Tender

Witness Service (2024 - 2028)

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Tender

31 Mar 2023 at 12:15

Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Ministry of Justice has issued a tender for the Witness Service for the period 2024-2028. This service operates in all Criminal Courts in England and Wales, providing support to witnesses. The contract is estimated to be worth £45.1 million and is open for all suppliers. The procurement method is an Open Procedure, and the tender period ends on 17th May 2023.

This tender by the Ministry of Justice offers an opportunity for businesses to provide support services to witnesses attending court. Small and medium enterprises and voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations are well-suited to compete for this contract. The procurement aims to improve the quality of service and deliver essential improvements in value-for-money for witness support services in court proceedings.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Witness Service (2024 - 2028)

Notice Description

The Witness Service is an existing service which is being re-procured. The service operates in all Criminal Courts in England and Wales, delivered by a combination of volunteers and paid staff providing emotional and practical support to prosecution and defence witnesses to enable them to give their best evidence. The Secretary of State for Justice (the "Authority") invites suppliers to bid for a contract to provide support services to witnesses attending court or involved in court hearings including: - Providing information to witnesses about their rights and the process of giving evidence; - Supporting witnesses through the trial process, before, during and after the trial; - Offering outreach support to vulnerable and intimidated witnesses. In the service being re-procured, priority will be given to delivering essential improvements in value-for-money and quality of service, as well as testing ambitious options to future-proof the design of the service based on lessons learned in recent years. The Authority intends to award a contract to a supplier to provide support which is guided by the following principles: - Continue to deliver a service for witnesses attending court - building on the existing model for support and the significant benefits it provides to witnesses. - Improve the service at a detailed level, learning lessons from victim policy in recent years. This will include working to create a more trauma-informed approach, improving the accessibility of the service and improving partnership working with victim advocates. The anticipated quantity or scope is an estimate of the potential value of the contract and does not in any way guarantee any level of expenditure. All values should be considered as indicative only. Additional information: The services being procured are covered by the type of services listed in Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) and so pursuant to Regulation 74 will be subject to the Light Touch Regime. The Authority will conduct a procedure similar to the Open Procedure but with some modifications which are set out in the procurement documents, and will comply with its obligations of equal treatment, transparency, non-discrimination and proportionality at all times during the procurement. QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT: Details of the objective criteria for selecting a winning bidder will be set out in the procurement documents. ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL ASSESSMENT Details of the Authority's approach to Economic and Financial assessment will be set out in the procurement documents. AWARD CRITERIA: The award criteria will be based on the Most Economically Advantageous Tender, evaluated on a Price per Quality Point basis. Variant bids will not be permitted REGISTRATION: The Authority will be performing events through its e-Sourcing Portal known as Jaggaer. Jaggaer is an online application that allows all potential suppliers to create and submit their responses in any procurement via the internet. Bidders Instructions to express an interest in this tender 1). Login to the Portal with the username/password. 2) Click the 'PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers' link. (These are pre-qualification questionnaires or invitations to tender open to any registered supplier). 3) Click on the relevant SQ/ ITT to access the content using the following: Project Code - prj_9882 ITT Code - ITT_7158 4). Click the Express Interest button at the top of the page. This will move the ITT into your My ITTs page. This is a secure area reserved for your projects only. 5) You can now access any attachments by clicking Buyer Attachments in the ITT Details box. Instructions on how to submit a tender will be provided.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-031bc11c-27cb-4e0e-8cb6-1347582691fe
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/9a43084f-fc95-422c-9fe6-0ed28b5cc23f
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure (above threshold)
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

75 - Administration, defence and social security services

CPV Codes

75230000 - Justice services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£45,100,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
31 Mar 20232 years ago
Submission Deadline
17 May 2023Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
31 Mar 2024 - 31 Mar 2028 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Active
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 9AJ
Post Town
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England), TLL Wales
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts. 

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