Official UK procurement notice
Contract for the Provision of Coroner's Post Mortems
Authority: Hertfordshire County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis is an Award Notice for the Provision of Coroner's Post Mortems. This is a direct award because competition is absent.
CPV: Pathology services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1This is an Award NoticeAwarded
This is an Award Notice. Hertfordshire County Council have awarded a contract for the Provision of Coroner's Post Mortems. There is no competition for this service. Deceased bodies referred to the Hertfordshire Coroner must remain within their jurisdiction until officially released by the Hertfordshire Coroner.
The contract is for a period of four years.
The Contractor's mortuary shall be available at all times for receipt of Coroners' deceased. The Mortuary shall be accessible 24 (twenty-four) hours a day 7 (seven) days a week. Additional information: The direct award value of £980,000 reflects the total estimated value that will be awarded over the whole term of the contract between the three NHS trusts receiving the direct award.
The £980,000 will not be equally divided between the three NHS trusts but will be awarded based on volume of deceased sent to each NHS trust for coronial post-mortem examination each month.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 5 Jul 2023, 11:27 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Jul 2023, 11:27 BST
- Authority reference
HCC2314813- FTS notice number
2023/S 000-019124- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-03def7Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons
- Published justification
Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) is relying on Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 in making this award without prior publication. Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) permits such an award where competition is absent for technical reasons.
The Local Authority has a statutory duty to provide a Coroner Service for the community of Hertfordshire. As part of the Coroner's duties, he/she must establish a cause of death if none has been provided by the signing/authorising medical practitioner.
To facilitate post-mortem examinations Hertfordshire County Council has contracts with local NHS Hospital mortuaries. There are 3 NHS Hospital mortuaries within Hertfordshire (or close to the Hertfordshire border) that provide post-mortem services to the Coroner Service. Currently, one mortuary would not be able to manage the volume of post-mortems requested by Hertfordshire so we need more than one contract to cover this requirement.
Reg 32(2)(b) states that a procurement is not required where a service can only be supplied by a particular economic operator ENHT, WHHT and PAH in this case because "competition is absent for technical reasons."
Publisher note: Where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator because competition is absent for technical reasons stated in Annex D
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| East and North Hertfordshire Trust (ENHT) | £980,000 † | — | Awarded |
| West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (WHHT) | £1 † | — | Awarded |
| Princess Alexandra Hospital Harlow (PAH) | £1 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract for the Provision of Coroner's Post Mortems · East and North Hertfordshire Trust (ENHT)
- Signed
- 9 Jun 2023
- Value
- £980,000
- Status
- active
Contract for the Provision of Coroner's Post Mortems · West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (WHHT)
- Signed
- 9 Jun 2023
- Value
- £1
- Status
- active
Contract for the Provision of Coroner's Post Mortems · Princess Alexandra Hospital Harlow (PAH)
- Signed
- 9 Jun 2023
- Value
- £1
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High Court Royal Courts of JusticeReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
3 commercial parties on the notice- East and North Hertfordshire Trust (ENHT)Awarded supplier
- Princess Alexandra Hospital Harlow (PAH)Awarded supplier
- West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (WHHT)Awarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.