Provision of Sound and Vision Operation and Maintenance services to the Houses of Parliament (GSV1271)

Contracts

• Provision of Sound and Vision Operation and Maintenance services to the Houses of Parliament · BOW TIE TELEVISION LTD

  Signed

  1 Sept 2015

  Value

  £16,218,473

  Period

  … – 8 Jan 2023

  Status

  active

  • Change The contract is being extended by 9 months. The contract allowed for two years extension from September 2018 to August 2020. It was then extended for a further 12 months due to the coronavirus outbreak. It was then extended for 7 months to allow for the re-procurement to take place., Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: : (a) there was not time to conduct another procurement procedure in the time between the abandonment decision and the expiry of the existing contract, (b) delivery of these services is complex requiring specialist staff and experienced management, (c) there is no time to undertake a TUPE process in respect of the staff working for the incumbent, and (d) the critical nature of the services provided under this contract mean that the Authority cannot take the risk of the services not being operational. A change of contractor would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the Authority because the only way of doing so in the time available would be via a direct award to another provider. Given the TUPE requirements which apply to incumbent staff, the Authority would still need to extend the incumbent service provider's contract (albeit for a shorter period of time) in order that a transfer of work and staff could be achieved which itself would amount to a duplication of costs. - Need for modification brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority could not foresee. Description of the circumstances which rendered the modification necessary and explanation of the unforeseen nature of these circumstances: The need for this extension is because the award procedure for the re-procurement of this contract was abandoned during the standstill period due to a challenge by the unsuccessful tenderer. The Authority's decision to abandon the procedure was because of the timescales and costs associated with continuing to defend the challenge as well as changes in technology and working practices since the procurement procedure started which led the Broadcasting Unit to reconsider its requirements. Whilst the changes in technology and working practices since the procurement procedure started was the supplementary reason for the abandonment, the Authority could not have foreseen these changes because at the time of starting the re-procurement process, the omicron variant had not been reported in the UK. This led to another period of remote and hybrid working at Parliament, which led to the realisation that Parliament's broadcasting requirements would need to change on a more permanent footing, rather than just in response to a short-term crisis.

Dispute resolution & review bodies

• The High Court JusticeReview body London