Highways England Stopped Vehicle Detection Framework - Accelerated Requirements

CPV: Radar detectors · Radar spare parts and accessories · Radar surveillance equipment · Road equipment · Software package and information systems

Bids received

1 bids received · 1 suppliers appointed

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

Goods

Notice status

Awarded without competition

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

Direct award (no call for competition)

GPA / WTO covered

Yes (GPA)

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

27 Apr 2021, 22:55 BST

Last source update

27 Apr 2021, 22:55 BST

FTS notice number

2021/S 000-009064

Classification (CPV)

Radar detectorsRadar spare parts and accessoriesRadar surveillance equipmentRoad equipmentSoftware package and information systems

Delivery area

UK

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-02aad9 Find a Tender

Why no open competition

The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

Published justification

In March 2020 the Government published a smart motorway evidence stocktake and action plan that had been commissioned by the Transport Secretary.

The Transport Secretary has since requested that Highways England consider an acceleration of actions from that plan. In February 2021 the Transport Secretary made a commitment to bring forward the development and installation of stopped vehicle detection (SVD) on the Strategic Road Network (SRN) to 2022. It is for Highways England to deliver on this commitment and it is therefore necessary for Highways England to bring forward the deployment of SVD radar on all existing all lane running sections of the SRN from March 2023 to September 2022.

To achieve this accelerated programme, Highways England had to secure the provision of additional SVD equipment by February 2022.

Highways England previously had two agreements in place for SVD technology both awarded following competed procurement procedures. On 16 July 2020 Highways England awarded a framework (“Lot 1 Framework”) for the provision of a radar SVD solution to Navtech Radar Limited (“Navtech”). A second framework (“Lot 2 Framework”) was awarded to multiple SVD technology providers on 26 February 2021.

Navtech is currently the only provider of technology that has been adequately tested on the SRN and Navtech owns the intellectual property rights to key aspects of the software relating to the radar operation. However, the Lot 1 Framework had already been fully utilised, so it was not possible to acquire further SVD technology under that agreement.

It is also not yet possible to procure a SVD technology solution via the Lot 2 Framework as the suppliers on this framework have not yet had their technologies adequately tested. Even once technology under the Lot 2 Framework is successfully tested, it is estimated that a Lot 2 Framework supplier would not be able to commence supply of a SVD solution until early 2022 at the earliest. This timeframe and the uncertainty around when and if a solution would be successfully tested would not have allowed Highways England to meet its requirement within the necessary timescale.

To meet the deadline to acquire the additional SVD technology by February 2022, Highways England entered into a new agreement with Navtech. The estimated value of the supplies along with associated commissioning and support services under this new agreement is approximately £16.2 million.

This agreement was awarded in accordance with the negotiated procedure without prior publication under Regulation 32(2)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as amended. As set out above, the supplies or services can be supplied only by Navtech because competition is absent for technical reasons, and by virtue of Navtech’s intellectual property rights. No reasonable alternative or substitute existed and the absence of competition was not the result of artificially narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement.

1 suppliers are admitted to this framework without individual award values or dates, see the supplier list below.

• Navtech Radar LtdFramework contractor Wantage, UK

No document links were published on the notice.