Assessment and Award of Health Partnership Programme Contract in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia: FOI release

Information requested

Information on how the award of the contract for the Health Partnership Programme in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia (reference number: 698452) was assessed. In the Invitation To Tender, the contract amount was stated as £2,500,000.00, with specific guidance in Schedule 5.6 Draft Contract Part A Order Form - Schedule 1 Specification’ paragraph 7.8, that ‘a minimum of 75% of each of the budgets shall be ringfenced and allocated to the disbursement of grant funding to health partnership institutions’, and therefore a maximum of 25% award to the contracting party.

Specifically, please supply the following information:

1. All evaluations and assessments of the successful bid

2. All information relating to how the £2,500,000 contract sum relates to the £1,050,940 awarded to THET (trading as Global Health Partnerships)

3. All correspondence relating to the assessment of the THET bid, and

4. All correspondence relating to the £1,050,940 award.

Response

Thank you for your request detailed above.

All evaluations and assessments of the successful bid

We acknowledge your request for disclosure of all evaluations and assessments of the successful bid I can confirm the information you have requested is held. However, after careful consideration, we are withholding individual evaluation score sheets records and the Contract Award Recommendation Report under the following exemptions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA):

Section 33(1)(b) – Commercial Interests. Disclosure of the full evaluation sheets would reveal sensitive details of the successful bidder’s proposal and methodology. Release of this information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of the bidder by exposing proprietary approaches and pricing structures to competitors.

Section 38(1)(b) – Personal Data. The evaluation records contain the names and identifying details of individual evaluators. This constitutes personal data, the disclosure of which would contravene the data protection principles set out in the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Section 30(b)(ii) - Disclosure would prejudice the free and frank exchange of views during moderation, risk misinterpretation of the procurement outcome, and undermine confidence in the evaluation process. The final moderated scores and summarised comments, which accurately reflect the outcome, are being released separately.

We have considered the public interest in transparency of procurement decisions. While there is a strong public interest in understanding how public contracts are awarded, we consider that this is met by the disclosure of additional summary information rather than the full evaluation sheets. On balance, on this occasion, the public interest in protecting bidders’ commercial interests and evaluators’ personal data outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the detailed records.

We are releasing the numerical scores and summarised feedback awarded to the successful supplier (THET). These scores and comments have been anonymised to remove any personal identifiers of evaluators and any sensitive commercial details. This ensures that the public can see how the bids were assessed overall, while safeguarding confidential information.

Information on this point can be found in the below named documents attached to this letter:

1. FOI 202500496810 - Document 1- HPP - Decision Letter - Global Health Partnership - Redacted

2. FOI 202500496810 - Document 5 - HPP - PQR Scores - Global Health Partnership - Final

All information relating to how the £2,500,000 contract sum relates to the £1,050,940 awarded to THET (trading as Global Health Partnerships)

The £2.5 million GBP (ex. VAT) figure referred to in the Invitation to Tender (‘Schedule 1 – Specification’) represented the overall programme budget for the Initial Term (Years 1-3) of the contract - this figure included the ring fenced grant funding to be distributed to health partnership institutions but did not include the additional budget which was detailed for contract extension(s) and/or contract scale-up.

However, in the Contract Award Notice, we are required to state the value to be paid to the appointed supplier for their services (i.e. in their role in managing that funding) – so this value excludes the ringfenced grant funding. The £1,050,940.34 figure detailed in the Contract Award Notice comprises of the following:

• Management Fee for Initial Term (Year 1-3): £623,535.71
• Management Fee for Extension Period (Year 4-5 - if exercised) £427,404.61

All correspondence relating to the assessment of the THET bid

Information on this point can be found in the below named documents attached to this letter:

FOI 202500496810 - Document 3 - HPP - Evaluation Email to Evaluation Panel with SIRA Response – Redacted
FOI 202500496810 - Document 4 - HPP - Cyber Tender Clarifications Email Trail – Redacted
FOI 202500496810 – Document 6 - Email Regarding Evaluation - Redacted
FOI 202500496810 – Document 7 – Email Regarding Evaluation - Redacted
FOI 202500496810 – Document 8 – Email Regarding Evaluation - Redacted
FOI 202500496810 – Document 9 - Email Regarding Evaluation - Redacted
FOI 202500496810 – Document 10 – Email Regarding Evaluation Post Moderation - Redacted

All correspondence relating to the £1,050,940 award.

Further Information on this point can be found in the below named document attached to this letter:

FOI 202500496810 - Document 2 - HPP - Email Chain Regarding Contract Value – Redacted

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FOI 202500496810 - Information released - Annex

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