Group Income Protection for OFCOM

UK-London: Accident and health insurance services

2013/S 088-149990

Contract notice

Services

Directive 2004/18/EC

Section I: Contracting authority

I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s)

OFCOM
Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road
For the attention of: Hayley Watson
SE1 9HA London
UNITED KINGDOM
Telephone: +44 2079813110
E-mail: hayley.watson@ofcom.org.uk

Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)

I.2)Type of the contracting authority

Body governed by public law

I.3)Main activity

Other: Independent Communications Regulator

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

II.1)Description

II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:

ITT 18/2013 – Flexible Benefits – Group Income Protection.

II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance

Services
Service category No 6: Financial services a) Insurances services b) Banking and investment services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: The majority of persons for whom the cover is required work at Riverside House, but Ofcom has some staff at other locations.
NUTS code UK

II.1.3)Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)

The notice involves a public contract

II.1.4)Information on framework agreement

II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

This invitation to tender (ITT) is designed to assist Ofcom in selecting providers for specific insured health and risk flexible benefits which form part of its “Choices” flexible benefits programme, from 1.1.2014 onwards.
Ofcom Background:
Ofcom is a Statutory Corporation established under The Office of Communications Act 2002.
Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communications industries within the UK, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services. Since October 2011, Ofcom’s remit has been extended to include responsibility for the postal service (under The Postal Services Act 2011).
Ofcom currently employs approximately 790 people within the UK and introduced a flexible benefits plan (“Choices”) for all employees during December 2003.
Employees, known as “colleagues”, are spread throughout 14 locations across the UK. The majority of colleagues are based in the London office – SE1 9HA. Details of postcode locations are provided in the membership data.
Ofcom previously undertook a review of its group life and income protection providers 2011. Since the last review it has closed its defined benefit pension arrangement. All colleagues are now provided with access to a stakeholder pension arrangement. Staff numbers are expected to remain stable over the near to medium term.
Ofcom’s defined benefit pension arrangements closed on 1.6.2011 and were previously provided only to those colleagues employed by the “legacy regulators” prior to December 2003. The legacy regulators included:
— Broadcasting Standards Commission;
— The Radio Authority;
— The Office of Telecommunications;
— The Radio Communications Agency;
— The Independent Television Commission.
Those colleagues who opted to retain the terms and conditions of employment provided by the legacy regulators were entitled to retain their existing terms and conditions, or accept Ofcom terms of employment but retain membership of the defined benefit pension arrangement. These colleagues were known as “Existing Terms” and “Partial Terms” colleagues, respectively. Colleagues that joined Ofcom on or after 29.12.2003 were not provided with access to a defined benefit pension arrangement and are known as “Full Terms” colleagues.
From 1.6.2011, all “Partial Terms” colleagues (approximately 84 colleagues) transferred to “Full Terms” contracts of employment. In addition a small number of “Existing Terms” colleagues also transferred to “Full Terms” contracts with a small number of colleagues opting to retain their Existing Terms contracts. There are currently 5 employees with “Existing Terms” contracts.
The Objective:
This ITT describes the insured benefits that are being reviewed and available under the Choices programme.
The benefits for which proposals are required are:
— Ofcom Choices group income protection.
The key issues for each product are the benefits offered, clarity of the product offering and cost for the individual purchaser.
Providers should be able to demonstrate the ability to integrate/liaise with other Choices product providers as Ofcom is looking to validate long-term cost savings (through, for example, reduced absenteeism or improved productivity through early intervention).
In addition Ofcom is looking for ease of implementation, straightforward contracting and the service levels offered.

II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

66512000

II.1.7)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): no

II.1.8)Lots

II.1.9)Information about variants

II.2)Quantity or scope of the contract

II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:

II.2.2)Information about options

Options: yes
Description of these options: The Contract is for either 24 or 36 months to be notified by Ofcom at award of Contract.

II.2.3)Information about renewals

II.3)Duration of the contract or time limit for completion

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information

III.1)Conditions relating to the contract

III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:

III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:

III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:

III.1.4)Other particular conditions

The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: yes
Description of particular conditions: Please refer to tender documentation.

III.2)Conditions for participation

III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender~: 1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once) – Browse to the eSourcing Portal: https://ofcom.bravosolution.co.uk and click the link to register – Accept the terms and conditions and click ‘continue’ – Enter your correct business and user details – Note the username you chose and click ‘Save’ when complete – You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure) 2. Express an Interest in the tender – Login to the portal with the username/password – Click the ‘PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers’ link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier) – Click on the relevant PQQ/ ITT to access the content. – Click the ‘Express Interest’ button at the top of the page. – This will move the PQQ /ITT into your ‘My PQQs/ My ITTs’ page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only) -You can now access any attachments by clicking ‘Buyer Attachments’ in the ‘PQQ/ ITT Details’ box 3. Responding to the tender – Click ‘My Response’ under ‘PQQ/ ITT Details’, you can choose to ‘Create Response’ or to ‘Decline to Respond’ (please give a reason if declining) – You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification – Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT – There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available) You must then submit your reply using the ‘Submit Response’ button at the top of the page. If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk.

III.2.2)Economic and financial ability

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: Please refer to tender documentation.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required: Please refer to tender documentation.

III.2.3)Technical capacity

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met:
Please refer to tender documentation.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
Please refer to tender documentation.

III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts

III.3)Conditions specific to services contracts

III.3.1)Information about a particular profession

III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)Type of procedure

IV.1.1)Type of procedure

Open

IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

IV.1.3)Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

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

IV.3)Administrative information

IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:

ITT 18/2013.

IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

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

IV.3.4)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

21.6.2013 – 12:00

IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

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

in days: 180 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)

IV.3.8)Conditions for opening of tenders

Date: 21.6.2013 – 12:00

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.1)Information about recurrence

This is a recurrent procurement: no

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 intends to use an eTendering system in this procurement exercise and reserves the right to use a reverse auction.

VI.4)Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures

VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals

Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: Ofcom will incorporate a standstill period of at least ten days between the communication of the award decision to tenderers and entering into a contract with the successful tenderer. Tenderers wishing to obtain further debriefing a minimum of three working days before the end of the standstill period must request it within two working days of the award decision being communicated to them. This should be requested from the contact point indicated in section I.1.
Where issues regarding the award cannot be resolved between Ofcom and the tenderer, the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 allow for appeals to be brought before the High Court of England and Wales. Any such appeal must be brought promptly and in any event within three months.

VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:3.5.2013