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Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2022/S 000-018894/EN)
Nature of contract: Service contract
Procedure: Award of a contract without prior publication
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
Postal address: Filton Abbeywood, Stoke Gifford
Town: Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
Country: United Kingdom
Contact Person: Karen Jarvis
Telephone: +44 3067930878
Email: Karen.Jarvis872@mod.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address:

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: The Maritime Strategic Capability Agreement (MSCA) Future Arrangement (FA

Reference number: 701575518
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 75220000
II.1.3) Type of contract Services
II.1.4) Short Description:
Delivery of essential UK strategic capabilities to support the effective delivery of current and future submarine and surface platform design, manufacture and operation.
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:215000000.00
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
Main CPV code: 50660000
Main CPV code: 71320000
Main CPV code: 71600000
Main CPV code: 79993000
Main CPV code: 80600000

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Procurement for the provision of assured access to deep expertise, and the facilities required to support them, in hydrodynamics, maritime life support, structures & survivability and stealth materials in support of the UK Royal Navy.

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
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below
(please complete point 2 of the Annex D)
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:2022-03-11
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: QinetiQ Limited
National registration number: 03796233
Postal address: Cody Technology Park, Ively Road
Town: Farnborough
Postal code: GU14 0LX
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: MOD Central Legal Services
Town: Bristol
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2022-07-11

Other justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition
in the Official Journal of the European Union
The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

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 Submarine Delivery Agency (the “Authority”), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a contract to QinetiQ Limited (the “Contractor”) for the sustainment and support of the Maritime Strategic Capability Agreement (MSCA). This contract will be for a period of 10 years. This will be a new Qualifying Defence Contract (QDC) and will be compliant with the Defence Reform Act (DRA) and secondary legislation Single Source Contract Regulations (SSCR) 2014.
An exemption from the Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations (DSPCR) 2011 (as amended) using regulation 7(1)(a), in conjunction with Regulation 6(3A)a, for security of national-eyes only information has been endorsed by the MoD Directorate of Security and Resilience.
It is considered that this contract can be placed using the principles of the Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication of a Contract Notice pursuant to Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 (as amended) on the basis that QinetiQ Limited is the only contractor capable of supplying the facilities and Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel (SQEP) needed to meet the Authority’s requirements under this contract.
The MSCA requirement has been determined to be, and must remain, a sovereign capability by the current UK Government meaning any potential contractor must meet this requirement with a capability within UK territory.
The Restated Principles Agreement (RPA) was signed in July 2001 and transferred operations of the former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, which was a part of the MOD, to QinetiQ Limited. QinetiQ Limited are currently the only contractor with UK based facilities accredited to the required security requirements and with sufficient technical capability to fulfil the MSCA requirement in UK territory. If a different contractor were to be awarded the contract, these create a disproportionate technical difficulty for the Authority in maintaining and operating its maritime platforms including its Defence Objective of a Continual at Sea Detetterant (CASD).
This is due to the necessity for an alternative contractor to undertake a significant investment in their existing capital estate across the whole of the UK to build and furnish dedicated facilities within the UK to meet the unique demands of the MSCA requirement. QinetiQ Limited have operated the facilities transferred to them under the RPA for 15 years and have developed extensive expertise, deeply integrated technical knowledge of the maritime platforms, and specialist tools to support the Authority with maintaining maritime platform capability through-life and CASD. Furthermore, the alternative contractor would be fully responsible for keeping the safety profile of multiple maritime platforms during this initial period to the expected standard, which creates an unacceptable risk to life for users of the maritime platforms in question given the disproportionate technical effort needed from the contractor to meet and maintain this operational requirement. Therefore, only QinetiQ Limited are currently able to meet the Authority’s requirement due to technical reasons.

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