Contract for financial auditing service; Farm Accounts Survey: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/17/02361
Date received: 13 October 2017
Date responded: 16 October 2017

Information requested

The following details of a Scottish Government contract for financial auditing services (the "Farm Accounts Survey"):

1. Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract below and were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages.

2. Contract values of each framework/contract (& any sub lots), year to date

3. Start date & duration of framework

4. Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if so, the duration of the extension?

5. Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are being either extended or renewed?

Response

The information you requested is provided below.

1. Five PQQs were received for this contract opportunity, from the following suppliers:

• Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce
• Armstrong Watson
• BMG Research
• Johnston Carmichael
• SAC Commercial Ltd

Of the five applicants, four were invited to submit tenders. The four were: Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce; Armstrong Watson; BMG Research and SAC Commercial Ltd. (That is, these four suppliers were successful, while Johnston Carmichael were unsuccessful, at PQQ stage.)

One tender was received, from SAC Commercial Ltd, to whom a contract was subsequently awarded. (That is, SAC Commercial Ltd were successful, while no suppliers were unsuccessful, at ITT stage.)

2. The contract is a single-supplier contract with no sub-lots. The contract is for a fixed price of £2,741,417 over three years (with optional contract extensions bringing the potential contract value to £4,713,597 over five years). Annual prices are as follows.

Contract Year	Fixed Annual Price
Year 1 (1/2/2015 to 31/1/2016)	£886,054
Year 2 (1/2/2016 to 31/1/2017)	£913,522
Year 3 (1/2/2017 to 31/1/2018)	£941,841
Optional Year 4 (1/2/2018 to 31/1/2019)	£971,038
Optional Year 5 (1/2/2019 to 31/1/2020)	£1,001,140

3. The contract started on 1st February 2015 and will last three years, i.e. until 31st January 2018.

4. Yes. The contract may be extended to a date falling no later than 31st January 2020.

5. No decision has yet been taken regarding either the extension or renewal of the contract.

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