Ofgem is seeking to appoint up to three organisations to fulfil the role of Independent Technical Adviser (ITA) as part of a framework agreement. The ITA will be an independent body responsible for providing assurance to Ofgem on the design, procurement, cost and overall delivery of selected load‑related projects across all electricity Transmission Owners (TOs). The objective of ITA assurance is to support enhanced and accelerated regulatory decision‑making and processes.

Procurement Act 2023

Open procedure

Ofgem may at any time during the Term require the ITA to provide a quotation for services under the Framework Scope to enable Ofgem to: * enter into a Call-Off Contract with the ITA without further competition pursuant to clause 4 (a “Direct Call-Off”); or * evaluate the ITA’s proposal alongside similar proposals from other Framework ITAs so as to ascertain the most advantageous tender for a Call-Off Contract on the basis of the Evaluation Criteria (a “Call-Off pursuant to Competitive Selection Process”), pursuant to clause 5. Direct Award Ground 1: Where any Call-Off Contract will be awarded to the highest-ranking Framework ITA in the Tender Ranking following the outcome of the procurement process for this Framework Agreement (“Direct Award Ground 1”); Direct Award Ground 2: If, having sought to award a Call-Off Contract to the highest-ranking Framework ITA for the applicable Call-Off Contract pursuant to Direct Award Ground 1, the highest-ranking Framework ITA is unable or unwilling to accept the award, Ofgem may award the Call-Off Contract to the Framework ITA ranked second (this shall continue in descending order). For the avoidance of doubt a Framework ITA will be deemed unable or unwilling to accept the award if: * it does not have capacity to take on the work; * it has a conflict of interest issue in respect of the work such that Ofgem considers (at its discretion but having reference to the Conflicts of Interest Policy) the work cannot be awarded to that Framework ITA; * there has been a change in circumstance to the identity, control, financial standing, technical and professional ability or composition of the Framework ITA such that it is no longer able to meet the Minimum Standards set out in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire for this Framework Agreement procurement; and/or * Ofgem reasonably determines that a Framework ITA should not be awarded a Call-Off Contract based on its past performance while party to this Framework Agreement, including (but not limited to) performance against key performance indicators, cost performance, or time performance against Call-Off Contract contractual milestone dates (“Direct Award Ground 2”) Direct Award Ground 3: Where, having sought interest in writing from the Framework ITAs, there is only one Framework ITA who is able to provide the Call Off Services to the necessary standard and within the necessary time as required by Ofgem, including the relative financial or resource capacity of the relevant ITA compared to the other Framework ITAs (“Direct Award Ground 3”); or Direct Award Ground 4: Where a matter of extreme urgency arises (or had arisen prior to Ofgem’s Request), as a result of which Ofgem reasonably considers it inappropriate to conduct a Call-Off pursuant to Competitive Selection Process under clause 5 of this Framework Agreement (“Direct Award Ground 4”).