Official UK procurement notice
Mobilising System Replacement Contract
Authority: Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service (Police & fire)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionLeicestershire Fire and Rescue ("the Authority") awarded a contract for the delivery of a mobilising solution and associated support and maintenance services ("Services") to Systel SA ("Systel") ("the Contract"). The initial term of the Contract expires on 31 October 2024 and there is an ability to extend beyond the initial term by up to 2 further years, up to 31 October 2026 which has not and will not be exercised by the Authority.
Systel has been placed into administration in France and has applied to the French courts for protection which could allow Systel to renegotiate unprofitable contracts or parts thereof.
The Services represent critical infrastructure to enable the Authority to discharge its statutory duties under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. Any disruption to the Services would pose significant issues for the Authority and could impact the safety of the public.
Whilst Systel has not exercised the right to terminate the whole of the Contract, it has sought to renegotiate its terms. The Authority considers there is significant risk on the reliability of the availability of the Contract and the ability for Systel to perform the Services.
The Authority does not consider it can continue with the existing arrangements with Systel beyond 31 October 2024. This is for the reasons set out in this notice and in light of the Authority being made aware of Scottish Fire and Northern Ireland Fire also sharing similar concerns to the Authority and taking action to terminate the high-value contracts they hold with Systel following being made aware of its administration status.
CPV: Command, control, communication and computer systems
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The Authority intends to procure a complete mobilising solution from Motorola…Awarded
The Authority intends to procure a complete mobilising solution from Motorola Solutions UK LTD. This will be provisioned via a tenancy on the Motorola platform. Additional information: The Authority, relying on the extreme urgency ground within Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) ("PCR") intends to award a contract to Motorola Solutions UK LTD for the delivery of the Services for a term of five years with a maximum estimated value of £4,500,000.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- 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
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 31 Mar 2023, 14:38 BST
- Last source update
- 6 Jun 2023, 13:28 BST
- FTS notice number
2023/S 000-015973- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-03b7d0Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority/entity and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive
- Published justification
The Authority considers that there is a real risk of Systel imminently ceasing to operate because of its financial position and this has created a situation of extreme urgency to secure an alternative arrangement to mitigate operational and commercial risk. Systel's administration was not foreseeable by the Authority.
Systel currently provides maintenance of infrastructure and software which is critical to the Authority discharging its duties under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 and any disruption/reduction of the Services would impact on this and the safety of the public as it would compromise the Authority's connection to the Airwave network.
In order for mobilisation solutions to be compliant in the UK they need to be using the new, secure communication system (DCS) to connect to the Airwave network by December 2023. Systel have indicated that the Authority will need to meet the costs of such transition, requiring the further investment of public funds into a company that is in administration. The Authority considers it unlikely that Systel are able to meet this deadline and is also not prepared to risk investing further funds into Systel as a result of its current status.
The Authority's connection to the Airwave network is based on hardware provided by Systel that is end of life and will not be supported by Airwave beyond December 2023. As DCS is a component of the wider solution, there are also wider integrated software/hardware and infrastructure upgrades required as a result of the migration to DCS.
Failure to migrate to DCS will result in the control room losing its ground-based connection to the Airwave network; causing significant operational issues and legal ramifications (namely, inability to record calls and Airwave voice traffic). The Authority will be unable to rely on its consortium partners for back-up mobilising system arrangements because these utilise Systel's current solution will be non-compliant from December 2023.
For the reasons set out above, the Authority considers it necessary to award a contract to Motorola Solutions UK LTD as they are able to meet the DCS migration deadline, to maintain the crucial ground-based connection to Airwave and provide the necessary integrated infrastructure, hardware and software upgrades to ensure that the future solution remains fit for purpose.
The Authority does not consider it is able to comply with the time limits for the open, restricted or competitive procedure with negotiation (and accelerated limits within them) to conduct a compliant procurement process because of the need to migrate to DCS by December 2023 which can only be achieved by awarding a contract to Motorola Solutions UK LTD in April 2023. A procurement process would prevent the Authority meeting this deadline and compromise the crucial ground-based connection to Airwave.
The proposed duration of the award to Motorola Solutions UK LTD for five years is strictly necessary because it reflects the time required to implement a complete mobilising system solution (18-24 months) and will also allow the necessary time for the Authority to prepare and complete a public procurement exercise for its longer-term requirements.
- Review procedure
In accordance with Regulation 86 (Notices of decisions to award a contract), Regulation 87 (Standstill Period) and Regulations 91 (Enforcement of duties through the Court) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended).
Publisher note: The Authority, relying on the extreme urgency ground within Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) ("PCR") intends to award a contract to Motorola Solutions UK LTD for the delivery of the Services for a term of five years with a maximum estimated value of £4,500,000.
Notice history
1 event · 2 releases on Find a Tender- Buyer details updated6 Jun 2023, 13:28 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motorola Solutions UK Ltd | £4,500,000 †same award published again · counted once | — | Awarded |
| Motorola Solutions UK Ltd | £4,500,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Mobilising System Replacement Contract · Motorola Solutions UK Ltd
- Signed
- 6 Jun 2023
- Value
- £4,500,000
- Status
- active
Contract 009499-2023-1 · Motorola Solutions UK Ltd
- Signed
- 31 Mar 2023
- Value
- £4,500,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeDispute resolution & review bodies
- The High Court of JusticeReview body
- The Royal Courts of JusticeReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Motorola Solutions UK LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.