Clarifications

I can confirm that ISO27001 is not a substitute for Cyber Essentials/ Cyber Essentials Plus. It can be used in addition to Cyber Essentials/ Cyber Essentials Plus but not to replace it. Cyber Essentials is a prerequisite for all suppliers bidding for UK government contracts that involve the handling of sensitive and/or personal information.

"The DPS appointment form contains the wording that contains the Management Levy information. ""The Supplier will pay, excluding VAT, 1 % of all the Charges for the Deliverables invoiced to the Buyer relating to ongoing services (those services for which there is a recurring charge) and 0.25% for all Charges relating to the one-off installation of the fibre infrastructure."" Where open access (or Indefeasible Right of Use - IRU) is required, once the fibre has been deployed it will be available for other suppliers in the market to access it in order to deliver to end user customers, as well as the supplier under the GCC call-off potentially delivering to end customers. That will entail a contract between that supplier and the end customer, as well as a supply side contract with the supplier of the infrastructure under the GCC call-off. Any payment for the supply-side contract outside of the call-off will not be subject to levy where it is being paid by a third party which is not the Buyer under the GCC call-off. As this element of your question would likely sit outside of the call-off contract itself CCS are unable to provide any relevant contractual documentation. "

The RM6095 Gigabit Capable Connectivity commercial agreement has been extended to 24/09/2025 and an extension notice, which will need to be signed and returned, is due to be sent out to all appointed suppliers to formalise this process.

Thank you for your interest in the Gigabit Capable Connectivity commercial agreement. To date (7.3.2023) the agreement has had roughly £76m worth of orders since going live back in September 2019.

Thank you for your feedback in regards to wayleaves. CCS will take this into consideration with any further iterations of a Gigabit Capable Connectivity commercial agreement. We shall also consider this in any conversations we have with our customers to highlight whether this needs to be looked at in individual procurement activities.

CCS can confirm that there is no mistake in the Core Terms. The Public Sector Contract is structured in that Core Terms are common to all agreements and Special Terms which are detailed in the DPS Appointment Form are used to make amendments specific to a particular DPS. For the Gigabit Capable Connectivity DPS the DPS Appointment Form includes Special Term 10 which amends the Core Terms Clause 11.2 reducing the liability cap from £5 million to £1 million. Additionally a Buyer may change the £1 million cap on liability in the Order Form after they have made an appropriate risk assessment. The DPS Appointment Form is available in the Bid Pack.

Yes, any form of connectivity can be used as long as they are gigabit capable.

You have selected the following options within the first filter question within your application: Broadband Connectivity Services and Managed Infrastructure Services. These 3 options have sub-level service options within which you are then asked to select the options that you are able to provide within the selected service types. Because you have selected 'Broadband Connectivity Services', the following sub-level service options available to select are: • PSN (Public Services Network) Compliant services • HSCN (Health and Social Care Network) Compliance in line with the HSCN Obligations Framework • Cyber Essentials Plus Because you have also selected 'Managed Infrastructure Services', you will also then be asked to select if you can provide: • Cyber Essentials Plus As these are the filter questions, these are mandatory for suppliers to select at least one of the sub-level service options if a main Service Type has been selected. If you cannot provide any of these you will have to go back and un-select the option from the main Service Type filter question.

As outlined in the document titled 'READ FIRST RM6095 - DPS Needs V1.1' which forms part of the bid pack, there are questions in the Selection Questionnaire that are not applicable for this RM6095 Gigabit Capable Connectivity procurement. Therefore please note, a response is NOT required to these questions and Q180 is included in this list.

As per page 20 in the 'READ FIRST RM6095 - DPS Needs V1.0.pdf' document that can be found in the Bid Pack on the DPS Marketplace: 'You are able to update your responses as described in the sections below, however please be aware that all bidders who update their Service requirements will re-enter into the 'assessing' stage, to enable us to monitor changes to submissions to ensure an effective audit trail. Once you have completed the update answers process, we will contact you by email from info@crowncommercial.gov.uk to confirm approval of the requested change and to advise that your status is in 'agreeing' stage. You are then required to complete an electronic sign off within the supplier registration service portal as directed. Following completion of above, your status will revert to 'appointed'.

Details of the GCC Pipeline can be found within the RM6095 Supplier webinar DCMS 29/01/20 slides. These are available on the Gigabit Capable Connectivity DPS page on the CCS Website under Documents.

Financial accounts are only required in the event a supplier fails to meet the financial threshold score detailed in the READ First DPS Needs document at page 11 entitled Economic and Financial Standing.

A group of economic operators describes a consortium, which would be multiple parallel suppliers, albeit it with one acting as contractual lead. The relationship described here is a Supplier XXXX and Key Sub-Contractor XXXX arrangement.

The terms within the DPS contract have been developed after consultation with potential buyers and with industry and are based on the standard Public Sector Contract. As such they reflect standard government terms and are very similar to the terms contained in other procurement routes including RM6103 (Education services), RM3808 (Network Services 2) and RM3825 (HSCN Access Services) contracts. These terms include the provision for a Buyer to set a Delay Payment to establish a pre-agreed limit on liability for late delivery of specific milestones. This is an optional feature of the commercial terms and in some cases Buyers may choose not to exercise this option and in any event it is anticipated that this would not exceed the value of the milestone in question. The contract also allows for survey activity, unexpected engineering difficulties and buyer responsibilities to mitigate delay payment risks. Where a Buyer does include a pre-determined delay payment approach for late delivery, this will reflect the importance of credible delivery proposals from Suppliers and will be necessary to ensure a level playing field when evaluating implementation timescales from multiple suppliers. Additionally, delivery will be in the Supplier's control to manage through implementation planning, milestone definition and management of the supply chain. Suppliers are primarily responsible for their supply chain as stated in the Core Terms at clause 23.5 "The Supplier remains responsible for all acts and omissions of the Supplier Staff [which includes sub-contractors] as if they were its own." The extent to which a Supplier may be able to flow the risk of delay down to delivery partners or manage this risk on behalf of the Buyer as a Professional Service will be of interest to Buyers during the evaluation of Supplier Proposals for a given procurement.

The DPS contract does not include Eligible Costs as a defined term. DPS Schedule 3 provides suppliers with information about how the contract price might be constructed and the level of transparency required by the Buyer. It is understood that any Grant Agreement between DCMS and a Buyer might include additional restrictions on what may or may not be funded by DCMS but this is independent of and not directly related to how a Supplier might choose to develop any Order Contract Charges. Where Buyers are making use of DCMS funding and this has conditions attached, this will be made clear in any tender documentation by the Buyer.

Please email info@crowncommercial.gov.uk or call 0345 410 2222 quoting RM6095 Gigabit Capable Connectivity DPS and a member of our team will respond to you as soon as possible. For any technical issues with the DPS platform please use the 'Contact Us' link to contact NQC at the bottom of the DPS platform website.

CCS can confirm that the process for suppliers to update their service offering can be located in the READ First DPS Needs document in the bid pack, following on from point 25.

CCS can confirm that there are no Lots on the DPS, and suppliers confirm as part of their DPS submission which service offering they can provide. CCS do not share this information for RM6095.

There is 2x significant parts to the DPS overarching Selection Questionnaire (SQ), the 'Standard SQ' and the DPSQ, the DPSQ is procurement specific and details the service filter related questions which align with the service filters as detailed in Attachment 1 - Gigabit and Capable Connectivity Service Filters. When you have completed the standard SQ in Registered 1, you must complete the DPSQ in Registered 2 of the DPS journey to finalise the overall SQ and enter into 'Agreeing' stage, where you will need to accept the DPS Terms and Conditions as detailed in the READ First DPS Needs document (Points 15 and 16). Once you have completed this action you will become 'Appointed' to the DPS. This is only when buyers will have access to your organisation's service offerings, in accordance with their competition requirements. Please refer to Attachment 6 - Selection Questionnaire (Information Only) document within the bid pack to view all selection questions.

CCS can confirm that suppliers should access the DPS bid pack at the 'Bid Pack' link in the Supplier Registration Service' (SRS) for RM6095, and before commencing your DPS submission, please read the all bid pack documents, starting with the 'READ First DPS Needs document' which details the full requirements and instructions on how to complete your DPS submission.