The NIHR Evaluations, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC)

{
  "id": "026222-2024",
  "tag": [
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  "date": "2024-08-16T16:53:06+01:00",
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  "buyer": {
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    "name": "Department of Health and Social Care"
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      "id": "026222-2024-2016/S 208-376509-1",
      "title": "The NIHR Evaluations, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC)",
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  "tender": {
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        "description": "•\tEstablished processes for commissioning R&D within NIHR and DH were set up to promote probity in spending public money and equality of opportunity. NETSCC will be expected to adopt similar standards of commissioning for all its managed programmes. This is an essential requirement and bidders must demonstrate an understanding of the process and the skills required to deliver it which, crucially, includes scientific secretariat skills.<br/><br/>•\tNETSCC will be required to provide administrative support to all systems and structures used to identify and prioritise research of relevance to those who plan, provide or receive NHS and other health and care services as well as providing systems and processes for research commissioning, monitoring and project management.  <br/><br/>•\tNETSCC will provide scientific secretariat support, under the direction of a Programme Director, to expert advisory committees and will advise on the prioritisation of research proposals and on commissioning decisions.<br/><br/>•\tNETSCC will be required to make all necessary arrangements for commissioning and other meetings. For example, the maintenance of committee membership lists, the production and distribution of all papers necessary well in advance of meetings, the taking of minutes of meetings (which will include discussions of science and research methodology) and the prompt circulation of accurate minutes following meetings.<br/><br/>•\tNETSCC will be responsible for the issuing of project and programme contracts (standard contract format) which will be sent for final signature to the DH Science, Research and Evidence Directorate (SRED).<br/><br/>•\tAll projects and programmes will require a detailed timetable with milestones. NETSCC will monitor projects and programmes and will take receipt of regular reports ensuring that researchers keep to the timetable and achieve milestones. This will require a solid understanding of the science as well as strong administrative skills.<br/><br/>•\tNETSCC will be responsible for forecasting, profiling and reporting on annual budgets from April 1st to March 31st of each of the years covered, reporting quarterly and monitoring monthly. <br/><br/>•\tPayments to R&D project and research infrastructure contractors are made by DH normally quarterly in arrears. NETSCC will take responsibility for informing SRED when project/ programme contracts have started in order that scheduled payments may commence, and for alerting SRED of any adverse event necessitating suspension of payments. <br/><br/>•\tNETSCC will be required to set up and run, in liaison with SRED, financially sound and transparent accounting systems.  NETSCC will be expected to adopt information management systems that are compatible with systems already in use by other parts of NIHR. NETSCC will provide progress reports, including financial summaries, in respect of the managed programmes as required. Bidders must be able to demonstrate the necessary skills to deliver this aspect of their bid.<br/><br/>•\tNETSCC will take such steps as are necessary to ensure that accurate, well presented, peer reviewed final reports and executive summaries are forthcoming promptly from all projects funded, and that these reports and summaries are entered into appropriate database and library systems. Specifically, NETSCC will deliver the NIHR Journals Library series and all outputs from NETSCC will be included in that series. Relevant NIHR funded research commissioned through the NIHR Central Commissioning facility will also be included (namely Programme Grants for Applied Research) as well as selected outputs from other funders where there is a shared interest, namely the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Methodology Research Programme.<br/><br/>•\tNETSCC will, as routine, alert the Department to forthcoming outputs through an outputs notification process, highlighting any outputs considered sensitive. As part of that process, NETSCC will, as a minimum, provide notice and copies of forthcoming publications, including press releases, arising from funded research at least 28 days prior to publication. Contractors will alert the Department immediately to such forthcoming publications and ensure that it receives advance copies as soon as these are available. <br/><br/>•\tNETSCC will use its best endeavours to ensure, as far as possible, that intellectual property rights (IPR) of value to the NHS are properly protected and managed, and agreements are drawn up to ensure the NHS receives an appropriate share of any earnings from IPR.",
        "contractPeriod": {
          "endDate": "2025-03-31T23:59:59+01:00",
          "startDate": "2018-04-01T00:00:00+01:00"
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    "title": "The NIHR Evaluations, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC)",
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      "name": "Department of Health and Social Care",
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        "name": "Natasha Boreham",
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  "language": "en",
  "contracts": [
    {
      "id": "026222-2024-2016/S 208-376509-1",
      "items": [
        {
          "id": "1",
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            "description": "Administrative services of agencies"
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      "title": "The NIHR Evaluations, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC)",
      "value": {
        "amount": 203019283,
        "currency": "GBP"
      },
      "period": {
        "endDate": "2027-03-31T23:59:59+01:00",
        "startDate": "2018-04-01T00:00:00+01:00"
      },
      "status": "active",
      "awardID": "026222-2024-2016/S 208-376509-1",
      "amendments": [
        {
          "id": "1",
          "rationale": "Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: The Authority believes that the modification was permitted under Regulation 72(1)(b) of the PCR 2015 (SI 102) due to the following reasons:<br/><br/>a) the modification was necessary to utilise the option to extend for the final 2 years of the 4-year extension term as permitted in the Contract Award Notice.<br/><br/>b) a change of contractor could not have been made for economic or technical reasons as such additional services required highly specialised, health and care research management expertise, reliance on extensive, established stakeholder relationships and an up-to-date working knowledge of NIHR strategy, policies and systems.<br/><br/>c) a change of contractor at this stage would have caused significant inconvenience and substantial duplication of costs as a result of:<br/>i) the fragmentation and duplication of existing NIHR research programmes;<br/>ii) significant, increased contractual management costs<br/>iii) significantly higher admin costs.",
          "description": "This modification extends the existing NETSCC contract from 31st March 2025 by 2 years to 31st March 2027.<br/><br/>This modification does not change NETSCC’s existing core functions to provide identification, prioritisation, research commissioning and management facilities.<br/><br/>Previous changes to the contract have been made, bringing the current contract value to 141,761,678 GBP (this value excludes this 2-year extension modification.)"
        }
      ],
      "dateSigned": "2017-05-19T00:00:00+01:00",
      "periodRationale": "A 5-year initial term and an option to extend for 4 years due to need for stability and continuity of services."
    }
  ],
  "description": "The Department intends to re-tender the services at the end of the contract term. The Prior Information Notice can be found here https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/025178-2024",
  "initiationType": "tender"
}