Cultural Services · UK public procurement notice

CPV: Library, archives, museums and other cultural services

Procedure method

Negotiated without publication of a contract notice

Legal basis

CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Awarded

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Stand-alone contract (no framework)

Competition type

Competitive procedure

GPA / WTO covered

Unspecified in notice

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

15 May 2024, 16:26 BST

Last source update

15 May 2024, 16:26 BST

Authority reference

DN718023

FTS notice number

2024/S 000-015489

Classification (CPV)

Library, archives, museums and other cultural services

Delivery area

North West (UKD61)

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-0459e7 Find 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

Culture Warrington are contracted by Warrington Borough Council ("the Council") to manage a

number of facilities including Parr Hall, Pyramid Arts Centre and Warrington Museum

and Art Gallery, as well as delivering cultural and heritage services including education services

to primary schools and outreach activities.

Culture Warrington were established at the same time as LiveWire (Warrington) CIC ("LiveWire"), in May 2012, as a separate charity to deliver these services. Whilst Culture Warrington are a separate entity to LiveWire, they have a number of shared management and central services staff in order to maximise efficiency.

The Council have recently in-housed leisure, life-styles and wellbeing services which were provided by LiveWire and this has caused a requirement to separate some of the shared services. Up until the transfer of services in-house, Culture Warrington purchased these services from LiveWire for an annual fee. As a result of LiveWire no longer delivering these services to Culture Warrington, they have undertaken a review and have confirmed that in order to resource the posts required they will require an uplift of their annual fee by £161,000 per year.

Whilst the original Culture Warrington contract was entered into under the Public Contract Regulations 2006 as a “Part B” contract, any significant modification to the Culture Warrington contract needs to be considered in the context of Public Contract Regulations 2015, specifically regulation 72.

This Voluntary Ex-Ante Transparency Notice is therefore submitted on the basis of the modification of the Culture Warrington contract being a lawful modification under Regulation 72(1)(f) on the grounds that the modification is no more than 10% of the initial contract cost and is below the relevant threshold.

The Culture Warrington contract's annual fee was £1,339,009. On the basis of the contract being for 15 years (that is the length of the contract that the Council and Culture Warrington are now committed to as a minimum), 10% of the initial contract value is therefore £2,008,513.50 (£1,339,009 x 15 years = £20,085,135 @ 10%). As a Light Touch contract, the total permitted value of any uplift under Regulation 72 (1)(f) is therefore up to the Light Touch threshold of £663,540.

Pursuant to Regulation 72(6), which confirms that the value of a modification is the net cumulative value of all modifications to the contract over its duration. The fees paid, or to be paid over the 15 year contract duration, including the proposed fee uplift are below:-

2012/13 - £1,339,009

2013/14 £1,352,391

2014/15 £1,352,391

2015/16 £1,352,391

2016/17 £1,302,391

2017/18 £1,302,391

2018/19 £1,302,391

2019/20 £1,172,391

2020/21 £1,172,391

2021/22 £1,172,391

2022/23 £1,172,391

2023/24 £1,518,590

2024/25 £1,550,391

2025/26 £1,550,391

2026/27 £1,550,391

1 April 2027 - 1 – 14 May 2027 £193,799

The total amount to be paid over 15 years is therefore £20,356,418. This amounts to a total increase in the contract cost of £103,970 and as such is within the level permitted by Regulation 72(1)(f) and is therefore deemed to be a lawful modification.

• Culture WarringtonAwarded supplier Pyramid Arts Centre, Palmyra Square South, Warrington, North West, WA11BL

No document links were published on the notice.