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Official procurement procedure
HSF Engagement Letter for Provision of Legal Services In Relation to the Remediation Unit
Legal services
Published value
Not published
Submission deadline Not published
Lots published1
Procurement Executive Summary
AI & Search Synopsis
Generated from official OCDS record
Tenderline Synopsis: Post Office Limited: "HSF Engagement Letter for Provision of Legal Services In Relation to the Remediation Unit". Published status: complete. Published value: Value not published. 1 published lot. Submission deadline not published. See the official notice for participation instructions.
| Contracting Authority | Post Office Limited | Scope & Categories | Not published | Submission Window | complete No deadline published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submission Gateway | Direct notice route | Legal Basis & Regime | Standard procurement | Estimated Value (exc. VAT) | Not published |
Bidder Intelligence · Authority Profile: Post Office Limited
Market Analytics
Derived from OCDS awards & bid statistics
Published history for Post Office Limited. These figures describe retained records, not a forecast of bids or a measure of buyer bias.
Published-to-award variance
Not availableInsufficient comparable data
Competition Density
2.3Bids / Report
Supplier ConcentrationHigh Concentration
ESCHER SOFTWARE SERVICES UK LIMITEDTop vendor: 97.6% of attributable valuePayment Terms
Check noticePublished terms
Coverage: 74 active published awards; 10 bid reports (which may be per lot). Supplier values exclude multi-supplier awards, frameworks and DPS, and use GBP only. They are published award values, not payments. Published-to-award variance compares single-lot, single-award, single-supplier GBP procedures with explicitly non-framework/non-DPS status; increases remain in the average. Unpublished data stays unknown. Awarded suppliers are winners, not all bidders.
Historical Awarded Suppliers With This Authority:
| Supplier Name | Historic Awards | Attributable GBP Value |
|---|---|---|
| ESCHER SOFTWARE SERVICES UK LIMITED | 1 win | £12,000,000 |
| KPMG LLP | 1 win | £171,923 |
| RISK LEDGER LTD. | 1 win | £120,000 |
Procedure terms
Contracting AuthorityPost Office Limited | Procedure methodNot published | Procurement categoryNot published |
Statuscomplete | Framework / DPSNot published | CompetitionNot published |
Above thresholdNot published | Legal basisNot published | Tender period startsNot published |
Clarification deadlineNot published | Electronic submissionNot published | Submission languagesNot published |
Published1 Apr 2025, 10:05 BST | Last source update1 Apr 2025, 10:05 BST | Recurring procurementNot published |
ClassificationLegal services | ||
Delivery area | ||
OCIDocds-h6vhtk-04fb10 | ||
What is being bought
Manage claims in relations to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (formerly the
Historical Shortfall Scheme) ("HSS"), and various related ongoing workstreams ("Small Projects") (together,
referred to for ease as, the "Remediation Workstreams"), as well as Post Office's separate requests for HSF
to provide Post Office with certain documents and information in connection with the work carried out on the
Remediation Workstreams (collectively referred to as the "POL Remediation Document and
Information Requests").
What changed
From the official release history
- Status changed to complete
1 Apr 2025, 10:05 BST - Official notice release published
1 Apr 2025, 10:05 BST - Buyer information updated
1 Apr 2025, 10:05 BST
Lots and requirements (1)
Published by the contracting authority
- Lot 1 · #1Individual lot title not publishedcancelledPublished valueNot publishedThis service is for the provision of legal service in relation HSS. This service is a transitional service to facilitate handover to a new service provider and provide services on complex matters during the transition period. The service will also cover the provision on document and advice on historical matters as they arise. This services was procured under the Light Touch Regime.Contract periodNot publishedEligibilityNot publishedOptions / renewalNot published
Timeline
- Procedure published
1 Apr 2025, 10:05 BST - Award active
Not published · Not published - Contract active
Signed 3 Mar 2025, 00:00 GMT · £15,000,000
Commercial outcome and competition
Awards Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP Not published · Not published · active |
Contracts Contract £15,000,000 · signed 3 Mar 2025, 00:00 GMT · active |
Bid statistics bids: 1 (lot 1) |
Buyer and organisations in this procedure
Post Office Limited
Contracting authority GB-COH-02154540Documents (0)
Official links; attachments are not copied
No linked documents are published
Related procedures (0)
No related procedures published
Planning and rationale
Planning budgetNot published |
No-engagement rationaleNot published |
Procedure rationaleIn 2020, Post Office Limited ("POL") established the Historical Shortfall Scheme, later renamed the Horizon Shortfall Scheme ("HSS"), for those who experienced shortfalls relating to previous versions of Horizon.
In 2021, the Overturned Conviction Scheme ("OC" and together with HSS the "Schemes") was established for those whose Horizon-related convictions have been overturned by the Courts.
Given that Herbert Smith Freehills LLP ("HSF") were appointed to represent POL in the group litigation raised by Sir Alan Bates & Others and that they advised POL in the mediated settlement, which gave rise to the HSS, POL appointed the same firm to provide legal services and support the administration of the Schemes, including the conduct of claim assessments, provision of legal advice in relation to scheme criteria, the establishment and operation of the independent HSS panel and various other matters. HSF has continued to support the Schemes since then.
In October 2024, POL ran a competition under the Crown Commercial Service ("CCS") Legal Services Panel (RM6179) to appoint an alternative legal adviser to support the Schemes. Following that competition, POL awarded a contract to Pinsent Masons LLP ("PM") to replace HSF. However, in order to effect an orderly transition of the services from HSF to PM and to ensure that the ongoing administration of the Schemes is disrupted as little as possible in this time, POL requires a new contract with HSF (the "Transitional Contract").
POL has awarded the Transitional Contract to HSF under the light touch regime of the Public Contracts Regulations ("PCR") in accordance with the provisions of regulation 75(2) and 32(2)(b)(ii) because HSF is the only supplier that can provide the transitional services thereunder.
HSF is the only contractor that is capable of providing the transitional services because only it has the knowledge of the Schemes to be able to transfer to PM. HSF was closely involved in the design and initial operation of the Schemes, it has assessed thousands of HSS cases, it holds the contracts with the independent HSS panel and holds data and documentation that POL requires, will continue to require, and will need to be transferred to POL and PM.
Competition would be absent if POL was to attempt to take the Transitional Contract to market. HSF is the only organisation that is technically capable to transfer the knowledge, data and documentation that it holds to POL and to PM. It would not be technically possible to appoint another firm to provide the transitional services on HSF's behalf.
There is no reasonable alternative to awarding the Transitional Contract to HSF. It would not be feasible for POL to sever its relationship with HSF without services, documentation, data and knowledge having transferred to PM. If POL was to allow its relationship with HSF to lapse without a contract for the transitional services, this would have caused significant disruption to the Schemes and would almost certainly cause substantial delay in the provision of redress to postmasters. There is no alternative to the transitional services and only HSF is capable of providing those services. This will ensure that reasonable steps are taken to see that there are no delays in redress being paid to victims of the Horizon IT scandal that are attributable to the transition of services to PM from HSF.
The absence of competition is not caused by any artificial narrowing of the parameters of the procurement. POL has opened the provision of legal services to support the Schemes to competition by conducting a further competition under RM6179. This has led to the appointment of PM. It is necessary to award the Transitional Contract to HSF to facilitate the transfer of services and only HSF can do that. |