Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2022/S 000-017295/EN)
Nature of contract: Service contract
Procedure: Negotiated without a call for competition
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Services

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence
Town: Portsmouth
Country: United Kingdom
Email: lee.culshaw100@mod.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address: www.contracts.mod.uk

I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.5) Main activity
Defence

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: SUPPORT FOR DEVNUSCOT AND RPT TRAINER
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 80510000
II.1.3) Type of contract Services
II.1.4) Short Description:
The Royal Navy (RN), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a 17 month contract with a value of £1.1m to THALES UK Limited for the provision of support to the Nuclear Ship Control Trainer in Devonport, UK (DEVNUSCOT) and associated Role Performance Trainer (RPT) equipment to the RN. The contract is to supply Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel in order to run DevNUSCOT and the RPT, this includes design modification and replacement of complex trainer dependent systems such as servers, hydraulic and motion systems, user interfaces and the physical infrastructure of two different designs of trainer.
In accordance with regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 SI No.2019/697, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR 2011) as amended.  Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 for technical reasons.
The T Class submarine had a Fleet Non-Operational Date (FNOD) of the 31st December 2021, however a decision by the RN has recently been made to extend the service of this T Class submarine until the 31st December 2023. The operational imperative to extend the T Class submarine has necessitated the extension of the training DEVNUSCOT simulator and associated RPT equipment for a further 17 months from the end of the current contract on the 31st July 2022. This is to maintain the integrity of the training pipeline to ensure the safety to operate and operational currency.
This short term requirement can only be met by THALES UK Limited as they are the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of and Design Authority (DA) for this equipment. As the OEM and DA, only THALES UK Limited have the necessary SQEP, technical know-how and means to meet the requirement. The level of Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel required to support this trainer would not be possible to acquire without a full and detailed data pack which is not available to the Authority to use or pass on to third parties. In the absence of a Data Pack, other economic operators will not have the required engineering specifications or technical information that is necessary to understand and resolve complex IT/mechanical or software issues and therefore safely operate the trainer equipment making competitive tendering unsafe and untenable.
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:1098753.00
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Royal Navy (RN), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a 17 month contract with a value of £1.1m to THALES UK Limited for the provision of support to the Nuclear Ship Control Trainer in Devonport, UK (DEVNUSCOT) and associated Role Performance Trainer (RPT) equipment to the RN. The contract is to supply Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel in order to run DevNUSCOT and the RPT, this includes design modification and replacement of complex trainer dependent systems such as servers, hydraulic and motion systems, user interfaces and the physical infrastructure of two different designs of trainer.
In accordance with regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 SI No.2019/697, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR 2011) as amended.  Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 for technical reasons.
The T Class submarine had a Fleet Non-Operational Date (FNOD) of the 31st December 2021, however a decision by the RN has recently been made to extend the service of this T Class submarine until the 31st December 2023. The operational imperative to extend the T Class submarine has necessitated the extension of the training DEVNUSCOT simulator and associated RPT equipment for a further 17 months from the end of the current contract on the 31st July 2022. This is to maintain the integrity of the training pipeline to ensure the safety to operate and operational currency.
This short term requirement can only be met by THALES UK Limited as they are the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of and Design Authority (DA) for this equipment. As the OEM and DA, only THALES UK Limited have the necessary SQEP, technical know-how and means to meet the requirement. The level of Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel required to support this trainer would not be possible to acquire without a full and detailed data pack which is not available to the Authority to use or pass on to third parties. In the absence of a Data Pack, other economic operators will not have the required engineering specifications or technical information that is necessary to understand and resolve complex IT/mechanical or software issues and therefore safely operate the trainer equipment making competitive tendering unsafe and untenable.

II.2.5) Award criteria
II.2.11) Information about options
Options: no
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice(in accordance with Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU)
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: no
IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession
V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2022-06-24
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Thales UK Ltd
Town: Crawley
Country: United Kingdom
Nuts code:
The contractor is an SME: no

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession(excluding VAT)
for framework agreements – total maximum value for this lot
for contracts based on framework agreements, if required – value of contract(s) for this lot not included in
previous contract award notices
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Value or proportion likely to be subcontracted to third parties

Section VI: Complementary informationVI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: Ministry of Defence
Town: Portsmouth
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2022-06-24

Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for
competition in the Official Journal of the European Union
1.Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without publication of a call for competition in accordance with
Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU

No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to:
negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice

The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment,study or development under the conditions
stated in the directive(for services and supplies only)
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
absence of competition for technical reasons

3.Explanation
Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union
is lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive:
The Royal Navy (RN), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a 17 month contract with a value of £1.1m to THALES UK Limited for the provision of support to the Nuclear Ship Control Trainer in Devonport, UK (DEVNUSCOT) and associated Role Performance Trainer (RPT) equipment to the RN. The contract is to supply Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel in order to run DevNUSCOT and the RPT, this includes design modification and replacement of complex trainer dependent systems such as servers, hydraulic and motion systems, user interfaces and the physical infrastructure of two different designs of trainer.
In accordance with regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 SI No.2019/697, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR 2011) as amended.  Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 for technical reasons.
The T Class submarine had a Fleet Non-Operational Date (FNOD) of the 31st December 2021, however a decision by the RN has recently been made to extend the service of this T Class submarine until the 31st December 2023. The operational imperative to extend the T Class submarine has necessitated the extension of the training DEVNUSCOT simulator and associated RPT equipment for a further 17 months from the end of the current contract on the 31st July 2022. This is to maintain the integrity of the training pipeline to ensure the safety to operate and operational currency.
This short term requirement can only be met by THALES UK Limited as they are the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of and Design Authority (DA) for this equipment. As the OEM and DA, only THALES UK Limited have the necessary SQEP, technical know-how and means to meet the requirement. The level of Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel required to support this trainer would not be possible to acquire without a full and detailed data pack which is not available to the Authority to use or pass on to third parties. In the absence of a Data Pack, other economic operators will not have the required engineering specifications or technical information that is necessary to understand and resolve complex IT/mechanical or software issues and therefore safely operate the trainer equipment making competitive tendering unsafe and untenable.