Clarifications
There are 132 clarifications for this DPS
61. 150. Can you supply a list of your relevant principal contracts for goods and/or services provided in the last three years?
Are we required to provide copies or a list of contracts with all our vendors?
You are required to provide details of contracts that you have been awarded in the last three years outlining the buyer details, scope of services provided and total contract value and duration.
Answered
26/05/2023 13:17
60. 147. Please describe the supply chain management systems, policies, standards and procedures you currently have in place to ensure robust supply chain management.
Risk management capability and security of supply throughout the supply chain may be considered at selection stage. For example, assurance may be sought that robust, proportionate contingency measures are in place to ensure safe delivery of steel to the authority. See Procurement Policy Note 16/15
Please can you provide more info on what you are wanting to see here?
Please could you kindly confirm what is being asked to clarify here? Please provide a more specific inquiry after reviewing PPN 16/15
Answered
26/05/2023 13:16
59. 129. Do you meet the minimum level of economic and financial standing and/or minimum financial threshold specified within the evaluation criteria for this procurement?
Our Legal Team has asked what this criteria is?
CCS can confirm that suppliers are not obliged to provide a response to this question. In the event your financial failure score, provided by Dunn and Bradstreet, falls below the indicated threshold, you will be contacted directly by CCS in order to gather the relevent financial evidencees for further assessment.
We will undertake an assessment of your economic and financial standing using the DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for your organisation which you input when registering on the SRS registration system. The report provided by the credit reference agency (Dun and Bradstreet) will be used to determine the level of financial risk you represent. If the score provided by the credit reference agency is 35 or more, then your Request to participate will continue to proceed in the DPS Selection process. If the score is less than 35 our Commercial Finance Team will request sight of you last 2 years accounts to carry out a further assessment
CCS can confirm that suppliers are not obliged to provide a response to this question. In the event your financial failure score, provided by Dunn and Bradstreet, falls below the indicated threshold, you will be contacted directly by CCS in order to gather the relevent financial evidencees for further assessment.
Answered
26/05/2023 13:15
58. In the "Buyer Needs" document of Part 1 of the Bid Pack, Section 2.5, there is a list of standards and certifications (e.g., ISO 9001, 10007, 14001, 13066, etc.) and the following lead-in paragraph language: "The Supplier shall comply with the appropriate Standards (or equivalent) as updated and applicable for the RM6200 Artificial Intelligence DPS which shall include but not be limited to:"
Question 1 - Are all the identified standards required certifications of all Suppliers for the RM6200 DPS Agreement, or is there discretion and flexibility available to remove standards/certifications that do not apply to a Supplier?
Question 2 - If the Supplier believes any of these standards/certifications should not apply to it, given the nature of its products or services, is there a process or mechanism to remove such inapplicable standards/certifications from the DPS Agreement for the Supplier?
Please see the below list of insurances which are a mandatory requirement:
- Employer's (Compulsory) Liability Insurance of £5,000,000.00 minimum
- Public Liability Insurance of £1,000,000.00 minimum
- Professional Indemnity Insurance of £1,000,000.00 minimum
- Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus
Answered
26/05/2023 13:14
57. We are a US-based company with no UK postalcode but the system is not accepting our postalcode
With regards to your company registration please provide the same details you used to register as a supplier on the Supplier Registration website. Contact support@nqc.com for any further additional technical issue
Answered
14/04/2023 11:20
56. Good Afternoon,
in the Bid Pack (and in previous clarification questions) it is stated that a response is not required for the following questions '(NHS Questions) 157 - 161'
I am unable to progress without providing a yes or no answer to these questions, is this now a required field? Or should it be a 'no' for the questions as they are not relevant?
There are questions in the Selection Questionnaire that are not applicable for this RM6200 Artificial Intelligence procurement, therefore please note, a response is NOT required to the questions as detailed below: Part 1: (Contract Example 1) - Q133 Part 1: (Contract Example 2) - Q134 Part 1: (Contract Example 3) - Q135 Part 3: (Steel) Q147 - Q149 Part 3: (Supply Chain) Q150 - Q154 Part 3: (NHS Questions) Q157 - Q161 Please check your previous responses as you may have responded to a question which has opened up a response to these questions. If you have any persisting issue my colleagues at NQC will be happy to assist you. Please use the 'contact us' tab at the foot of the Supplier Registration Service (SRS) homepage or call them on 0161 413 7982.
Answered
14/04/2023 11:20
55. Could you please confirm whether this DPS will be extended beyond the 2nd March 2023 contract end? We want to assess whether it is worthwhile joining the DPS at this late stage.
CCS has made the decision to extend the RM6200 DPS agreement for a period of 8 months, in addition to the initial 12-month extension, to allow an appropriate amount of time to develop the replacement agreement. So the DPS end date is the 04 Nov 2023
Answered
14/04/2023 11:19
54. We have a penetration test report which we believe displays adherence to the cyber essentials security standards. Would this documentation be sufficient to say that we have met this level in our supplier questionnaire for question 155?
Cyber Essentials certification is a mandatory requirement of the DPS. Please note that Cyber Essentials was developed because neither ISO27001 nor other considered standards were sufficiently prescriptive to defeat common internet based threats as per the PPN.
Answered
21/08/2023 11:57
53. Hello,
concerning question 136 of the SQ (demonstrate how you have previously maintained healthy supply chains with your sub-contractor(s)), since we are not a UK-based Company, can you provide some further indication on which schemes are considered an acceptable equivalent to UK Prompt Payment Code?
Our supply chain management process is according to ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 requirements and we can provide the QMS procedures related to this, would this be sufficient?
Thanks,
If the evidence the supplier has available to them (ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 and related procedures) meets the assessment criteria, they may submit this with an explanation.
Answered
17/11/2022 17:19
52. Hello,
concerning questions 127 and 128 of the SQ (Are you able to provide a copy of your audited accounts for the last two years, if requested?), our Finance & accounting dept. would like to know whether the last financial statements filed would satisfy the requirement.
Thanks,
We ask for the last two years of audited accounts. If the supplier is unable to provide this information, they should select no. If not satisfactory Commercial Finance will get in touch to determine if an alternative methodology can satisfy the requirement.
Answered
17/11/2022 17:15
51. Hello,
concerning question 54 of the AI DPSQ (Please confirm if you are a new entrant to the market ), our Company is trading since year 2000 in the distribution of Medical Devices, with a particular focus on high-technology devices. The proposed AI solution is new in our product portfolio (our distribution agreement with the manufacturer started beginning of 2022), and we already have made some installation in EU countries. The proposed AI solution was not previously made available in the UK market. Do we need to consider ourselves as new entrants?
Thanks,
If the supplier has been trading since 2000 then by definition they are not a new entrant to the market
Answered
17/11/2022 17:17
50. Hello,
concerning SQ question 144 (Please confirm if you will be supporting apprenticeships and skills development through this contract.), the contract will not meet both thresholds for the Procurement Note 14/15 to be applicable (in our case full life value will be less than £10 million ). do we need to reply YES anyway to the question?
Thanks,
Further clarification is required from supplier..If I am understanding this correctly, Moss SPA is stating that this question would not apply as "the contract" will be less than £10M.
Not sure what contract they are referring to or if they intend on bidding for a specific piece of work, however they should answer the question in the event that the full life value of a contract were to exceed £10M.
Therefore, they should reply Yes if that is something they will be doing. No if it is not.
Answered
29/11/2022 12:16
49. Hello,
the indication on whether we intend to use a supply chain refers also to the use of shipping companies to provide the delivery of the goods to the customer? In other terms, are shipping companies considered as parts of the supply chain?
Thanks,
They are considered part of the supplier chain if they are used to deliver the product / services to the public sector buyer.
Answered
29/11/2022 11:44
48. Hello, the SQ questionnaire asks to provide the Companies House registration number. Our Company however is not based in the UK or Crown Dependencies: we are therefore wondering whether we need to leave this blank or indicate Not Applicable.
Thanks,
With regards to your company registration please provide the same details you used to register as a supplier on the Supplier Registration website.
Answered
17/11/2022 17:16
46. Hi, I was wondering when do we begin the Supplier Evidence Submission stage (where we have to upload all the documents). Is it immediately after the Selection Questionnaire or is it later on once we have been accepted?
We will request documents required during your assessment and others such as proof of insurances, these will be requested following appointment onto the DPS.
Answered
05/05/2022 12:12
45. We are completing the Artificial Intelligence section of the Selection Questionnaire and on questions 68. (Please select the 'Scope of Engagement' for which your organisation is able to provide. Tick all that apply.) and 69. (Please select the 'Type of Artificial Intelligence'
services for which your organisation is able to provide.) there is 'GUIDANCE' in bold but there is no link. Please could you inform me of where this guidance is?
In Attachment 6 - SQ and DPSQ v2 (2).pdf - Page 223 of the bidpack you will find guidance to the right of the questions.
Answered
05/05/2022 12:12
44. In the Selection Questionnaire - DPS_PROFILE_SPARK, SQ Evidence Submission (questions 166 to 185) there are documents to be attached. Should I attach the signed documents in my native language or excel tables in English language version? Or Should I create the English version, convert them to PDF and sign before attaching.
You must submit your response to the Selection Questionnaire and any attached documents in English and through the SRS platform only. Suppliers should not make any amendments to the format of documents.
Answered
15/02/2022 15:02
43. We note the RM6200 AI DPS runs to 04/03/2022. Is the intent to extend the end date of the DPS, re-issue the DPS or close the DPS after this date?
The Artificial Intelligence DPS has been extended for a duration of 12 months, to allow an appropriate amount of time to design the replacement agreement. The new expiry date for this DPS is therefore 02/03/2023.
Answered
15/02/2022 15:03
42. The Supplier Questionnaire lists a very large range of CPV codes. Are all relevant to the AI DPS or only a subset?
The CPV codes advertised in the contract notice for this DPS are:
Programming services of application software - 72212000
Business analysis consultancy services - 72221000
Programming services - 72243000
Systems consultancy services - 72246000
Software development services - 72262000
Software implementation services - 72263000
Software consultancy services - 72266000
Data services - 72300000
These are the ones we identified as most relevant, although it may be there are other CPV codes that a customer identifies the products and services in this industry by.
Answered
20/01/2022 09:21
41. I am already a DOS5 supplier .
I wish to be a supplier for AI technology and platform . Can I check how do I get registered as a supplier ?
The Artificial Intelligence DPS can be applied for by clicking the "Access as a Supplier" option within the DPS landing page. https://supplierregistration.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/dps#technology
Answered
08/04/2021 12:33
