Provision of Covid-19 Various Campaign Services

Concepts

• advertising campaign
• cabinet office
• various campaign services
• creative campaign services
• provision of covid-19
• campaigns
• covid-19
• public relations
• partnership
• strategy development

Location

London

Description

The Cabinet Office (the ‘Authority’) has awarded a contract to the supplier for creative campaign services in relation to Coronavirus, the scope of which includes but is not limited to: — strategy development, — creative for campaigns, — partnership, — public relations.

Total Quantity or Scope

The Cabinet Office (the ‘Authority’) has awarded a contract to the supplier for creative campaign services in relation to Covid-19.

Award Detail

Renewal Options

The contract was Direct Awarded under Reg 32(2)(c) of the PCR 2015, using the standard Terms & Conditions of the CCS Framework RM3774, on which the MullenLowe London Ltd is a supplier. There is also an additional variation to this contract for an uplift in value of an additional £10.8m. This modification has been made in accordance with PCR Regulation 72(1)(e): where the modifications, irrespective of their value, are not substantial within the meaning of paragraph (8).

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 79341400 - Advertising campaign services

Indicators

• Options are available.
• Award on basis of price and quality.

Legal Justification

The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is a serious infectious respiratory disease and its consequences pose a risk to life. 1) The Covid-19 outbreak is a public health emergency of international concerns as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020, by this stage Europe was the centre of the pandemic. 2) There was an immediate need to give the public accurate, relevant information about the measures Government is implementing in response to the virus and the actions the public must take in order to comply with Government policy. In order to protect themselves and others and prevent the mass spread of the virus, it is crucial that the public understand and adhere to government messages. In these circumstances, a procurement following the usual timescales under the PCR 2015, including accelerated options, was impossible without an interruption to services. 3) Corresponding with the principles of Regulation 32 and the new process set out in (Policy Procurement 01/20), Cabinet Office is satisfied the principles of tests permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32(2)(c)) were met as follows: A. As far as is strictly necessary: To communicate to citizens the necessary precautions and measures being put in place to manage through the emerging crisis, in the absence of an existing agreement for the provision of strategic communications advisory services. B. There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: Cabinet Office are responding to Covid-19 immediately because of public health risks presenting a genuine emergency. C. The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: As the EU 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.‘ (Commissioner Breton, Internal Market, 1 April 2020). D. It was impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: Due to the urgency of the situation there was no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open, restricted or competitive Procedures with negotiation that would allow the supplier to commence work. E. The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority: Cabinet Office has not caused or contributed to the coronavirus crisis, which justifies the need for extreme urgency. Please also refer to the Additional Information section.

Other Information

Contract Finder Notice https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/8df8cd73-2045-4d8f-b062-fbe270... There is also an additional variation to this contract for an uplift in value of an additional £10.8m. This modification has been made in accordance with PCR Regulation 72(1)(e): where the modifications, irrespective of their value, are not substantial within the meaning of paragraph (8). The need for modification has been a direct result of circumstances relating to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the Covid-19 pandemic became a notifiable disease in the UK in March 2020 the following developments could not have been foreseen: • the development of two new variants of Covid-19, increasing the speed of policy change and the communication requirements; • the need to change/revise foreign travel advice resulting from the South African origin of the second variant; • the advent of three different vaccines; • low levels of social adherence to Covid restrictions within the UK when compared with other countries; • the degree of vaccine hesitancy in the population at large; • increasingly complex lockdown and shielding rules to respond to evolving advice from SAGE; • changing positions on the risk presented to schoolchildren.