Voluntary transparency notice (VTN) for Specialist PNT Consultancy Services

Description

This is a Voluntary Transparency Notice. UK Space Agency will be looking to award a contract under Regulation 32(2)(B)(ii) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015, which allows for the use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication "where the works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator for any of the following reasons: (ii) competition is absent for technical reasons The objective of the contract involves two elements: 1) maintenance of existing provision of specialist technical support for Position Navigation and Timing (PNT) programmes including the UK contribution to the ESA NAVISP programme 2) continued provision of specialist resource to support the development of a new business case for a satellite-based augmentation system, which cannot be delivered without additional technical resource. The justification for award without prior publication of a contract notice is that there is a need to ensure a continuation of service to support the ESA NAVISP programme and the ongoing development of the satellite-based augmentation system. Delivery of both these elements would be severely impacted if this contract is not extended and the current provision and resource were lost, including to a major ESA programme. The current contractor has been deeply involved in these programmes and the time it would take for another contract to be awarded and an alternative supplier to commence delivery would have significant impacts on the programmes that would jeopardise the delivery of their objectives. Introducing a new supplier would also likely result in additional costs and not deliver a robust product or value for money. The justification is therefore that this is essential to ensure the same high level of technical support on the development of complex ongoing requirements. This award will be made in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 clause 32(2)(b)(ii), where competition is absent for technical reasons. Subject to UK Space Agency receiving no notice during the standstill period of any intention to legally challenge the award process, UK Space Agency intends to award the Proposed Contract after 12:00 PM on 10th May 2024 to Roke Manor Research Limited.