UK defence ministry to launch buying framework for digital contract staff
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to establish a framework for hiring external contractors to help deliver digital and IT programmes, making it available to all national public sector bodies.
The MoD plans to award contracts in July 2020 to a pool of “strategic partners” – likely to be between six and nine companies – that would supply temporary digital and IT workers to the department, covering all of the capabilities needed to deliver its technology projects and transformation strategy.
The contracts are expected to total approximately £300m (US$390m) a year, and the framework would be in place for an initial term of three years, potentially extending to five years.
The aim is for the flexible delivery partner framework (FDPF) to be rolled out for use by all national public sector bodies, including central government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
Supplier freedom
The MoD published a prior information notice which outlines some of the details of the new procurement vehicle. It reads: “The new framework will be a multi-lot framework that has a number of suppliers per lot to deliver a wide range of capability and expertise to MoD. The MoD will define the lot and initial capability required but will not constrain what capability suppliers can put forward.”
The exact areas of expertise to be covered by the new procurement vehicle, as well as other details related to the new framework, are yet to be defined.
To give potential suppliers the opportunity to better understand its requirements, and to provide input into how to go about the procurement process, the MoD is hosting an event with industry trade body TechUK in London on 6 November 2019.
As part of its IT strategy, the MoD has recently unveiled a new vision that outlines its intention to have a “more sophisticated relationship” with the tech industry. Building these relationships and fostering greater collaboration is seen as a key ingredient of the new framework, and will be a point of discussion at the event.
According to TechUK, early awareness of MoD pipelines will allow partners to plan resources more effectively and suggest better approaches to resourcing for each project, Computer Weekly reported.
About Mia Hunt
Mia is a journalist and editor with a background in covering commercial property, having been market reports and supplements editor at trade title Property Week and deputy editor of Shopping Centre magazine, now known as Retail Destination. She has also undertaken freelance work for several publications including the preview magazine of international trade show, MAPIC, and TES Global (formerly the Times Educational Supplement) and has produced a white paper on energy efficiency in business for E.ON. Between 2014 and 2016, she was a member of the Revo Customer Experience Committee and an ACE Awards judge. Mia graduated from Kingston University with a first-class degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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