Provision of a TETRA/ MCX Interworking Gateway Solution for the Emergency Services Network (ESN)

Description

Further to a Prior Information Notice (PIN) ref: 2023/S 000-027709 issued on 20 September 2023, the Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Authority) is undertaking this procurement to appoint a suitably capable and experienced provider of a TETRA/ MCX Interworking Gateway Solution for the Emergency Services Network (ESN). The information previously shared as part of the market engagement activity has now been superseded by the procurement and contract documentation issued in connection with this contract notice. Only the information shared pursuant to this contract notice should be relied upon by suppliers deciding whether to request to participate in this procurement. The ESN will replace Airwave in the future as the main critical communications system for first responders (Police, Fire and Rescue and Ambulance services) across Great Britain. During transition to ESN, communications between Emergency Service users must be maintained between the existing and future services through a key transitional technical solution described as ”Interworking”. This will allow members of a talk group on the legacy TETRA system to communicate with members of a corresponding communications group on ESN, and vice versa. This opportunity is to establish a contract for provision of a TETRA/ MCX Interworking Gateway solution for the ESN and will be operated in line with the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Regulations). Lot 1: Further to a Prior Information Notice (PIN) ref: 2023/S 000-027709 issued on 20 September 2023, the Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Authority) is undertaking this procurement to appoint a suitably capable and experienced provider of a TETRA/ MCX Interworking Gateway Solution for the Emergency Services Network (ESN). The information previously shared as part of the market engagement activity has now been superseded by the procurement and contract documentation issued in connection with this contract notice. Only the information shared pursuant to this contract notice should be relied upon by suppliers deciding whether to request to participate in this procurement. This opportunity will be operated in line with the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Regulations). The Authority is seeking to appoint a supplier to deliver the Services. The successful supplier needs to be able to meet the Authority's requirements (further detailed in the procurement documentation) and must be capable of delivering the services for an initial contract term of five years from Contract Award. Following publication of the Contract Notice, the procurement will be structured in the following successive stages: The Selection Stage comprising: . Completion of NDA/EWA documents by Candidates, which allows: . Access to Selection Questionnaire (SQ) and supporting documentation . SQ responses submitted by Candidates . Evaluation and Moderation of SQ responses . Down-selection of top three compliant responses to Award Stage . Notification to successful and unsuccessful Candidates. and The Award Stage, which comprises the following: . Invitation to Negotiate (“ITN”) published to Qualified Bidders . Initial Tender submitted by Bidders . Evaluation and Moderation of Initial Tenders . Negotiation meetings . Invitation to Submit Final Tenders (“ITSFT”) published . ITSFT Tender submitted by Bidders . Evaluation and Moderation of ITSFT . Contract Award Please note, stages shown are indicative and for further details suppliers should access the procurement documentation available via the Authority’s e-sourcing portal that provide more information on the procurement process. The SQ document is provided on the Authority's e-sourcing portal and will be available to suppliers who sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and Ethical Walls Agreement (please see Section VI.3 below for detail on how to access this). Note the date & time in IV2.2/ IV2.3 relates to SQ closing. The evaluation panel shall evaluate the SQ responses using selection criteria detailed in the SQ document. In addition to the Selection Questionnaire, the eSourcing Portal will provide folders containing (i) the Draft Contract and Schedules (based on the Model Services Contract v2.1) (ii) a Data Room folder containing relevant background documents and (iii) the draft Invitation to Negotiate documentation. This information is provided for information only at the Selection Questionnaire stage. The Authority reserves the right to change the ITN documentation and that an updated version will go out at the ITN stage for the down-selected Bidders to complete. To register interest, please e-mail ESMCPSupplier@homeoffice.gov.uk providing the relevant contact details in your organisation and requesting a copy of the NDA/EWA documentation.