from March 2021 to the end of March 2022 with the provision to extend until 30th November 2022 following advice from the Public Health Agency regarding testing in Special Education Needs Schools. The samples will be tested using the direct LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) method as this is a viable and readily available deliverable method and is less invasive for children in Special Educational Needs schools and therefore uptake is likely to be maximised and testing objectives met. Queen’s University Belfast is part of the UK national plan for testing and is the only laboratory that is accredited within Northern Ireland to provide all elements of the testing service including the requirement for the testing to be turned around with results within several hours. The aim of this service is to find asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases so they can be isolated along with their contacts, therefore reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the school settings, and consequently the wider community. Special Educational Needs schools have remained open during the Pandemic and while children, even those with significant underlying medical conditions, do not generally become very unwell if they contract COVID-19, some children in Special Educational Needs schools have extremely complex medical needs and all possible steps must be taken to protect them from COVID-19. Any infection can be serious for them as their baseline condition is so fragile. The provision of this service will also contribute to reducing the rate of infections in Special Educational Needs Schools as regular testing will identify cases either before they are symptomatic, or asymptomatic cases, allowing immediate self-isolation, thereby reducing the potential for wider transmission, both within the school and in the contact groups of pupils. and staff.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
22 Dec 2021 → 23 Dec 2021 · 2 dates- Notice published22 Dec 2021, 12:35 GMT
- Contract starts23 Dec 2021
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's University BelfastContract | £1,430,000 † | — | Awarded |
| Queens University BelfastRegular Asymptomatic Testing in NI Special Educational Needs Schools | £1,430,000 †same award published again · counted once | — | Awarded |
| Queens University BelfastRegular Asymptomatic Testing in Northern Ireland Special Educational Needs Schools | £2,115,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Regular Asymptomatic Testing in Northern Ireland Special Educational Needs Schools · Queens University Belfast
- Signed
- 31 Mar 2021
- Value
- £2,115,000
- Period
- 23 Dec 2021 – 30 Nov 2022
- Status
- active
- Change Contract to be extended to 31st March 2022 with the provision to extend to 30th November 2022 on advice from the public health agency regarding testing in special education needs schools., Need for modification brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority/entity could not foresee: The original contract covered asymptomatic Testing in SENS over the school term provided by Queens University Belfast up until 30 June 2021. A subsequent modification extended the contract for a further period up to 31 August 2021 to cover children attending summer schemes. There is now a requirement to extend the LAMP testing further to ensure provision of testing for pupils up to 31st March 2022 with the provision to extend up to and including 30th November 2022. The decision to extend past the 31st March 2022 will be based on advice from the Public Health Agency regarding testing in special education needs schools. This modification is in accordance with Regulation 72 (1) (c) and will comply with each of the following conditions pertaining to this regulation as outlined below: (ii)the modification does not alter the overall nature of the contract (services provided will remain the same); (iii)the value of the modification does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract
Contract · Queen's University Belfast
- Signed
- 29 Mar 2021
- Value
- £1,430,000
- Period
- … – 31 Mar 2022
- Status
- active
Regular Asymptomatic Testing in NI Special Educational Needs Schools · Queens University Belfast
- Signed
- 29 Mar 2021
- Value
- £1,430,000
- Period
- 23 Jul 2021 – 31 Aug 2021
- Status
- active
- Change Contract to be Extended to cover the period 01 July 2021 to 31 August 2021, Need for modification brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority/entity could not foresee: The original contract covered asymptomatic Testing in SENS over the school term provided by Queens University Belfast up until 30 June 2021. There is now a requirement to extend the LAMP testing to ensure provision of testing for pupils attending summer schemes and additional services provided by the school over July and August. The contract value was based on 100% uptake however to date the uptake has been considerably lower ensuring that this extension will not result in a breach of the original contract value. This modification is in accordance with Regulation 72 (1) (c) and will comply with each of the following conditions pertaining to this regulation as outlined below: (ii)the modification does not alter the overall nature of the contract (services provided will remain the same); (iii)the value of the modification does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids · 1 electronic · 1 from abroad | 0 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- Education AuthorityContracting authority
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- The UK does not currently have any such bodies with responsibilities for appeal/mediation proceduresReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY BELFASTAwarded supplier
- Queens University BelfastAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.