Official UK procurement notice
Net Zero Accelerator (phase two) - North West
Authority: Department for Education (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis VEAT notice relates to the modification of a Department for Education contract for the appointment of a delivery partner in the North West to deliver the Net Zero Accelerator project to selected schools and colleges in those regions which aims to reduce carbon emissions through energy efficiency upgrades, decarbonisation planning, and sustainability engagement.
This modification will add an additional 20 schools and colleges to the North West, in addition to the 47 sites initially accommodated for in the contract and the 10 additional sites permitted within it's extension option, resulting in a total of 77 sites. This notice also confirms that the Department has exercised it's contractual right to add 10 additional schools to the contract, as permitted by Regulation 72(1)(a).
Aside from the increased volume of sites, there are no changes to deliverables and outcomes of the contracts. Consequently, the total value of each contract will increase by approximately 29.03%, up to a maximum of £6,030,000, please see the Description of the procurement for further details. These modifications are permitted under Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, please see section D for further justification information. All values listed exclude VAT.
CPV: Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1This requirement was competed compliantly via an open-procedure multi-lot tender
This requirement was competed compliantly via an open-procedure multi-lot tender. When the original contract award notices were published, an error occurred in which only the minimum contract value of £2,596,000 was disclosed. This figure did not reflect the full value advertised in the initial procurement documents. This VEAT notice serves in part to clarify the original maximum contract value of £4,673,189. Due to this modification, the maximum contract value is now increased to £6,030,000. All values listed exclude VAT. The Contracts Finder identifier number for the award notice is as follows:
881536e9-d00d-4521-945c-04c45db14f29 – Net Zero Accelerator (phase two) – North West Additional information: The overall weightings were 80% quality (as broken down in the above Quality criterion section) and 20% price.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- 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
- Services
- 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
- 5 Sept 2025, 15:36 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Sept 2025, 15:36 BST
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-054383- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05952cFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
The modification to the contracts fall within the permissible grounds set out under Regulation 72(1)(e) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in that the modifications are not substantial within the meaning of Regulation 72(8) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 because:
a) The inclusion of the additional schools and colleges into each contract does not render any of the contracts materially different compared to when it was originally procured. The type of services originally required of the contract (the provision of school decarbonisation works and associated support services, including but not limited to procurement and behavioural change management) is the same as that which it will carry out on the previously awarded contracts, it is just a case that the number of schools receiving these services under the contracts will increase.
b) Adding the additional schools and colleges would not have changed the outcome of the original procurement in any way. The Contract will be fully operated in accordance with their current terms;
c) As the current contracts will be operated for the additional schools and colleges on the same terms, this does not alter the economic balance of the contract in favour of the development partners;
d) The change does not considerably alter the scope of the contracts as the works and services provided will remain unchanged, meaning there will be no significant changes to the deliverables, and the schools and colleges which have been included are adjacent in terms of geographical scope also;
e) This is not a change in contractor.
The modifications are also exempt under Regulation 72(1)(c) because the need for them has been brought about by circumstances the Department for Education could not have foreseen, and they do not change the overall nature of the contracts and the value changes are below 50%. Additional and unforeseen budget for the overall project has become available which must be spent imminently and the timeframes for the spend would not allow for an additional procurement process to take place. Government rules dictate that the original procurement could not have catered for optional additional value such as budget increases as only approved budgets can be advertised to the market.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barker Associates (Essex) LimitedSMESubcontracting: declared | £6,030,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Net Zero Accelerator (phase two) - North West · Barker Associates (Essex) LimitedSME
- Signed
- 3 Jun 2025
- Value
- £6,030,000
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High Court of JusticeReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Barker Associates (Essex) LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.