UK SBS PS17202 UKRI Public Affairs and Political Monitoring

**THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION** Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the strategic partnership of the UK's seven Research Councils, which invest in research covering the full spectrum of academic disciplines. As of April 2018, the Research Councils will be brought together under a new umbrella organisation, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), along with Innovate UK and a new organisation, Research England.

These nine councils will operate within their distinct remits whilst being under UKRI. The Requirement The cross-Council networks for Public Affairs and for Consultations and Inquiries are seeking a future provider of parliamentary and political monitoring services, because the set of contracts with our current provider expires at the end of May 2018.

The future contract is likely to be combined across multiple councils within UKRI; it will be at the discretion of individual councils whether or not to join this. The services would therefore need to accommodate both the central monitoring needs of UKRI and the different requirements of individual councils.

UK SBS is procuring a Public Affairs and Political Monitoring Contract on behalf of the following, all entities listed below shall be entitled to utilise this contract. •The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) •The Medical Research Council (MRC) •The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) •The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) •The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) •The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) •The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) •Innovate UK •Research England More information on the above organisations can be found at https://www.ukri.org/our-councils/ Duration: We anticipate that the new contract will start from 1st June 2018 and we would like it to run for three years, with the option to extend annually for a further two years. Contract Details: The maximum total value of this contract is likely to be £225,000 (ex VAT) and the contract could last for up to 5 years.

A market engagement day will be held on Friday 20th October, 9.30am-11.30am, at Polaris House, Swindon to provide further information. The aim of the market engagement day will be to provide opportunities to understand the background of the requirement, and to enable interested parties to ask questions of relevant representatives of the various councils that will make up the future UKRI and UK SBS about the requirement and procurement process.

Additional information: A market engagement day will be held on Friday 20th October, 9.30am-11.30am, at Polaris House, Swindon to provide further information. The aim of the market engagement day will be to provide opportunities to understand the background of the requirement, and to enable interested parties to ask questions of relevant representatives of the various councils that will make up the future UKRI and UK SBS about the requirement and procurement process.