Cabinet Office

70 Whitehall

London

SW1A 2AS

UK

E-mail: commercial@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

NUTS: UK

Internet address(es)

Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office

II.1.1) Title

II.1.2) Main CPV code

79310000

II.1.3) Type of contract

Services

II.1.4) Short description

The Cabinet Office (the ‘Authority’) has awarded a contract to the supplier for quantitative research regarding public attitudes towards and behaviours in relation to coronavirus.

II.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

II.1.7) Total value of the procurement

Value excluding VAT: 840 000.00  GBP

IV.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition

Justification for selected award procedure:

The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the Directive

Explanation

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:

• extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive.The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is a serious infectious respiratory disease and its consequences pose a risk to life.

1) The Covid-19 outbreak is a public health emergency of international concerns as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020, by this stage Europe was the centre of the pandemic.

2) There is an immediate need to give the public accurate, relevant information about the measures Government is implementing in response to the virus and the actions the public must take in order to comply with Government policy. In order to protect themselves and others and prevent the mass spread of the virus, it is crucial that the public understand and adhere to government messages.

There is an immediate need to give the public accurate, relevant information about the measures Government is implementing in response to the virus and the actions the public must take in order to comply with Government policy.

In order to protect themselves and others and prevent the mass spread of the virus, it is crucial that the public understand and adhere to government messages.

Audience research is therefore required to inform the content and delivery of Government messaging, ensuring it is effective, and to understand the public’s response in order to identify additional communications and policy needs. In these circumstances, a procurement following the usual timescales under the PCR 2015, including accelerated options, was impossible without an interruption to services.

3) Corresponding with the principles of Regulation 32 and the new process set out in (Policy Procurement 01/20), Cabinet Office is satisfied the principles of tests permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32(2)(c)) were met as follows:

A. As far as is strictly necessary:

Audience research was identified as being strictly necessary to inform the content and delivery of Government messaging, ensuring it is effective, and to understand the public’s response in order to identify additional communications and policy needs.

B. There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency:

Cabinet Office are responding to Covid-19 immediately because of public health risks presenting a genuine emergency.

C. The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable:

As the EU Commission itself confirmed: ‘the current coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency – precisely for such a situation our European rules enable public buyers to buy within a matter of days, even hours, if necessary.‘ (Commissioner Breton, Internal Market, 1 April 2020).

D. It was impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: due to the urgency of the situation there was no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open, restricted or competitive procedures with negotiation that would allow the supplier to commence work.

E. The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority:

Cabinet Office has not caused or contributed to the coronavirus crisis, which justifies the need for extreme urgency.

IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

Public First Limited

Ashleigh Villa, 143 Tamworth Road, Long Eaton

Nottingham

UK

NUTS: UK

The contractor is an SME: Yes

VI.4.1) Review body