Award

Schools Information Management System (SIMS)

BRIDGEND COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

19 Apr 2022 at 16:00

Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process involves Bridgend Council as the buying organisation issuing a contract titled "Schools Information Management System (SIMS)" within the IT services industry. This procurement, classified under the services category, is currently at the Award stage and was completed on 1st April 2022. The transition involves moving from a perpetual licence model to a software-as-a-service model directly with individual schools in the local authority area, which is situated in the UKL17 region. The procurement was awarded via a limited procedure without prior publication of a call for competition, reflecting the need for immediate action due to a notice of termination from the previous supplier, Education Software Solutions Limited (ESS).

This tender presents substantial opportunities for businesses specialising in software development and support services, particularly those providing educational software solutions. Businesses that can offer customised software services and have the capacity to enter into direct contracts with schools will find this a lucrative opportunity for growth. The varying contract values range significantly, with contracts priced between GBP 713.73 to GBP 23,463.84, indicating a suitable range for both small and large enterprises to participate in this public procurement process.

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Notice Title

Schools Information Management System (SIMS)

Notice Description

Transition from existing contractual model of perpetual licence of SIMS to local authority with associated support services, to software as a service model contracting directly with individual schools to provide SIMS and associated support services.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Prior to the award of these contracts, the current provider (ESS) had a contract with the local authority under which it provided a perpetual licence to the local authority for the purpose of providing SIMS to the schools in the local authority's area, with associated support services. ESS has now served notice to terminate that contract and requires that, in order to continue provision of SIMS, individual schools must enter into direct contracts with ESS to receive SIMS as software as a service. In order to bring about the transition, the local authority will enter into a Facilitation Agreement ("FA") with ESS under which nothing of value is received by ESS and no material services are provided to the local authority; it is purely an administrative arrangement to effect the transition. Each school in the local authority's area will enter into a School Contract ("SC") with ESS for the direct provision of SIMS as software as a service, at substantially the same cost as before. The highest value SC is GBP 23463.84 and the lowest value SC GBP 713.73. The schools in the local authority's area whose governing bodies will enter into contracts with ESS are as follows: Abercerdin Primary School, Afon-y-felin Primary School, Archdeacon John Lewis C in W Primary, Betws Primary School , Blaengarw Primary School, Brackla Primary School , Bryncethin Primary School, Brynmenyn Primary School , Bryntirion Infant School , Careau Primary School , Cefn Cribwr Primary School ,Cefn Glas Infant School , Coety Primary School ,Corneli Primary School , Coychurch Llangrallo Primary School , Croesty Primary School , Cwmfelin Primary School ,Ffaldau Primary School , Garth Primary School, Heronsbridge School, Litchard Primary School, Llangewydd Junior School, Maes Yr Haul Primary School, Mynydd Cynffig Primary School, Nantyffyllon Primary School, Nantymoel Primary School, Newton Primary School, Nottage Primary School, Ogmore Vale Primary School, Oldcastle Primary School, Pencoed Primary School, Pen-y-Bont Primary School, Pen-y-fai C in W Primary School, Pil Primary School, Plasnewydd Primary School, Portfolio PRU, Porthcawl Primary School, St Marys Patricks RC Primary, St Marys Catholic Primary School, St Roberts RC Primary School, Tondu Primary School, Trelales Primary School, Tremains Primary School, Tynyrheol Primary School, West Park Primary School, Ysgol Bryn Castell, Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Ogwr, Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Calon Y Cymoedd, Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Cynwyd Sant, Ysgol Y Ferch O'r Sger Corneli, Archbishop McGrath RC Comp Sch, Brynteg School, Bryntirion Comprehensive School, Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen,Cynffig Comprehensive School, Maesteg School, Pencoed Comprehensive School, Porthcawl Comprehensive School, Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd, The local authority publishes this notice on behalf of itself and the schools listed above but is not acting as a central purchasing body on behalf of the schools.

Procurement Information

This contract award notice is intended to be a relevant contract award notice pursuant to Reg. 93(2), (3) and (4) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. It is published on a wholly voluntary basis and without prejudice to the local authority's and the governing body of each individual school's position that no prior publication of a contract notice, and thus no competitive tender exercise, was required in respect of the Facilitation Agreement (FA) and/or the individual Schools Contracts (SC). The FA has no " monetary value" it acts as an administrative mechanism to manage the transition of contracts from local authorities to schools. It is therefore below the threshold set out in Reg. 5 of the 2015 Regulations and thus Part 2 of the 2015 Regulations does not apply. The governing body of each individual school is a separate contracting authority and each individual SC is a separate contract. The values of the individual SCs entered into in the local authority's area range between GBP23465.73 and GBP 713.73 in total over the three-year duration of each SC. Each such individual contract is therefore below the threshold set out in Reg. 5 of the 2015 Regulations and thus Part 2 of the 2015 Regulations does not apply. Further or in the alternative, neither the FA nor the individual SCs are subject to a requirement to carry out prior publication of a contract notice and/or any form of competitive tender, because the services can only be provided by one particular economic operator (ESS), because competition is absent for technical reasons pursuant to Reg. 32(2)(b)(ii) of the 2015 Regulations. This is because all of the schools in the local authority's area currently use ESS' SIMS product. ESS served 90 days' notice to terminate the current arrangements, shortly before Christmas 2021. It would therefore not be possible in these timescales for schools to tender for and purchase an alternative product and transition to it, without suffering serious disruption to essential services which would affect the ability of schools to continue to function and which may require schools to close. The notice to terminate the current contracts and the short timescale imposed by ESS were unforeseen by the local authority and the schools. It is intended in the future to advertise a competitive tender exercise for SIMS on an all-Wales basis, with award and transition to the new contracts to coincide with the end of the 3-year term of the SCs entered into with ESS

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-032e98
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010236-2022
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support


CPV Codes

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

72260000 - Software-related services

72261000 - Software support services

72268000 - Software supply services

72300000 - Data services

72310000 - Data-processing services

72320000 - Database services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
19 Apr 20223 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
31 Mar 20223 years ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
BRIDGEND COUNCIL
Contact Name
Jo Protheroe
Contact Email
jo.protheroe1@bridgend.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
BRIDGEND
Postcode
CF32 0QE
Post Town
Cardiff
Country
Wales

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLL Wales
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLL5 South East Wales
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLL52 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan
Delivery Location
TLL17 Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot

Local Authority
Vale of Glamorgan
Electoral Ward
St Bride's Major
Westminster Constituency
Vale of Glamorgan

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

EDUCATION SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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