The provision of metrology related services for assurance, evaluation and testing against UK national measurement standards.

The Home Office is the lead government department for immigration and passports, drugs policy, crime, fire, counter-terrorism and police. The Homeland Security Group (HSG) and Science, Technology, Analysis, Research and Strategy (STARS) teams sit within the Home Department. Both play crucial roles in national security and law enforcement operations and pursuant to this mission they wish access to the specialist research capabilities available through the National Physical Laboratory (www.npl.co.uk ↗).

The Home Office is entering into an agreement with NPL whereby it shall directly commission projects where the substantive component is metrology , across technical areas including, but not limited to, advanced materials, quantum technologies, bio-metrology, sensor technologies, data science, electronic and electromagnetic materials, emissions, gas and particle metrology, mechanical measurement, mass spectrometry, nuclear and radiation measurement and ultrasound, specifically:

i) Technology assurance and evaluation against the UK’s national measurement standards,

ii) Impartial and independent advice on testing and standards, especially where standards are emerging or no standards exist,

iii) Development of methods for technical assessment of devices and technologies, especially where standards are emerging or no standards exist, and

iv) Tests and evaluations to help the Home Office understand its own test facilities across the breadth of its portfolio.

Through this agreement and constrained to the scope identified in this Section II.2.4, the Home Office shall award this agreement in accordance with Regulation 32 (2)(b)(ii)('competition absent for technical reasons').

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a Public Corporation owned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). NPL is the UK's National Metrology Institute (NMI), developing and maintaining the national primary measurement standards, the highest point of reference in the UK as well as collaborating with other NMIs to maintain the international system of measurement. It is a public sector research establishment delivering the measurement capability that underpins the UK's prosperity and quality of life. It develops the enduring measurement infrastructure to metrology required to ensure the timely and successful deployment of new technologies.

On this basis, the Home Office considers that competition is absent for technical reasons.