Pension Administration System Contract Award Notice

Kent County Council on behalf of the Kent Pension Fund is awarding a contract for the delivery of Pension Administration Software for the duration of five years from the 1st May 2023 until 30th April 2028.

Description of Procurement:

The contract has been awarded under regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) because it is not possible for a supplier other than the incumbent to continue this service for technical reasons. There are no reasonable alternatives and the parameters of the procurement (including timescales) are driven by the circumstances the Council finds itself in and have not been artificially narrowed. These circumstances are:

1. The impact and timing of McCloud on LGPS funds meaning that it is not possible to scope the technical requirements or implement a transition to a new supplier to coincide with the current contract cycle.
2. The unreasonable cost (due to scarcity) of resource to dedicate to a transition to a new supplier, due to difficulty recruiting staff within pensions administration.
3. LGPS changes to the re-evaluation dates of pensions have altered the technical parameters of the system in a manner that can only be met by the incumbent system.
4. The above changes in pensions law and guidance (which have been outside of the control of the Council) mean that the timescales required for procurement and transition to a new supplier (between 12 -18 months) are such that it is not technically possible for any other

provider to fulfil the Council's service requirements at the time required (Regulation 32(2)(c) relied on in the alternative)

Type of Procedure:

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below

• The services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
• Absence of competition for technical reasons

Explanation:

Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the regulations states

(2) The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts in any of the following cases:-

(b)where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for any of the following reasons:-

(ii)competition is absent for technical reasons,