Content Management System

Tender description

Direct Award of Headless Content Management System on urgency grounds Lot 1: This is a VEAT notice to notify the market that SQA intends to enter into a contract following a negotiated procedure without prior publication on the grounds that for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for open procedure, restricted procedure or competitive procedure with negotiation cannot be complied with (regulation 33(1)(c)). SQA requires to receive the contract services in time for a 1 December 2025 launch date for Qualifications Scotland which is set by government following the passage of the Education Scotland Act 2025. Implementation time requirements mean that even with immediate contract award, the development timeline is at the minimum of industry standards for enterprise-level headless CMS implementations. There is accordingly no time available for a procedure following even minimum timescales under procurement regulations. The urgency arises following a failure of established procurement procedures. Specifically SQA attempted to use an established Scottish Government framework to procure the required products but this process was vitiated by supply chain failure. That failure was unforeseeable by and unattributable to SQA.