Crown Commercial Service kickstarts procurement of £80m rail legal services framework

It said the agreement would be available for use by UK Central Government Departments, and other public sector bodies. The principal buyer will be the Department for Transport (DfT), “who intends to use this Framework Contract wherever possible”.

The CCS said the policy drivers supporting the development and procurement of the framework contract were to:

• provide buyers with a route to market compliant with UK law
• offer an improved agreement for both buyers and suppliers
• provide buyers with access to high quality legal services
• achieve value for money

The framework, which will replace an existing agreement that is due to expire in 2022, will be established for 36 months, with the option to extend for a further 12 months at the discretion of CCS.

The suppliers appointed to this framework will be required to provide all of the following core specialisms:

1. Regulatory law

2. Rail commercial law

3. Public procurement law

4. Subsidy law

Suppliers will also be able to provide one of more of the following non-core specialisms. The non-core specialisms may only be provided to a buyer in connection with a rail related matter.

1. EU law

2. International law

3. Competition law

4. Dispute resolution and litigation law

5. Employment law

6. Environmental law

7. Health and Safety law

8. Information law including data protection law

9. Information technology law

10. Intellectual property law

11. Pensions law

12. Planning law

13. Real estates law

14. Restructuring/insolvency law

15. Tax law

16. Insurance law

The contract will be awarded on the basis of quality (weighting: 80) and price (weighting: 20).

The time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 1 pm on 14 September 2021.