Exempt as per S94 - (1a) - withheld for the purpose of safeguarding national security, Direct Award.

Exempt as per S94 (1a) - withheld for the purpose of safeguarding national security.

Given the specialist nature of the requirement and the Supplier's unique role in the design, testing, and manufacture of this trial hardware, the proposed contract falls within scope of Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 to the Procurement Act 2023 on the basis that the supplier's specialist technical expertise and essential role in the development lifecycle means that there is an absence of competition for technical reasons and only the Supplier is able to supply the relevant goods. AWE is satisfied that there is no reasonable alternative to those goods.

Further or in the alternative, the proposed contract falls within scope of Schedule 5, Paragraph 7 to the Procurement Act 2023 on the basis that the contract concerns the supply of goods by the existing supplier, and the contract is intended as an extension to the existing goods. In the current circumstances, changing supplier would result in incompatibility with the existing goods and cause disproportionate technical, operational and programme difficulties.