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Large public sector housing body

A large public sector housing body decided in 2006 (following substantive underperformance of its previous ICT partner) to seek a private sector partner to provide a robust, secure and well-integrated ICT infrastructure. The procurement exercise has been structured so that the appointed provider of managed ICT services will:

• provide “core services”; and
• provide “additional (pre-identified) services” from time to time.

Bevan Brittan’s work commenced with an initial review of the procurement strategy. Following on from this we have been working with both their in-house team and external consultants to draft the initial procurement, commercial and contractual documents to be used by this body. This has included consideration of the OJEU notice and pre-qualification documents as well as the overall strategic, technical and contractual approach.

The project is one of the first to go to market using the Competitive Dialogue Procedure and we have advised in relation to all aspects of this procedure (including the suitability of the procedure for this project) and the on-going management and timetable of the dialogues with each bidder.

One of the bidders is the incumbent provider and we are assisting this body with managing other bidders’ requirements in relation to the carrying out of due diligence on the current services and the way that this can be achieved without jeopardising the commercial position of the incumbent provider and its own bid submission. This is a particular concern when using the Competitive Dialogue Procedure because the due diligence and commercial discussions need to be held prior to the appointment of preferred bidder (while there is still a competition).

We have developed the contract documents based on the Government’s (OGC) standard contract for IT services. This standard document has been tailored to meet the specific requirements of this body and, having undertaken that work, we are now assisting it in its discussions with short-listed bidders. This process has involved negotiation of the full range of issues and documents associated with this form of ICT outsourcing project:

• main terms and conditions of contract;
• service specifications;
• service levels and performance requirements;
• payment mechanism (including performance deductions);
• ownership of ICT hardware;
• software licensing arrangements (by both the contractor and the Housing Corporation);
• service management;
• data protection and Freedom of Information.

This body is subject to a possible merger with English Partnerships and certain elements of the DCLG. This merger is likely to have significant impact upon the project and the provision of services in the future. We have provided advice in relation to the impact of any merger and how it should be managed, particularly in the context of the scope of the OJEU that was issued prior to the merger proposals. We continue to work with the Corporation on this important project and all parties aim to complete the procurement process within the next few months.

For further information please contact:
Martin Carroll
Tel: 0870 194 1743
martin.carroll@bevanbrittan.com

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