Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2024/S 000-007723/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: Police & Crime Commissioner for South Wales
Postal address: Police Headquarters, Cowbridge Road
Town: Bridgend
Postal code: CF31 3SU
Country: United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 1656655555
Email: swp-procurement@south-wales.police.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address:
Address of the buyer profile:

I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Public order and saftey

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: Forensic Pathology Service

Reference number: JCPS 0548
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 85111800
II.1.3) Type of contract Services
II.1.4) Short Description:
Provision of a highly specialised, critical Forensic Pathology Service to South Wales Police, Gwent Police, Dyfed-Powys Police and Gloucestershire Constabulary as part of a joint service to the four police forces in areas of post-mortem and the interpretation of injury, including generation of reports, assistance in legal enquiries, court and other proceedings.
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:750000
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
Main CPV code: 85111800

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code: Main site or place of performance:South Wales Police force area
Other forces to use the same service – Gwent, Dyfed-Powys and Gloucestershire

II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Provision of a highly specialised, critical Forensic Pathology Service across the region of four police forces in areas of post-mortem and the interpretation of injury, including generation of reports, assistance in legal enquiries, court and other proceedings.

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: yes
IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession
Contract No: JCPS0548
V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2024-03-08
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Cardiff University School of Medicine
Postal address: University Hospital Wales, Heath Park
Town: Cardiff
Postal code: CF144XN
Country: United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 2920688113
Email: medicine@cardiff.ac.uk
Nuts code:
Internet address:
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

Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information:
NB The value of the contract shown is the SWP annual estimated value only. It does not include the value of spend by the other forces.
The estimated contract value is based on previous years’ demand but by nature of the contracted service, most of the value will be dictated by demand.
(WA Ref:132805)
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: High Court
Postal address: Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand
Town: London
Postal code: WC2A 2LL
Country: United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 2079477501

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2024-03-11

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:
South Wales Police and Gwent Police intend to award a contract to Cardiff University for the supply of a Forensic Pathology Service. This service is required by the forces of South Wales, Gwent, Dyfed-Powys and Gloucestershire to be provided by pathologists of suitable status, experience and qualifications. The service is currently provided by Cardiff University which hosts the Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine (WIFM). The WIFM is a ‘School of Medicine’ based unit, providing highly specialised, critical services to the police, coroners and the public in areas of post-mortem examination and interpretation of injury. It is relatively unique in conducting additional work to the post-mortem, known as ‘sub-speciality’ and includes areas of specific expertise in relation to examination of parts of the human body such as neuropathology, bone pathology and paediatric pathology.
Scoping work undertaken with forensic pathology consortia established across the UK to identify another host for the WIFM failed to find a party willing to take over the service. This is primarily due to the highly specialised service – there is a dearth of expertise across the UK in this highly skilled area and to obtain a Home Office licence to provide forensic pathology services to a police force, there must be a minimum of three qualified Home Office pathologists affiliated to a consortium; the size of the demand and geographical area and the alignment of Cardiff University with the University Hospital of Wales and its mortuary and laboratory capability.
Other forensic pathology consortia established around the UK provide a service to several forces and coronial areas and are generally location based. We approached the South West consortium during early scoping as the closest consortia to the WIFM but it has no appetite to take on the additional areas.
Therefore, the only economic operator able to supply the service is Cardiff University. Competition is absent for technical reasons due to the specialised service, scarcity of expertise, Home Office requirements and the level of demand across the area.