Office-support services

Description

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board awarded a contract for a service centre solution and the provision of business process support services under a Framework Agreement in 2014. The appointed service provider provides the board with a catalogue of operational and technical services. These services are critical to PIAB's compliance with its statutory duties under the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 in relation to the assessment of claims for compensation. The contract is due to expire in October 2019. PIAB is intending to extend the contract for a period of 12 months from the date of expiry. The value of the extension is estimated to be in the region of 2 000 000 EUR (excluding VAT). The figure of 2 000 000 EUR set out at II.1.7 and at V.2.4 below is the estimated value of the extension. The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) awarded a contract for a service centre solution and the provision of business process support services under a Framework Agreement in 2014. The Framework Agreement was advertised in the Official Journal on 1.8.2013 (2013/S 148-257708). A contract award notice was published on 19.12.2014 following award of the contract (2014/S 245-432562). The service provider appointed to the contract provides PIAB with a catalogue of operational and technical services. These services are critical to PIAB's compliance with its statutory duties under the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 in relation to the assessment of claims for compensation for personal injuries suffered by people in motor accidents, work place accidents and public liability accidents. PIAB entered into the contract with the service provider in October 2014 for a period of 3 years with the option to extend for a further 2 years. PIAB extended the contract in accordance with its terms and the contract is due to expire in October 2019. PIAB is publishing this transparency notice to alert economic operators of its intention to modify the contract in accordance with Regulation 72(1)(b) of the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (the Regulations). The modification will extend the contract for an additional 12 months. The extension to the term of the contract is required because PIAB is undertaking a review of its claims management system, which is a business critical system and is fundamental to the provision of the services under the contract. PIAB intends to go to market shortly to review options for the claims management system. It makes no economic or technical sense to procure a new business process service provider at a time when the claims management system that any service provider will be required to use has not yet been determined. It would be extremely costly from an economic perspective and disruptive if the business process services procurement were to be conducted on the basis of a particular system only for that system to be changed early in the life of any new business process services contract. The proposed extension is to allow time for PIAB to review options for its claims management system and then re-tender the business process services. In addition, it is currently extremely difficult for PIAB to scope any new contract for business process support services due to the drive towards increasing digitalisation. A number of processes currently carried out under the contract may no longer be required because of increased digitalisation of processes within PIAB. It is expected that the scope of digitalisation will only become clear over the next 12 months, and this will then allow PIAB to adequately scope the new contract for business process support services. PIAB considers that the proposed extension is permitted under the Regulations and is publishing this voluntary transparency notice in accordance with Regulation 11(3) of the European Communities (Public Authorities’ Contracts) (Review Procedures) Regulations 2010. The proposed extension will not be made before the end of a period of 14 days beginning with the day after the day of publication of this notice.