Official UK procurement notice
Witness Service (2023 - 2027)
Authority: Ministry of Justice (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis notice launches the competition for the provision of the Witness Service contract (2023 - 2027).
The Witness Service offers a basic level of support to all witnesses, including:
Providing information to witnesses about their rights and the process of giving evidence.
Greeting witnesses on the day of trial, acting as a generally supportive presence and supporting HMTCS staff escorting witnesses through court buildings (including the use of special entrances for witnesses) and relaying messages from the court room.
The service also offers witnesses a visit to the court building before their trial so they can familiarise themselves with the environment.
Outreach support' is additionally offered for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses (VIW). This comprises initial meetings away from the court environment to help prepare them and manage their expectations about the process.
CPV: Justice services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The Witness Service is an existing service which will be recommissioned
The Witness Service is an existing service which will be recommissioned. The Witness Service has operated in all Criminal Courts in England and Wales since 2003, with a combination of volunteers and paid staff providing emotional and practical support to prosecution and defence witnesses to enable them to give their best evidence.
The future service will be materially similar to the current model. However, we will also examine options for future improvement through effective engagement with the market.
The Ministry of Justice is seeking a provider to provide support guided by the following principles, reflecting our vision for the service:
To continue to deliver a service for witnesses attending court - building on the existing model for support and the significant benefits it provides to witnesses.
To provide the service flexibility to better respond to new challenges, including pandemic-like scenarios, future use of Nightingale courts, Extended Operating Hours and support witnesses in giving remote and pre-recorded evidence.
To improve the service at a detailed level, learning lessons from victim policy in recent years. This will include working to create a more trauma-informed approach, improving the accessibility of the service and improving partnership working with victim advocates.
To create opportunities within the service design to test ambitious options for future improvement of the service, including through digital support.
The anticipated quantity or scope is an estimate of the potential value of the contract and does not in any way guarantee any level of expenditure. The estimated cost range is real in 2022, does not account for inflation. All values should be considered as indicative only.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 7 Feb 2022, 22:45 GMT
- Last source update
- 7 Feb 2022, 22:45 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- 7 Feb 2022 – …
- FTS notice number
2022/S 000-003498- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-031445Find a Tender
Publisher note: The services being awarded are listed within Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) and so pursuant to regulation 74 will be subject to the light regime under which the Authority is not obliged to comply with the full requirements of the PCR. The Authority will conduct an Open procedure and will comply with its obligations of equal treatment, transparency, non-discrimination and proportionality at all times during the procurement. 2. QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT: Details of the objective criteria for selecting a winning bidder will be set out in the procurement documents. 3. ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL ASSESSMENT Details of the Authority's approach to Economic and Financial assessment will be set out in the procurement documents. 4 AWARD CRITERIA: The award criteria will be based on the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT), evaluated on a Price per Quality Point (PQP) basis. Variant bids will not be permitted 5.REGISTRATION: The Authority will be performing events through its e-Sourcing Portal known as Jaggaer. The e-Sourcing Portal is an online application that allows all potential suppliers to create and submit their responses to any SQ and tenders via the internet. Bidders Instructions to express an interest in this tender 1). Login to the Portal with the username/password. 2) Click the 'PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers' link. (These are pre-qualification questionnaires or invitations to tender open to any registered supplier). 3) Click on the relevant SQ/ ITT to access the content using the following: Project Code - prj_7250 ITT Code - ITT_5936 4). Click the Express Interest button at the top of the page. This will move the ITT into your My ITTs page. This is a secure area reserved for your projects only. 5) You can now access any attachments by clicking Buyer Attachments in the ITT Details box. Instructions on how to submit a tender will be provided.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 18 Mar 2022, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission","written"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Participation fee
- document
- Bids opened
- 7 Feb 2022
Timeline
7 Feb 2022 → 1 Apr 2023 · 4 dates- Bids opened7 Feb 2022
- Notice published7 Feb 2022, 22:45 GMT
- Submission deadline18 Mar 2022, 12:00 GMT
- Contract starts1 Apr 2023, 00:00 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria
- Technical selection criteria