This notice signals the intention of the Cabinet Office to make a direct award to Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) to extend the Call-Off Contract held under the ISSC2 Framework for up to an additional 18 months. The extension is required to secure the continued provision of business-critical back-office operations, including human resources, finance and accounts, payroll and procurement to maintain operational continuity while transitioning services to replacement service providers under the Matrix programme. The direct award is justified under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 due to technical constraints and the absence of competition for technical reasons, as an interim supplier would cause severe technical incompatibility, service disruption, and substantial duplication of costs.

Procurement Act 2023

Direct award Single supplier - technical reasons: The back-office operations rely on the legacy Single Operating Platform (SOP). The highly complex architecture and proprietary systems managed by SSCL mean no alternative supplier can step in for an interim period without causing severe operational disruption to payroll, HR, and financial administration. Additional or repeat goods, services or works - extension or partial replacement: This extension provides additional continuity of identical services following the original 2013 competitive procurement, where switching to an interim supplier before the Matrix go-live would cause disproportionate technical difficulty and substantial duplication of costs.