The Provision of Freight Services for the Supply of Lateral Flow Test Kits for Testing of Covid-19

Concepts

• freight transport agency
• provision of freight services
• supply of lateral flow test kits
• testing of covid-19
• covid-19 response
• direct award
• reg

Location

London

Description

The provision of freight services for the supply of lateral flow test kits for testing of Covid-19.

Total Quantity or Scope

Direct Award under Reg 32 of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 for Covid-19 response.

Award Detail

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 63521000 - Freight transport agency services

Indicators

• Award on basis of price.

Legal Justification

The Government has set out the increase of Covid-19 testing capacity as a cornerstone of its strategy to combat rising rates of infection, suppressing community transmission, savings lives and ultimately supporting societal and economic recovery. Successful validation of an initial range of newly developed Covid-19 lateral flow test kits was completed by the DHSC in September, allowing for orders to be placed to secure a sustainable supply of significant volumes of these products, as a fundamental enabler of the expansion of the testing programme. The supply of these new test kits is currently limited in the face of very high global demand and consequently it was necessary to contract for supply on an ex-works basis for product manufactured in China in order to secure the required quantity of product and prevent gazumping. Where product has be sourced on an ex works basis it is imperative that this product is moved at the earliest opportunity to prevent it being sold to higher bidders. In addition the rising rates of infection in the UK and predicted growth in cases over the coming months, has created an urgent need for these new test kits to support the testing programme in the UK and therefore Air Freight presents the only viable mode for moving product to the UK in time to meet the operational requirements of the testing programme. In light of these factors the contract was awarded to Virgin Atlantic Airways to meet the specific urgent need to transport test kits to the UK, utilising flights from China during February and March 2021. The short lead time between validating new test kits and needing these kits in the UK to support the national response to a second wave of Covid-19 cases in the UK, justifies the use of direct award under Regulation 32 provision within the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Department is content the tests permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32(2)(c)) are met: 1) Air freight charters was identified as strictly necessary to meet anticipated demand. 2) It is responding to Covid-19 immediately because of public health risks presenting a genuine emergency. 3) The events that led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: the Commission itself confirmed: ‘The current coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency – precisely for such a situation our European rules enable public buyers to buy within a matter of days, even hours, if necessary.’ 4) There was no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open, restricted or competitive procedures with negotiation that would secure services within the required timescales. 5) The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority: it has not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency.