You asked
Could you provide details of the competitive tender which has led ONS to work with Barbour ABI on construction statistics over the last few years?
Specifically I am interested in the brief for the work, who else bidded for the work, how Barbour ABI met the brief and why the rationale for why they were selected ahead of other bidders?
I'd also like to know the length and value of the contract and as mentioned in my initial email, I am particularly interested in what, if any, assessment was carried out on the legalities of Barbour ABIs service.
We said
Thank you for your request.
How many tenderers participated in the process?
One tenderer submitted a bid for the New Order Estimates project. For information, a further three expressed an interest in the project but did not submit a bid.
Rationale for award:
The scoring criteria was 70% Quality and 30% Cost. There was also a minimum score required on some quality criteria. Barbour ABI exceeded the minimum criteria and as the only bidder, scored the highest score
Duration of the contract:
The initial contract was for 2 years with the option to extend for a further 2 years at the Authority's discretion. We extended the contract in December 2019 in line with the initial contract given the cost to ONS is zero and that there was only one bidder during the procurement conducted in 2017.
Contract Value:
None. Barbour ABI do not charge ONS for the data or the services to prepare the data.
Assessment:
The procurement exercise was conducted in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015.