--- title: "Assessment Service Information Systems (ASIS) Contract" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-02fd40" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02fd40" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02fd40.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02fd40.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Award" buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS" published: "2021-12-03" --- # Assessment Service Information Systems (ASIS) Contract Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS Current stage: Award OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-02fd40 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02fd40) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02fd40.json) ## Summary The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is seeking to extend the Assessment Service Information Systems (ASIS) Contract, which currently provides managed IT services essential for health and disability assessment support. This tender is classified under Information Technology Requirements Review Services and falls within the services category. The procurement process is at the award stage, with the existing contract originally signed on 9 June 2014 and set to expire on 28 February 2022. However, a three-year extension is proposed to bridge the gap until the eventual migration to the DWP's Health Assessment Service digital platform, highlighting the need for continuity in service delivery. This opportunity may benefit businesses specialising in providing IT support services and digital transformation solutions, particularly those experienced in managing legacy systems and ensuring seamless transitions to modern platforms. Companies with capabilities in health and disability sectors will find this tender advantageous, as it intends to secure ongoing support for vital assessments within the framework of social security benefits. The complexity of the transition post-Covid-19 presents significant opportunities for suppliers capable of demonstrating long-term strategic planning and adaptability. ## Notice The Supplier currently provides managed IT services to the Authority under a contract due to expire on 28.2.2022 (the ASIS Contract). The ASIS Contract supports the Authority's separate contract for health and disability assessment services (HDAS) for a range of social security and other benefits (including Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit) and requires extending for 3 years to enable the service to be safely transitioned prior to the ultimate migration to the DWP Health Assessment Service (HAS) digital service. ### Lot Information Lot 1 The ASIS Contract was awarded on 9 June 2014. It was modified in 2018 to include options to extend and is currently due to expire on 28 February 2022. This notice confirms that an extension of up to an additional 3 years to 28 February 2025 has become necessary. The extension period is necessary to ensure the Department can continue to support live service for health and disability assessments, provide business continuity for the HDAS contract, ensure this digital service is able to support the Department's future requirements for health assessment services and support the DWP's proposed future strategy for the ASIS service which, in essence, is continued provision of ASIS through to a controlled migration to DWP's Health Assessment Service (HAS). In order to bridge the period between the existing ASIS contract and this migration, DWP will initially need to extend the current ASIS Contract. A 3-year extension of the service is required due to the significant technical and time restrictions of all other options. Extension of the contract will provide the following benefits: * service continuity will be maintained; * implementation of the optimum solution for delivery of ASIS services post February 2025 will continue to be taken forward in the period following execution of the extension * implementation of the necessary mandatory projects required to both ensure that the ongoing services for health and disability assessments continue to be supported and facilitate transition to another provider prior to expiry of the extension . For these reasons, as explained more fully in Section IV and Annex D, the Department considers the proposed extension to be justifiable under Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, namely Regulation 72(1)(b). The amendments comprising the extension will not be made before the end of a period of at least 10 days from the day after the date of publication of this notice. ### Procurement Information Additional services by the original contractor have become necessary The extension of the ASIS Contract has become necessary to maintain the service for the health and disability assessments it supports, and accommodate the changing requirements for future delivery of assessments following Covid-19. Not extending the contract would ultimately result in a virtual closure of the gateway to income replacement benefit of c.PS15b of AME spend per annum. The previous DWP strategy, reflected in the last extension of the ASIS contract in 2018, was transition from the ASIS contract into a new in-house digital solution by February 2022. However, substantial changes in the direction of the Health Transformation Programme (HTP) and in the IT strategy underpinning the HTP mean that completing the transition to HAS by February 2022 is no longer achievable. The HTP has also been significantly impacted by Covid-19 and the revised strategy imposes operational constraints on the timelines and transition for the ASIS services required to support delivery of Health Assessment Services. This proposed 3-year contract extension will both maintain business as usual and enable DWP to progress its strategy of ultimately transitioning to HAS. Accordingly, ASIS services will be needed until that point. The Department is examining the options for ASIS services after the proposed extension period from February 2025 as it progresses to migration to HAS. Technical reasons prevent a change of contractor There is a complex and aged technology stack and legacy applications in the hosting environments are written in outdated software. The stack requires significant upgrading that would be extremely difficult without existing knowledge of the solution and key documentation is lacking. Due to these technical reasons, implementing a plan to guarantee transition from the legacy ASIS service to a replacement service within a shorter extension is not considered possible. The absence of a technically feasible plan for earlier transition could result in unavailability of the services under the HDAS 2021-3 Contract which underpins c.PS15b of AME spend per annum. Due to the technical issues, attempting to replace the ASIS service for less than a 3-year extension period would therefore pose a very high risk of inability to provide these services effectively over that period with severe consequences and would not be viable. Change of contractor would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs Attempting a shorter delivery plan would mean DWP committing additional resources which might then impact resources to deliver DWP's strategic integrated solution (i.e. HAS), therefore jeopardising the planned availability date for HAS. Not extending the current contract for 3 years could adversely impact the delivery of health and disability assessments as described and necessitate implementing a contingency arrangement resulting in significant inconvenience and substantial duplication of costs. Any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract The value of the original contract for years 1-5 was PS64,823,309 and the maximum extension value is therefore PS32,411,655. The value of the contract as extended in 2018 was PS91,732,642. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/030153-2021 | | 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 | | All stages | Award | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 3 Dec 2021 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | 8 Jun 2014 | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | £124,144,297 | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Complete | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Active | | Contracts status | Active | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS | | Locality | BLACKPOOL | | Post town | Blackpool | | Postcode | FY4 5ES | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLD North West (England) | | ITL 2 | TLD4 Lancashire | | ITL 3 | TLD42 Blackpool | | Local authority | Blackpool | | Electoral ward | Stanley | | Westminster constituency | Blackpool South | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## Supplier | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Number of suppliers | 1 | | Supplier names | ATOS IT SERVICES | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ### Codes - 72223000 - Information technology requirements review services ## Release History - 3 Dec 2021 at 22:45 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/030153-2021 ## Notice URLs - https://dwp.bravosolution.co.uk - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02fd40. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02fd40.json.