Award Notice Independent Commercial & Procurement Assurance Services

Network Rail awarded a framework to provide independent commercial & procurement (C&P) assurance services to support the commercial & procurement assurance teams across Network Rail. The Commercial & Procurement Assurance teams across Network Rail are responsible for the delivery of sourcing and contract management (‘SCM’) assurance activities on behalf of Network Rail’s Group Commercial and Procurement Director.

SCM assurance is designed to ensure sufficient internal reviews are conducted throughout the sourcing and contract management lifecycle and that documents and decisions have received adequate oversight prior to reaching governance approval points. Network Rail is seeking the award of two suppliers to support in undertaking independent assurance review activities on procurements with a contract value over £20m and some selected projects under £20m where there is an increased risk profile or where a region has a lower threshold for assurance External independent assurance is required during peaks in workload and when the C&P Assurance teams do not have the capacity to deliver the services in-house.

Therefore, resource is required on a flexible basis to complement the C&P Assurance team’s resource and will be required to undertake independent commercial and assurance reviews on an “as required” basis. Assurance is required on outputs at various stages of the commercial lifecycle, including Sourcing Strategy, Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) and Invitation to Tender documentation (ITT), evaluation and moderation records, Recommendation to Award (RTA), Contract Management Plan (CMP) including the contract mobilisation plan, Contract Variation and other Contract Management activities. The Supplier will utilise their knowledge and experience in procurement, contract management and assurance to provide advice relating to key regulated procurement and commercial activities.