Official UK procurement notice
E-Books, E-Book Collections and E-Textbooks - APUC
Authority: APUC Ltd (Public body)
What is being bought7 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionThe Authority is seeking Contractors to supply a wide range of academic content in digital format.
The scope will include:
E-Books
E-Book Collections (Publishers packages)
E-Textbooks
The Authority is acting on behalf of the HE and FE institutions in Scotland, Members of the Scottish Confederation of University and
Research Libraries (SCURL) which includes amongst its members, the National Library of Scotland, the National Museum of Scotland, the
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members.
- Recurrence: February 2025
CPV: Library books · Textbooks
How this framework works
From the published notice- Places
- up to 30 suppliers
Lots and requirements (7)Procurement structure
7 lots · all with a published value · same evaluation weights on every lotEvery one of these 2 lots carries the same published figure, £8,000,000: it is the framework's maximum for the whole notice, not each lot's own budget, and no share per lot is published. The cards below say ceiling above rather than repeat it.
Lot #1Title by Title purchase (including non-English languages) via an AggregatorRenewalceiling above
For the appointment of up to 5 Contractors for the supply and delivery individual titles via an Aggregator.
This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University
and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens
Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members.
Parties eligible to use the Framework Agreement are as listed in Appendix E - List of Institutions. Members of APUC -
Members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) www.scurl.ac.uk/members ↗
Members of Scotland Excel - www.scotland-excel.org.uk ↗ Additional information: Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union
funds: Yes
Individual call-off contracts under this Framework Agreement may be financed by European
Union funds.
Lot #2Publisher Direct (including Title by Title and E-Book Collections) via an AggregatorRenewalceiling above
For the appointment of up to 3 Contractors for the supply and delivery of Title by Title/Collections purchases via the Aggregator's
interface with the content provided on the publisher's platform
This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University
and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens
Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members.
Parties eligible to use the Framework Agreement are as listed in Appendix E - List of Institutions. Members of APUC -
Members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) www.scurl.ac.uk/members ↗
Members of Scotland Excel - www.scotland-excel.org.uk ↗ Additional information: Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union
funds: Yes
Individual call-off contracts under this Framework Agreement may be financed by European
Union funds.
Lot #3Aggregated Subscription Packages via an AggregatorRenewalPublished value£1,000,000
For the appointment of up to 3 Contractors for the supply and delivery of multi-publisher subscriptions with constrained DRM via an
Aggregator's platform.
This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University
and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens
Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members.
Parties eligible to use the Framework Agreement are as listed in Appendix E - List of Institutions. Members of APUC -
Members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) www.scurl.ac.uk/members ↗
Members of Scotland Excel - www.scotland-excel.org.uk ↗ Additional information: Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union
funds: Yes
Individual call-off contracts under this Framework Agreement may be financed by European
Union funds.
Lot #4Aggregated Perpetual/EBA Packages via an AggregatorRenewalPublished value£1,000,000
For the appointment of up to 5 Contractors for the supply and delivery of multi-publisher packages on a perpetual access/EBA model via an
Aggregator's platform.
This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University
and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens
Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members.
Parties eligible to use the Framework Agreement are as listed in Appendix E - List of Institutions. Members of APUC -
Members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) www.scurl.ac.uk/members ↗
Members of Scotland Excel - www.scotland-excel.org.uk ↗ Additional information: Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union
funds: Yes
Individual call-off contracts under this Framework Agreement may be financed by European
Union funds.
Estimated value for this lot as no historical spend data available
1,000,000 to 2,000,000 GBP
Lot #5E-Textbooks via an AggregatorRenewalPublished value£4,000,000
For the appointment of up to 5 Contractors for the supply and delivery of eTextbook content via an aggregator and hosted on the
aggregator's platform.
This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University
and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens
Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members.
Parties eligible to use the Framework Agreement are as listed in Appendix E - List of Institutions. Members of APUC -
Members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) www.scurl.ac.uk/members ↗
Members of Scotland Excel - www.scotland-excel.org.uk ↗ Additional information: Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union
funds: Yes
Individual call-off contracts under this Framework Agreement may be financed by European
Union funds.
Estimated value for lot as no historical spend data available
4,000,000 to 6,000,000 GBP
Lot #6Title by Title or E-Book Collections via a PublisherRenewalPublished value£5,000,000
For the appointment of up to 20 Contractors for the supply and delivery of Title by Title or Collections via a Publisher with unconstrained DRM.
This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University
and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens
Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members.
Parties eligible to use the Framework Agreement are as listed in Appendix E - List of Institutions. Members of APUC -
Members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) www.scurl.ac.uk/members ↗
Members of Scotland Excel - www.scotland-excel.org.uk ↗ Additional information: Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union
funds: Yes
Individual call-off contracts under this Framework Agreement may be financed by European
Union funds.
Estimated value for the lots as no historical spend data available
5,000,000 to 8,000,000 GBP
Lot #7E-Textbooks via a PublisherRenewalPublished value£4,000,000
For the appointment of up to 20 contractors for the supply and delivery of eTextbook content via a Publisher and hosted on the Publisher's
or Aggregator's platform.
This exercise is being undertaken on behalf of the HE/FE Institutions in Scotland and the members of Scottish Confederation of University
and Research Libraries (SCURL), including the National Library of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Botanic Gardens
Edinburgh and Scotland Excel and its members.
Parties eligible to use the Framework Agreement are as listed in Appendix E - List of Institutions. Members of APUC -
Members of Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) www.scurl.ac.uk/members ↗
Members of Scotland Excel - www.scotland-excel.org.uk ↗ Additional information: Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union
funds: Yes
Individual call-off contracts under this Framework Agreement may be financed by European
Union funds.
Estimated value for the lot as no historical spend data available
4,000,000 to 6,000,000 GBP
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical: 50%
- Commercial: 50%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical: 50
- Commercial: 50
- Price carries 50 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 5 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- “E-Books, E-Book Collections and E-Textbooks - APUC” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 30 suppliers, not a single contract.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · February 2025
- First published
- 20 Sept 2021, 16:38 BST
- Last source update
- 20 Sept 2021, 16:38 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 19 Oct 2021 – …
- Authority reference
LIB1016 AP- FTS notice number
2021/S 000-023363- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02e2b6Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
- Performance terms
SUBMISSION OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
Prior to the commencement of the Framework Agreement, the Contractor will provide the
Authority with contact details of the
Management Information contact who will be provided with a template spreadsheet/reporting schedule along with a username and password for the management information website www.ucsp.ac.uk ↗
Contractors must provide the information on a quarterly basis, within 10 working days
following the start of each quarter by logging into
the website and uploading the template document. If there has been no spend for the quarter then this will still require you to log in and record a nil spend return.
Following the beginning of each new academic year the Authority will provide the Contractor with a new template along with the reporting schedule
- Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
Under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 or the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, may bring proceedings in the Sheriff Court or the Court of Session
Publisher note: Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. The following should be submitted prior to award. It is for information only and will not be scored. Form of Tender Please confirm that you will be in a position to submit prior to award "Appendix A - Form of Tender" in the Technical Questionnaire in PCS-Tender. Freedom of Information Please confirm that you will be in a position to submit prior to award "Appendix B - Freedom of Information" if applicable in the Technical Questionnaire in PCS-Tender. Sustain Supply Chain Code of Conduct Please confirm that you will be in a position to submit prior to award "Appendix D - Sustain Supply Chain Code of Conduct" in the Technical Questionnaire in PCS-Tender. General Data Protection Regulation Please confirm that you will be in a position to submit prior to award "Appendix G - GDPR Contractor Assessment Form" in the Technical Questionnaire in PCS-Tender. Serious Organised Crime Please confirm that you will be in a position to submit prior to award "Appendix H - Declaration of Non-Involvement in Serious Organised Crime" in the Technical Questionnaire in PCS-Tender. Library Management Systems (LMS)- Appendix K Library Management Systems integration. Please complete and return at time of tender submission, refer to Appendix K in the Technical Questionnaire in PCS-Tender. Sustain Supply Chain Evaluation Tool: Section 1 - Appendix J Sustain Supply Chain Evaluation Tool: Section 1 Appendix J in the Technical Questionnaire in PCS-Tender. For Information only List of Institutions - Appendix E For list of parties eligible to use the resulting Framework Agreement, please refer to Appendix E-List of Institutions. Functionality and Platform Test Plan - Appendix I Functionality and Platform Test Plan to be used for evaluating the Tenderers online platform. The buyer is using PCS-Tender to conduct this ITT exercise. The Project code is 19411. For more information see: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/info/InfoCentre.aspx?ID=2343 The Contracting Authority does not intend to include a sub-contract clause as part of community benefits (as per Section 25 of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014) in this contract for the following reason: t is a requirement that the range of the goods and services to be delivered under this framework agreement will be delivered by each of the main contractors. Community benefits are included in this requirement. For more information see: https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-procurement/community-benefits-in-procurement/ A summary of the expected community benefits has been provided as follows: Community benefits and civic engagement delivered as a result of the framework agreement, such as internships, summer work placements or apprenticeships for students or targeted recruitment and training for priority groups.
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 19 Oct 2021, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission","written"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bids opened
- 19 Oct 2021, 12:05 BST
Timeline
20 Sept 2021 → 19 Oct 2021 · 3 dates- Notice published20 Sept 2021, 16:38 BST
- Admission / appointment period endsperiod end, not a bid countdown19 Oct 2021, 12:00 BST
- Bids opened19 Oct 2021, 12:05 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Stirling Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace CourtReview body
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria