---
title: "Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service - Contract Extension - Lot 4"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-03ed05"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03ed05"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03ed05.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03ed05.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS ACTING FOR AN ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITIES (DFC) FORMERLY THE DEPARTMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (DSD) IN NORTHERN IRELAND"
published: "2023-08-04"
---

# Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service - Contract Extension - Lot 4

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS ACTING FOR AN ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITIES (DFC) FORMERLY THE DEPARTMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (DSD) IN NORTHERN IRELAND  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-03ed05

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## Summary

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) acting on behalf of the Department for Communities (DfC) is procuring the "Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service" through a contract extension in Lot 4. This procurement falls under the Health and Social Work Services category. The contract extension will take place from 04 March 2024 to 6 September 2024 due to delays in the completion of related services. The tender process is at the award stage with Capita Business Services as the active supplier.

This procurement opportunity provides potential for businesses specialising in health and social work services to compete for providing PIP assessment services. The procurement method used is a limited procedure with the award made without prior publication of a call for competition. Businesses interested in offering independent assessment, consultation, evidence gathering, and health professional support services are well-suited to compete for this contract extension opportunity.

## Notice

DfC shall enter into a Contract Variation of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment services Lot 4 Contract with the incumbent supplier following a period of 10 days from the date of publication of this notice. The Contract Variation provides for a six (6) month extension from 04 March 2024 to 6 September 2024 of the services delivered by the PIP Assessment Services contract. This is necessary due to delays in the completion of the Lot 5 (Northern Ireland) Functional Assessment Services (FAS) contract.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

-- The objective and independent assessment of the impact of health conditions and disabilities on claimants is central to the process of determining entitlement to PIP. The provider will carry out this assessment and provide information and advice to support the Authority's decision-making processes. -- The key elements of the service will include: -- The consideration of a claimant's health conditions or disabilities and the impact on their daily life and mobility, -- Assessing individuals against criteria prescribed by the Authority, -- The delivery of Consultations to support the above, -- The gathering and consideration of evidence to support the above including, where necessary, paying appropriate fees for evidence, -- The completion of reports, including advice, to the Authority, -- The referral of assessment reports and any associated evidence to the Authority, -- Interpretation and advice to the Authority on technical evidence, -- Follow up liaison with the Authority in relation to assessments, including the provision of relevant health professional expertise as required, -- The administration and management of the service, including scheduling of Consultations, ensuring that they are completed within timescales set down by the Authority, -- The recruitment, training and ongoing support of Health Professionals, including liaison with relevant professional bodies, -- The development of guidance and training in conjunction with the Authority, -- The provision of an enquiry service for individuals being assessed, -- The provision of a quality control regime, including a complaints function, -- The provision of management information as defined by the Authority, -- Initiatives and liaison with relevant organisations to support the provision of evidence, -- Liaison and collaborative working with local and national partners, including disability organisations, health professional bodies and the devolved administrations, -- Liaison and collaborative working with the PIP Assessment Providers for other Lots as required, -- Support for Test and Learn Activity.

### Procurement Information

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) led FAS procurement, based on 5 geographic Lots (Lot 5 in Northern Ireland), was launched on 12 November 2021. On 15 March 2023, DWP notified FAS bidders of the outcome of the procurement in Lots 1, 2, 4 and 5. Procurement activity in Lot 3 (Southwest England) continues, resulting in a DWP and DfC agreement to delay contract signature in all Lots to support full alignment in FAS transition to 'go-live' in 2024. DfC has a number of dependencies on DWP to enable it to comply with key Authority obligations in relation to FAS Lot 5 service delivery. It is anticipated that the completion of the FAS procurement exercise in Lot 3 will result in a 6-month delay in the contract signature for Lot 3 and consequently in Lots 1, 2, 4 and 5. Without an extension there would be a service provision gap, adversely impacting PIP customers, and resulting in a failure of DfC to meet its statutory obligations. Furthermore, the absence of continuity in service provision would put a vulnerable group of PIP recipients at risk and create further hardship and disadvantage. DfC considers Regulation 72(1)(b) PCR applicable. For the reasons set out above, the provision of additional services until 6 September 2024 is necessary and: (i) interchangeability issues with a new supplier means these key services could be negatively impacted for economic and technical reasons. The implementation of the contract currently being procured will necessitate a lengthy handover period, and make it impossible therefore to introduce a new provider for a short extension period. A change in supplier without a full handover programme (to include transition to a new IT service necessitating dual running of systems), would risk delivery of these services which provide critical statutory benefits to vulnerable people; (ii) appointing a new supplier to cover a short extension period (which DfC does not consider a viable option) at the same time an incumbent is engaged in handover to a new FAS supplier, would result in significant duplication of costs and a loss of value for money for the taxpayer; (iii) value of the contract for the extended period does not exceed 50% of value of original contract; and (iv) DfC will publish a modification notice pursuant to Regulation 72(3) of PCR.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/022704-2023 |
| 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 | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 4 Aug 2023 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 20 Nov 2012 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £11,106,000 |

## 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 ACTING FOR AN ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITIES (DFC) FORMERLY THE DEPARTMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (DSD) IN NORTHERN IRELAND |
| Locality | SHEFFIELD |
| Post town | Sheffield |
| Postcode | S1 2FD |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber |
| ITL 2 | TLE3 South Yorkshire |
| ITL 3 | TLE32 Sheffield |
| Local authority | Sheffield |
| Electoral ward | City |
| Westminster constituency | Sheffield Central |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | CAPITA BUSINESS SERVICES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85000000 - Health and social work services

## Release History

- 4 Aug 2023 at 10:08 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/022704-2023

## 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-03ed05. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03ed05.json.