Official UK procurement notice
Witness Services (2023-2027) · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Ministry of Justice (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionWe would like to invite interested parties to attend an online Supplier Event which will take place on 20 October 2021.
To express an interest either in attending this event and/or participating in this competition please email: VW.National.Services@justice.gov.uk
The form of response should be limited to the provision of a single point of contact (full company name, contact name, job title, e-mail address and telephone number).
CPV: Justice services · Law-courts-related administrative services · Legal advisory and information services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The Ministry of Justice will shortly commence the procurement of a new contract for…Planned
The Ministry of Justice will shortly commence the procurement of a new contract for the Witness Service.
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.
Indicative project milestones include:
Competition Live - December 2021
Award confirmed and transition commenced - August 2022
Launch of the Future Witness Service (latest) - January 2021
The scope of the service, is being finalised, including through feedback from the market, and will be confirmed in the Contract notice.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Past planning notice
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 30 Sept 2021, 22:45 BST
- Last source update
- 7 Oct 2021, 22:45 BST
- FTS notice number
2021/S 000-025125- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02e6a7Find a Tender
Publisher note: The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to: (i) Inform the market of a prospective contract opportunity in connection with the procurement for the Future Witness Service; and (ii) give notice of the MoJ's intention to request feedback that may be relevant to the procurement strategy that may be adopted by the MoJ. The Authority plans to hold a Supplier Event on Wednesday 20 October 2021. Suppliers interested in attending the event should confirm their interest by 5pm on Thursday 14 October 2021 by sending an email to the Future Witness Service commercial team at VW.National.Services@justice.gov.uk. The form of response should be limited to the provision of a single point of contact (full company name, contact name, job title, e-mail address and telephone number). The Authority will then issue invitations to all interested parties, confirming the timings and location of the events. Details of interested parties shall be added to the Authority’s e-sourcing portal, in order to share information.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
7 Oct 2021 → 15 Dec 2021 · 2 dates- Notice published7 Oct 2021, 22:45 BST
- Tender notice expected15 Dec 2021
Notice history
3 releases on Find a TenderPublished amendments (2 · 0 deadline changes)
| When | What | Before | After | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | TextII.1.4) | The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to: (i) Inform the market of a prospective contract opportunity in connection with the procurement for the Future Witness Service; and (ii) give notice of the MoJ's intention to request feedback that may be relevant to the procurement strategy that may be adopted by the MoJ. The Authority plans to hold a Supplier Event on Friday 8 October 2021.… | The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to: (i) Inform the market of a prospective contract opportunity in connection with the procurement for the Future Witness Service; and (ii) give notice of the MoJ's intention to request feedback that may be relevant to the procurement strategy that may be adopted by the MoJ. The Authority plans to hold a Supplier Event on Wednesday 20 October 2… | |
| — | TextII.2.4) | The Ministry of Justice will shortly commence the procurement of a new contract for the Witness Service. 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 ena… | The Ministry of Justice will shortly commence the procurement of a new contract for the Witness Service. 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 ena… | |
| — | TextII.1.1) | PIN: Market Engagement for Witness Service (2023-2027) | Witness Service (2023-2027) | |
| — | TextII.2.4) | The Ministry of Justice will shortly commence the procurement of a new contract for the Witness Service. 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 ena… | The Ministry of Justice will shortly commence the procurement for the future Witness Service. The Witness Service is an existing service, which has operated in all Criminal Courts in England and Wales for the last 25 years. The service is highly valued by stakeholders and partners for the independent, emotional and practical support it has provided witnesses over the last two decades to enable the… | |
| — | TextII.1.4) | The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to: (i) Inform the market of a prospective contract opportunity in connection with the procurement for the Future Witness Service; and (ii) give notice of the MoJ's intention to request feedback that may be relevant to the procurement strategy that may be adopted by the MoJ. The Authority plans to hold a Supplier Event on Wednesday 20 October 2… | We would like to invite interested parties to attend an online Supplier Event which will take place on 20 October 2021. To express an interest either in attending this event and/or participating in this competition please email: VW.National.Services@justice.gov.uk The form of response should be limited to the provision of a single point of contact (full company name, contact name, job title, e-ma… |
The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to: (i) Inform the market of a prospective contract opportunity in connection with the procurement for the Future Witness Service; and (ii) give notice of the MoJ's intention to request feedback that may be relevant to the procurement strategy that may be adopted by the MoJ. The Authority plans to hold a Supplier Event on Wednesday 20 October …
1 amendment published without a description.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.