Official UK procurement notice
Private Sector Partner (PSP) for the Accelerated capability Environment (ACE)
Authority: Home Office (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis Tender Notice outlines the Home Offices intent to award a contract to deliver this requirement following a competitive procurement.
The Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) solves public safety and security challenges by bringing together the best of public and private sector capabilities, especially new digital and data technologies.
The Private Sector Partner requirement is for a supplier to work closely with the Authority, to act as a flexible commissioning and delivery partner with responsibility for the dynamic ecosystem and collaboration platform (physical and virtual), to deliver commissioned ACE customer requirements (challenges or problem statements) and jointly protect HMG interests.
It should be noted that the ACE capability operates across HMG and Authorities other than the Home Office may access this agreement providing there is a memorandum of understanding in place for ACE services between the Home Office and the respective HMG organisation.
Commissions may or may not be limited to public safety and security challenges. It is anticipated that the majority of services will be delivered within the United Kingdom however the Authority may require the private sector delivery partner to support international delivery if required. Annual commissions will vary during the term of the contract based upon HMG demand. Such commissions are not guaranteed and historically as per the published ACE annual reviews these have ranged from ~£29m-£49m.
Market engagement has taken place for this opportunity with engagement calls on the 18th December 2024 and 30th January 2025. A face to face session was held at the Home Office on the 4th March 2025.
Notices (025731-2024 & 035036-2024) were issued as part of transitional arrangements from PCR2015 to PA23.
The engagements provided opportunities for interested parties to understand more on ACE and the private sector partner service as well as the procurement process.
The service is required to integrate the following key functions of leadership, mission engagement, portfolio delivery and innovation and enablers. The interaction between these and the ACE team within the Home Office make this suitable to be delivered in one lot as an integrated solution. This will provide greater taxpayer value for money through efficiency and consistency in approach.
Contract value is set at £19.8m for consistency with the tender notice but the contract drives to cost neutrality for the Authority.
The duration of the initial contract term will be up to 36 months from the date of contract signature, with an option for up to two 12-month extensions making a total potential term of 60 months.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Feb 2030, 23:59 GMT.
- How the procedure runs: This tender notice is for the award of a public contract through a competitive flexible procedure in accordance with section 20(1) and (2)(b) of the Procurement Act 2023. The procurement will follow the competitive flexible procedure. The summary of stages are as follows: 1. Non-disclosure agreement 2. Conditions of Participation – procurement specific Questionnaire 3. Evaluation, moderation and down-select 4. Invitation to Tender (ITT), Negotiation and Best & Final Offer (BAFO) stage 5. Final evaluation, moderation and Authority Governance 6. Contract Award Firstly, bidders seeking to participate in the opportunity will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in order to access the procurement opportunity. Upon satisfactory completion of the NDA, the next stage will be Conditions of Participation where bidders will be required to complete answers to set questions in the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). The responses from bidders to the PSQ will be evaluated and moderated and ranked by the Authority in accordance with the issued evaluation methodology. The highest ranked bidders will be down-selected and invited to take part in the next stage of the procurement. Those bidders not down-selected will not participate in any further stages. The Authority aims to take sufficient bidders through to maintain competition but also ensures capable bidders move to the next stages – this is anticipated to be from a minimum of 3 bidders with a maximum of 6 bidders but the Authority may include more or less based upon bids received. Bidders invited to move forward after the PSQ will participate in the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage which includes ITT, negotiation and best and final offer (BAFO) elements. The ITT stage will require bidders to provide further responses related to the services and provide a commercial bid for the services. These bids will be evaluated and moderated with the negotiation stage providing a one-to-one opportunity for both bidders and the Authority to clarify proposed solutions. Bidders should note that the Authority may amend the assessment for prior to the ITT stage as an update to its tender documentation which is being issued alongside the PSQ documentation. If such updates do occur this may be to refine the award criteria weighting of the ITT stage. The bidders will then move to a BAFO stage which shall be evaluated, moderated and ranked with a compliant preferred bidder being identified. Subject to governance approval and subject to contract within the Authority, the preferred bidder shall be awarded the contract. This procurement will be managed electronically via the Home Office’s eSourcing Portal (JAGGAER). To participate in this procurement, participants must first be registered on the eSourcing Portal. Home Office eSourcing Portal. The Home Office reserves the right to cancel the competition at any stage with no liability for tenderer costs and expenses. You may express your interest to participate in this requirement by emailing [email protected]. Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for, the name of the registered organisation and the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email. Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; the name of the registered supplier; and the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email. The eMail will be processed and then the buyer will enable the supplier to access the procurement online via the eSourcing Portal. The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done. PSQ submissions must be made by: 17:00 Local time 30 May 2025.
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Primary works for services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£16,500,000
- Economic & financial standing
Legal and financial capacity conditions will be assessed as part of this procurement through the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) within the participation stage of the procurement.
The PSQ is used to collect the information required for the Conditions of Participation Stage of the Private Sector partner for the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) procurement. Guidance on the procurement process can be found Guidance for Bidders within the procurement suite of documentation on the Jaggaer e-sourcing portal.
The Conditions of Participation Stage is a pass / fail stage of the procurement process, and suppliers must achieve a pass mark on all mandatory pass questions. If a Bidder does not pass all questions that are mandatory to pass, that Bidder shall be disqualified from the competition and will not progress to the next stage.
- Technical & professional ability
This procurement includes an assessment of technical capability to deliver the services for the contract - these will be assessed at both the participation and invitation to tender stages of the competition.
At the participation stage, the technical capability questions will include questions on previous experience and capability in utilising external providers for innovation capability, collaborating with stakeholders, managing delivery with multiple organisations for innovation and implementation of such programmes. The actual question set can be found in the PSQ document of the procurement documentation suite at the Authority e-sourcing portal (jaggaer).
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Bidders must successfully pass the procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ) question suite and be ranked in the top 6 following evaluation of the service specific technical questions.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Technical (Quality) Capability: 60%
- Pricing: 30%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (3)
- Pricing: A pricing template will be required for completion fot bidders at the ITT stages. This will utilise the price/quality ratio and bidders will be required to input their propose doperating costs for ACE and plans for revenue generation. A net figure will be evaluated by the Authority.
- Technical (Quality) Capability: Bidders will be required to complete seven weighted technical capability questions related to (for example) Portfolio delivery, Leadership, Mision engagement, enablers and mobilisation. Questions will have a scoring criteria of between 0 and 100. Outstanding 100 Very Good 75 Satisfactory 50 Poor 20 Unacceptable 0
- Social Value: Bidders will be required to complete technical capability questions related to the social value policy theme of 'Kick start economic growth'. There will be 2 weighted questions with specific social value scoring ctriteria where each question can earn a score between 20 and 100. Excellent Response 100 Good Response 75 Average Response 50 Poor Response 20
- Economic & financial standing
Legal and financial capacity conditions will be assessed as part of this procurement through the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) within the participation stage of the procurement.
The PSQ is used to collect the information required for the Conditions of Participation Stage of the Private Sector partner for the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) procurement. Guidance on the procurement process can be found Guidance for Bidders within the procurement suite of documentation on the Jaggaer e-sourcing portal.
The Conditions of Participation Stage is a pass / fail stage of the procurement process, and suppliers must achieve a pass mark on all mandatory pass questions. If a Bidder does not pass all questions that are mandatory to pass, that Bidder shall be disqualified from the competition and will not progress to the next stage.
- Technical & professional ability
This procurement includes an assessment of technical capability to deliver the services for the contract - these will be assessed at both the participation and invitation to tender stages of the competition.
At the participation stage, the technical capability questions will include questions on previous experience and capability in utilising external providers for innovation capability, collaborating with stakeholders, managing delivery with multiple organisations for innovation and implementation of such programmes. The actual question set can be found in the PSQ document of the procurement documentation suite at the Authority e-sourcing portal (jaggaer).
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Bidders must successfully pass the procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ) question suite and be ranked in the top 6 following evaluation of the service specific technical questions.
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Feb 2030
- First published
- 29 Apr 2025, 17:11 BST
- Last source update
- 30 Sept 2026, 17:22 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 Oct 2025
- Authority reference
Project_2691- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-017756- Latest notice
- Contract performance notice (UK9)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-050992Find a Tender
- How it runs
This tender notice is for the award of a public contract through a competitive flexible procedure in accordance with section 20(1) and (2)(b) of the Procurement Act 2023.
The procurement will follow the competitive flexible procedure. The summary of stages are as follows:
- Non-disclosure agreement
- Conditions of Participation – procurement specific Questionnaire
- Evaluation, moderation and down-select
- Invitation to Tender (ITT), Negotiation and Best & Final Offer (BAFO) stage
- Final evaluation, moderation and Authority Governance
- Contract Award
Firstly, bidders seeking to participate in the opportunity will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in order to access the procurement opportunity. Upon satisfactory completion of the NDA, the next stage will be Conditions of Participation where bidders will be required to complete answers to set questions in the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ).
The responses from bidders to the PSQ will be evaluated and moderated and ranked by the Authority in accordance with the issued evaluation methodology. The highest ranked bidders will be down-selected and invited to take part in the next stage of the procurement. Those bidders not down-selected will not participate in any further stages. The Authority aims to take sufficient bidders through to maintain competition but also ensures capable bidders move to the next stages – this is anticipated to be from a minimum of 3 bidders with a maximum of 6 bidders but the Authority may include more or less based upon bids received.
Bidders invited to move forward after the PSQ will participate in the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage which includes ITT, negotiation and best and final offer (BAFO) elements. The ITT stage will require bidders to provide further responses related to the services and provide a commercial bid for the services. These bids will be evaluated and moderated with the negotiation stage providing a one-to-one opportunity for both bidders and the Authority to clarify proposed solutions. Bidders should note that the Authority may amend the assessment for prior to the ITT stage as an update to its tender documentation which is being issued alongside the PSQ documentation. If such updates do occur this may be to refine the award criteria weighting of the ITT stage.
The bidders will then move to a BAFO stage which shall be evaluated, moderated and ranked with a compliant preferred bidder being identified. Subject to governance approval and subject to contract within the Authority, the preferred bidder shall be awarded the contract.
This procurement will be managed electronically via the Home Office’s eSourcing Portal (JAGGAER). To participate in this procurement, participants must first be registered on the eSourcing Portal. Home Office eSourcing Portal. The Home Office reserves the right to cancel the competition at any stage with no liability for tenderer costs and expenses.
You may express your interest to participate in this requirement by emailing [email protected]. Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for, the name of the registered organisation and the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email.
Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; the name of the registered supplier; and the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email. The eMail will be processed and then the buyer will enable the supplier to access the procurement online via the eSourcing Portal. The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done.
PSQ submissions must be made by: 17:00 Local time 30 May 2025.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 30 May 2025, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline
- 30 May 2025, 17:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 16 May 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
via e-sourcing portal at:
Timeline
29 Apr 2025 → 30 Sept 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published29 Apr 2025, 17:11 BST
- Clarification questions by16 May 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline30 May 2025, 17:00 BST
- Award decision expected by386 days ago1 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts356 days ago31 Oct 2025
- Assessment summaries sent314 days ago12 Dec 2025
- Standstill ends302 days ago23 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice published22 days ago30 Sept 2026, 17:22 BST
Notice history
6 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 Apr 2025- Tender notice published29 Apr 2025, 17:11 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published12 Dec 2025, 15:12 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete12 Dec 2025, 15:12 GMT
- Contract signature expected24 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published6 Feb 2026, 14:18 GMTUK7
- Contract performance notice published30 Sept 2026, 17:22 BSTUK9
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-04: 1 release · 29 Apr 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA CONSULTING SERVICES LTD24 Dec 2025 – 23 Dec 2028 · up to 23 Dec 2030Extensions: Two extension options each of upto 12 months each · Options: The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid. • Provision of dedicated, longer-term Artificial Intelligence (AI) related technology and data science services, potentially through contract-compliant but separate governance processes, that could constitute some, or even all, of the functions of an "AI Lab" environment for specific customer sets. • Run environments providing access across one or more HMG departments or agencies or to the private sector to data or software libraries (e.g. GitHub-style market-places), potentially charging for use. • Develop and agree joint services with other innovation and technology units and partners across HM government, for example (including but not limited to) NSSIF, DASA and others. • Support to the Authority in the commercialisation of innovations developed through ACE, under previous and new contracts. • Support to the Authority in the development and professionalisation of innovation skills and capabilities across the Authority. The above contract modifications are not currently included in the tender but are current discussions the Authority is having to determine the role that the PSP will play in these circumstances | £16,500,000 | 12 Dec 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · PA CONSULTING SERVICES LTD
- Signed
- 8 Jan 2026
- Value
- £16,500,000
- Period
- 8 Jan 2026 – 7 Jan 2029 · up to 7 Jan 2031 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- 2x up to 12 months extension options
- Options
- The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid. • Provision of dedicated, longer-term Artificial Intelligence (AI) related technology and data science services, potentially through contract-compliant but separate governance processes, that could constitute some, or even all, of the functions of an "AI Lab" environment for specific customer sets. • Run environments providing access across one or more HMG departments or agencies or to the private sector to data or software libraries (e.g. GitHub-style market-places), potentially charging for use. • Develop and agree joint services with other innovation and technology units and partners across HM government, for example (including but not limited to) NSSIF, DASA and others. • Support to the Authority in the commercialisation of innovations developed through ACE, under previous and new contracts. • Support to the Authority in the development and professionalisation of innovation skills and capabilities across the Authority.
5 agreed KPIs: KP1 - Quality · KPI 3 (Growth) · KPI 4 (Culture) …
- KP1 - Quality, Delivering high quality commission outcomes
- KPI 3 (Growth), Demonstrate ACE contribution to UK economic growth
- KPI 4 (Culture), Fostering a culture of innovation and creativity for ACE
- KPI 5 - Social Value, Kickstart economic growth
- KPI 2 (Finance), Provision of Financial Information
- Other - performance cannot be rated good, approaching target, requires improvement or inadequate KPI 1 Quality - Customer Satisfaction Score · to 30 Jun 2026
- Good - performance is meeting or exceeding the KPI KPI 3 Growth - SME Delivery Rate · to 30 Jun 2026
- Approaching target - performance is close to meeting the KPI KPI 2 Finance - Open Book Reporting Compliance · to 30 Jun 2026
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5final-stage tenders | 2 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- did not winQinetiQ Limited · South East England
- did not winWazoku Limited · Greater London
- did not winTurner & Townsend Infrastructure Ltd · Yorkshire and the Humber
- did not winVE3 Global Ltd · Greater London
- wonPA Consulting Services Limited · Greater London
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
5 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- PA Consulting Services LimitedAwarded supplier
- QinetiQ LimitedBidder / tenderer
- Turner & Townsend Infrastructure LtdBidder / tenderer
- VE3 Global LtdBidder / tenderer
- Wazoku LimitedBidder / tenderer
Official documents & specifications (32)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract performance notice Contract performance notice on Find a Tender
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
3 further documents are listed in the JSON mirror.