Prisoner Escort and Custody Services In England and Wales (Generation 4)

Description

This notice launches the competition for the provision of the 4th generation of the Prisoner Escort and Custody Services contracts (PECS) in England and Wales. PECS provides a critical function to a range of Criminal Justice System (CJS) stakeholders including the Police, Courts, Prisons and Youth Custody Services. The contract will be split into 2 lots, Lot N: North East, North West, Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside and Wales, Lot S: East of England, London, South East and South West. PECS4 contractors will continue to physically transport prisoners between locations but increasingly the requirement will be to enable and support changes to the core operating model for courts, prisons and the police resulting from the implementation of MoJ reform programmes, including an increased proportion of business being delivered in a virtual environment with greater emphasis on the use of video technology. PECS contractors will be responsible for the movement of adult males and females from prisons and police stations to courts as well as, inter-prison transfers, the movement of children and young people from Young Offender Institutions (YOIs), Secure Training Centres (STCs) and Secure Children's Homes (SCHs) as well as care and security whilst in the court custody area and in the dock, and transfers from courts to prisons and other nominated locations at the conclusion of court business. The services will include: - Escorting of adults and children and young people, - At Court Care and Security, - Inter Prison Transfers, - Bedwatches for Children and Young People, - Prisoner Welfare, - Tornado and Mutual Aid, - Incident Management, - Audit and Quality Assurance. Each service component (adult and children and young people) will be separately specified, funded and managed. The anticipated quantity or scope is an estimate of the potential value of the contracts and does not in any way guarantee any level of expenditure. The estimated cost range is real in 2018, does not account for inflation and includes any possible future changes to the requirement for services as listed in additional information of this PIN. All values should be considered as indicative only. The award criteria will be based on the most economically advantageous tender. Potential providers will be able to bid for both lots but will only be allowed to win 1 of the lots, unless there is only one bidder across both lots, in which case both lots could be awarded to 1 bidder. Potential providers will be required to state within their response to the Selection Questionnaire (SQ) the lots they want to bid for. If potential providers bid for both lots, they must be prepared to be awarded a contract for either lot, and must not state a preference. Variant bids will not be permitted.