Framework for the Provision of Milk and Dairy Products

Location

Gateshead

Description

The Association of North East Councils Trading as the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) Framework Contract Award for the Provision and Distribution of Milk and Dairy Products. The Framework will cover the supply and direct delivery of Milk and Dairy Products to Kitchens and School establishments in order to fulfil the requirements associated with Milk provision. The Framework will be a ranked Framework consisting of no more than 3 suppliers per lot.

Ammendments to Previous Notice

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 15511000 - Milk
• 15511300 - Skimmed milk
• 15511400 - Semi-skimmed milk
• 15511500 - Full-cream milk
• 15510000 - Milk and cream

Indicators

• Contract modified due to additional needs.

Legal Justification

The current framework is utilised by North East Contracting Authorities only to supply milk and dairy in a range of environments, including pre-school, primary and secondary educational establishments, care facilities and Council operated sites. The variation retains the existing provision and its original scope and safeguards the continuity of service for those Contracting Authorities utilising the solution. NEPO has undertaken extensive market exploration following the withdrawal of a key supplier to its food Framework to identify potential risks and inform its options appraisal. NEPO anticipate that the renewal of this Framework, alongside the wider renewal of all NEPO food solutions will result in a significantly different approach to food procurement for the region, and the future aggregation of requirements is essential to deliver long-term efficiencies and stability in supply. The variation to the term aligns all food Solutions to a concurrent expiry, ensuring future consolidation can be leveraged to achieve long term cost savings for the Public Sector. The variation reduces duplication and resource cost through multiple short-term arrangements, which limit value for money, require significant resource to migrate and implement, incur significant mobilisation costs and present barriers to supply feasibility for the market. The primary users of the Framework are education establishments, which operate against academic years. To ensure that the Framework provides sufficient protection of supply for users, it is necessary to align the extension to academic years. A shorter term would disrupt term time and would incur significant additional cost and resource for contracting authorities in implementation and operations and would present risk to continuity of pre-planned menus, which consider user requirements and strict dietary control. The value of the Framework has been revised by an additional 18.75% to accommodate potential additional supplies based on historic demand and to mitigate any potential market cost volatility. NEPO are satisfied the variation remains consistent with the applicable thresholds in Regulation 72(1)(b). The Framework provides no guarantee of any orders or value of goods and Contracting Authorities make no commitment of exclusivity or use. NEPO is satisfied that the necessary additional supplies are critical to Contracting Authorities operation, and change would create substantial duplication and present a risk to both short term supply and the long-term sustainability of provision for the Solutions end users. NEPO intends to begin market engagement on the renewal of this Framework as a priority to ensure that the future iteration addresses the on-going risks to supply, reflects the changing dynamics of the supply market following a period of significant volatility, and adopts a structure which retains value for money while providing greater resilience. A comprehensive phase of discovery, engagement and assessment will take place in response to the existing challenges. Suppliers will be encouraged to provide feedback on how the renewal could be shaped to encourage participation and achieve greater value for Contracting Authorities. NEPO anticipates that market engagement will begin in Q1 2026, with an expected future Framework award in Q1 2027 to replace the existing solution. This timescale will allow the appropriate scoping and options appraisal in the design of the solution as well as an appropriate period for the effective mobilisation of the solution. Interested Suppliers are advised to register at www.open-uk.org to receive future updates on activity. NEPO intends to notify the market of future activity through the publication of a Pipeline notice in early 2026.

Other Information

NEPO is a Central Purchasing Body as defined in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR15). This means that NEPO may provide central purchasing activity on behalf of Contracting Authorities. The agreement will be available for use by all NEPO Members within the North East region. A list of member organisations is available in the About section of the NEPO website at: www.nepo.org. This agreement will also be made available to all current and future NEPO Associate Members throughout the North East region. Current Associate Members are listed in the Associate Member section of the NEPO website at: www.nepo.org/associate-membership/list. NEPO intends to make the resulting agreement available for use by all Contracting Authorities throughout the North East region (as defined by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015) including but not limited to Government Departments and their Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Central Government, NHS Bodies, Local Authorities, Emergency Services, Coastguard Emergency Services, Educational Establishments, Registered Social Landlords and Registered Charities who have a need to purchase the above services. Please see the following websites for further details:- http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/Localcouncils/index.htm http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/home.xhtml http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/localauthorities.php http://www.ukschoolsdirectory.net https://www.gov.uk/find-school-in-england http://apps.education-ni.gov.uk/appinstitutes/default.aspx https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-i... http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/institutions/ http://www.hefce.ac.uk/workprovide/unicoll/heis/ http://www.hefce.ac.uk/workprovide/unicoll/fecs/ http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/AcuteTrustListing.aspx http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/A-ZOfCentralGovernment/index.htm https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/contact https://www.ons.gov.uk/ http://www.police.uk/forces.htm http://www.police-information.co.uk/index.html http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga07-home.htm http://www.fireservice.co.uk/information/ukfrs http://www.fire.org.uk/fire-brigades.html http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/About_us/Regulation/Registering_charities_i... http://www.oscr.org.uk/ http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=7175736 http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/registerhom... http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsroom/factsandfigures/housingplanning1/facts/so... A complete list of permissible users is shown on the NEPO website below: http://www.nepo.org/associate-membership/permissable-users Organisations wishing to access the NEPO agreement will be required to register as a NEPO Associate Member in the first instance. Further information can be found at: www.nepo.org