Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Deed of Variation to contract 2887470\5, published in the procurement notice on 24 January, what consideration they gave to conducting a new competitive procurement instead of extending a contract first awarded in 2010; and what assessment they made of whether the modification is permissible, including (1) whether the terms of the original contract explicitly provided for a £18.6 million increase, (2) whether the increase affects the contract’s nature or economic balance, and (3) whether the extension and changes to service provisions, including the introduction of training outside the UK, were envisaged within the original scope of the contract.

The Deed of Variation to contract 2887470\5, enables the transition of the Emergency Planning College (EPC) to the UK Resilience Academy from 15 April 2025 to deliver strategic national resilience training and exercising outcomes.

Given the complexities of the contract covering the management of the physical site, coupled with the provision of training services, the Authority determined that a medium-term permitted extension would allow for better development and planning for a new competitive procurement opportunity, whilst maintaining continuity of key services.

The contract provides for an extension of not less than 2-years and not more than 5-years, and does not include any financial values or thresholds. The extension does not change the economic balance of the Agreement in favour of the Contractor. International sales were covered within the Bidders' Brief as part of the original tender and subsequently the contract.