National Audit Office: Framework agreement for Financial Audit and Assurance Services

UK-Victoria: Accounting, auditing and fiscal services.

Section I: Contracting Authority
   I.1)Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
      National Audit Office
      157-197 Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria, SW1W 9SP, United Kingdom
      Tel. +44 2077987000, Email: Z3-Procurement@nao.gsi.gov.uk, URL: www.nao.org.uk, URL: http://nao.g2b.info/
      Contact: Central Procurement Team (CPT), Attn: Central Procurement Team (CPT)
      Electronic Access URL: www.delta-esourcing.com/delta
      Electronic Submission URL: www.delta-esourcing.com/delta

      Further information can be obtained at: As Above       
      Specifications and additional documents: As Above       
      Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: As Above       
   
   I.2)Type of the contracting authority:
      Body governed by public law

   I.3) Main activity:
      Economic and Financial Affairs

   I.4) Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities:
      The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: No

Section II: Object Of The Contract: SERVICES
   II.1)Description
      II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority: Framework agreement for Financial Audit and Assurance Services
      II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance: SERVICES         
         Service Category: 9

         Region Codes: UKI - LONDON         
      II.1.3) Information about a public contract, a framework or a dynamic purchasing system: The notice involves the setting up of a framework agreement                                                        

      II.1.4)Information on framework agreement:      
            Framework agreement with several operators
            maximum number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged: 7
         Duration of the framework agreement:
                        Duration in months: 48
         Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement:
                        
            Estimated value excluding VAT: 40,000,000
            Currency: GBP
                              
      II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase:
      Accounting, auditing and fiscal services. Accounting and auditing services. Financial auditing services. Auditing services. Statutory audit services. The National Audit Office (NAO) scrutinises public spending for Parliament and is independent of government. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) is an Officer of the House of Commons and leads the NAO; he certifies the accounts of all UK government departments and many other public sector bodies. The NAO's recommendations and reports on good practice help government to improve public services, and its work led to audited savings of £1.15 billion in 2014.

The NAO is seeking to establish a framework for appointing firms able to deliver, or contribute to the delivery or development of, financial audit and other assurance engagements or related work for and on behalf of the C&AG. This work is required throughout the United Kingdom. The NAO currently has three major client groups ('Lots') from which it contracts-out financial audit work to firms providing financial audit and assurance services. The relevant contracts are due to expire, and the NAO intends to replace these groupings with a single framework covering all areas of central government. The contract will commence with work to support the audits of 2016-17 financial statements.

The services to be provided are expected to cover a wide range of resource and expertise and are expected to include, but are not limited to, external audit services, including providing reasonable assurance that income and expenditure have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament, and that financial transactions conform to the authorities which govern them ('regularity'), as well as IT audits and information assurance work, related consultancy and provision of staff support and advice and training. This could require firms to undertake a range of work including, but not limited to, complete audits, the provision of specialist expertise on specific account or audit areas, and the provision of contract staff to work as part of NAO audit teams.
         
      II.1.6)Common Procurement Vocabulary:
         79200000 - Accounting, auditing and fiscal services.
         
         79210000 - Accounting and auditing services.
         
         79212100 - Financial auditing services.
         
         79212000 - Auditing services.
         
         79212300 - Statutory audit services.
         

      II.1.7) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):
         The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): Yes       
      II.1.8)Lots:
         This contract is divided into lots: No
      II.1.9)Information about variants:
         Variants will be accepted: No    
   
   II.2)Quantity Or Scope Of The Contract
      II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:
      Not Provided      
      
      II.2.2)Options: Not Provided         
         II.2.3)Information about renewals:
            This contract is subject to renewal: Not Provided         
   II.3)Duration Of The Contract Or Time-Limit For Completion      
         Duration in months: 48 (from the award of the contract)

   Information About Lots
               
Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial And Technical Information
   III.1)Conditions relating to the contract
      III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:
      Not Provided
      
      III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:
      Not Provided
      
      III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:
      Not Provided
      
      III.1.4)Other particular conditions:
         The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: Not Provided      
   III.2)Conditions For Participation
      III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers:
      Not Provided      
      III.2.2)Economic and financial capacity
         Economic and financial capacity - means of proof required:         
         
         Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if requirements are met:
         Please see the NAO ITT for full details.         
         Minimum Level(s) of standards possibly required:
         The NAO will use the following formulas in its assessment of the potential provider’s financial and economic standing:

Liquidity ratio expresses a company's ability to repay short-term creditors out of its total cash. The liquidity ratio is the result of dividing the total cash by short-term borrowings. It shows the number of times short-term liabilities are covered by cash.

LIQUIDITY = (CURRENT ASSETS – STOCK)/CURRENT LIABILITIES

Pass: If the liquidity ratio is equal or greater than 1.00.

The formula/criteria is based around business critical risk as follows:

•High: There is a serious risk to the NAO’s ability to function and provide services to Parliament if the services cannot be provided
•Medium: There is some risk to NAO’s ability to function efficiently
•Low: There is little risk on NAO’s ability to perform its services to Parliament and the wider community

The financial suitability of a supplier to provide services requires the following:

•Business Critical Risk (Low) = Supplier Net Worth must be at least = the total contract
•Business Critical Risk (Medium) = Supplier Net Worth must be at least two times the total contract
•Business Critical Risk (High) = Supplier Net Worth must be at least three times the total contract

NET WORTH = FIXED TANGIBLE ASSETS + CURRENT ASSETS - CURRENT LIABILITIES - LONG TERM LIABILITIES

Pass: If net worth is equal or greater than the contract value

Please see the NAO ITT for further details.
      
      III.2.3)Technical capacity
         Technical capacity - means of proof required         
         
         Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if requirements are met:
         Please see the NAO ITT for full details.         
         Minimum Level(s) of standards possibly required:
         The requirement includes core financial audit, as well as information assurance, and tax work. We therefore require bidders to demonstrate a core of CCAB-qualified accountants, as well as CISA-qualified information assurance and CTA qualified tax practitioners. Further information is available in the ITT.      
      III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts: Not Provided   
   III.3)Conditions Specific To Service Contracts
      III.3.1)Information about a particular profession:
         Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: Yes       
      If yes, reference to relevant law, regulation or administrative provision:
      Staff working on financial audits of companies under this framework agreement are required by the Companies Act 2006 to be Registered Auditors.      
      III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service:
         Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: No
Section IV: Procedure
   IV.1)Type Of Procedure
      IV.1.1)Type of procedure: Open
   
   IV.2)Award Criteria
      IV.2.1)Award criteria:      
         The most economically advantageous tender in terms of
            The criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

      IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction:
         An electronic auction will be used: No       

   IV.3)Administrative Information
      IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority: GEN_15_18      
      IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract: Yes
         Prior information notice
            Notice number in OJEU: 2015/S 206 - 374007 of 23/10/2015
               
         Other previous publications: No                

      IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document:

      Date: 12/01/2016
      Time-limit for receipt of requests for documents or for accessing documents: 10:00
         Payable documents: No       
      
      IV.3.4)Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
         Date: 13/01/2016
         Time: 10:00      
      IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up:         English
         
      IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
         Duration in days: 120
      
      IV.3.8)Conditions for opening tenders
         Date: 14/01/2016
         Time: 10:00
         Place:
         Delta esourcing portal
         Persons authorised to be present at the opening of tenders: No


Section VI: Complementary Information

   VI.1)This Is A Recurrent Procurement: Yes
      Estimated timing for further notices to be published: 50 months
   VI.2)Information about European Union funds:
      The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No       
   VI.3)Additional Information: The contracting authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement.

The NAO is moving away from a system of lots towards a single framework across its portfolio of clients. This is to ensure that NAO teams are able to draw from a wider range of resource and expertise from across the private sector and to drive efficiencies by increasing the volume of work available to our framework partners.

The "Main place of performance or of delivery" at II.1.2 states "LONDON". Please note that services are required throughout the whole of the United Kingdom.

Please note that the date at IV.3.3) Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document (in the case of a competitive dialogue) is not applicable.

The procurement for the Financial Audit and Assurance Services Framework Agreement will be managed electronically via BIPs Delta e-Sourcing Suite. To participate in this forthcoming procurement, suppliers must first be registered on the e-Sourcing Suite. If you have not yet registered on the e-Sourcing Suite, this can be done online at www.delta-esourcing.com. Potential providers must keep their contact details on the Delta e-Sourcing portal up to date or they will be unable to receive communications from the NAO. If tenderers experience any problems with registering they should contact BiP’s Delta e-Sourcing helpdesk (0845 270 7050) or email: helpdesk@delta-ets.com for assistance.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Victoria:-Accounting%2C-auditing-and-fiscal-services./96346393H9

To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/96346393H9
GO-2015124-PRO-7415379 TKR-2015124-PRO-7415378
   
   VI.4)Procedures For Appeal
      VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures:
      Not Provided

      Body responsible for mediation procedures:
               National Audit Office
         Victoria

      VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals: The Contracting Authority will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar day standstill period at the point when information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. Participants who are unsuccessful shall be informed by the Contracting Authority as soon as possible after the decision has been made as to the reasons why the participant was unsuccessful. If an appeal regarding the award of the contract has not been successfully resolved, The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102), as amended, provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by breach of the rules to take legal action. Any such action must be brought within the applicable limitation period.   
   
      VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained:
            Not Provided

   VI.5) Date Of Dispatch Of This Notice: 04/12/2015

ANNEX A