The Student Loans Company Limited: CISO Support Services

UK-Glasgow: Information technology services.

Section I: Contracting Authority

   I.1) Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
       Student Loans Company
       100 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 7JD, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 1413062000, Email: commercial@slc.co.uk
       Main Address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/student-loans-company
       NUTS Code: UKM82

   I.2) Joint procurement:
      The contract involves joint procurement: No          
      In the case of joint procurement involving different countries, state applicable national procurement law: Not Provided
      The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body: No

   I.4)Type of the contracting authority:
      Body governed by public law

   I.5) Main activity:
      Education

Section II: Object Of The Contract

   II.1) Scope of the procurement

      II.1.1) Title: CISO Support Services            
      Reference number: 2020-336

      II.1.2) Main CPV code:
         72222300 - Information technology services.


      II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES

      II.1.4) Short description: Provision of services to support CISO requirements.

      II.1.6) Information about lots
         This contract is divided into lots: No
            
      II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
          Value: 270,000
                  
         Currency:GBP            

   II.2) Description

      II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s):
      Not Provided

      II.2.3) Place of performance
      Nuts code:
      UKM82 - Glasgow City
   
      Main site or place of performance:
      Glasgow City
             

      II.2.4) Description of the procurement: Provision of services to support CISO for a period of up to 6-months.

      II.2.5) Award criteria:
      Quality criterion - Name: Ability to support cervices required by SLC in timescales necessary / Weighting: 90
                  
      Price - Weighting: 10
            

      II.2.11) Information about options
         Options: Yes
         Description of these options:Option to extend contract for a further 3-months from initial period.

      II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
         The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
         

      II.2.14) Additional information: Not Provided


Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description

   IV.1.1)Type of procedure: Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below (please complete Annex D1)


   IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
      The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No       
      

   IV.1.6) Information about electronic auction
      An electronic auction has been used: No

   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
      The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

IV.2) Administrative information

   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
       Not Provided
   

   IV.2.9) Information about termination of call for competition in the form of a prior information notice
      The contracting authority will not award any further contracts based on the above prior information notice: No

Section V: Award of contract

Award Of Contract (No.1)

   Contract No: 2020-336    
   Lot Number: Not Provided    
   Title: Not Provided

   A contract/lot is awarded: Yes


   V.2) Award of contract

      V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract: 09/06/2020

      V.2.2) Information about tenders
         Number of tenders received: 1
         Number of tenders received from SMEs: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: Not Provided          
         Number of tenders received by electronic means: Not Provided

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor

      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
         
         Contractor (No.1)
             Price WaterhouseCoopers LLP, OC303525
             1 Embankment Place, London, WC2N 6RH, United Kingdom
             NUTS Code: UKI
            The contractor is an SME: No

      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
         Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: 270,000          
         Total value of the contract/lot: 270,000
         Currency: GBP

      V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
         The contract is likely to be subcontracted: No
         
Section VI: Complementary information

   VI.3) Additional information: To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=538084280

   VI.4) Procedures for review

      VI.4.1) Review body
          High Court
          Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL, United Kingdom

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
         Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures: Not Provided

      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
         Not Provided

   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 27/10/2020




ANNEX D

   1. Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition in accordance with Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU

      No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to: Not Provided

            
      
      The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: No

      Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive: Yes

      Additional deliveries by the original supplier ordered under the strict conditions stated in the directive: No

      New works/services, constituting a repetition of existing works/services and ordered in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive: No
            Service contract to be awarded to the winner or one of winners under the rules of a design contest: No
      

      Purchase of supplies or services on particularly advantageous terms: No


   3. Explanation
          The impact of being unable to recruit a permanent CISO due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the oversight of the BAU activity of SLC's security function. The services are required in order to support the integrity and security of SLC systems. An initial short term contract was put in place, the length of which was predicated on what was at the time believed to be a short-term requirement. The length of the current award is a direct result to support critical operations for SLC whilst we work to recruit a permanent Chief Information Security Officer. This has not been able to be carried out during the UK lockdown, and the pandemic has had a direct implication on the availability of necessarily specialised candidates. It has therefore been impossible for SLC to conduct a thorough and robust recruitment process for this role. Therefore, this contract shall be placed for the minimum amount of time required, which is 3-months with an option to extend for a further 3-month period should these vital services need to continue to support the finalisation of recruitment and onboarding of a suitable candidate.

The provision of a managed CISO service to support SLC's security function is a direct result of not being able to recruit, train, manage and support individuals on a permanent contract due to the COVID-19 pandemic.