Legal Advice & Support for the UnITy Programme

We've appointed a legal firm with extensive public sector and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) experience to advise us during the delivery of UnITy.

The UnITy programme will transition Defra to a single and more effective ICT infrastructure with core / common services and a supporting delivery model that enables ‘One Defra’ and delivers 25% savings by 2020.

The infrastructure and the delivery model delivered by UnITy demands a shift in the behaviours of the current ICT organisations into managing effectively a complex multi-vendor environment through an integrated ICT organisation across all members of the Defra network

The two largest contracts supporting ICT services to the six in scope organisations are due to expire within the next two years. For the Environment Agency this is the Capgemini contract expiring early in 2017 and for the other five organisations this is a similar agreement with IBM which expires in January 2018. The smooth exit and transition from the incumbent providers to multiple new providers whilst maintaining performance of critical ICT services is key.

The appointed firm will advise and assist us on the development of our approach to; developing contract changes and approaches for exit from incumbents, the development of the commercial and legal strategy for procuring an integrated ICT services solutions, the replacement of existing managed ICT services contracts. As part of this advice the firm will assist in implementation through further advice, drafting and negotiating contractual documentation and contract change controls. The firm may also be required to provide advice on arrangements between the organisations receiving services, public sector VAT and tax implications, employment implications and procurement issues.

Ensure you read all attachments in the 'attachments visible to suppliers' area, especially the counterpart to this e-tender, and pay close attention to all bravo instructions.

Additional information: Please note that Defra procurement uses e-tendering, provided by Bravosolutions. In order to access the Bravo system you will need to be registered. Could I therefore request that you register on the Bravo portal for Defra. If you’re already registered on the Bravo portal please check that your registration includes Defra, as you have to specify us in order to correctly receive the tender documents. If you have any problems with the registration process, please contact the Bravo helpline on 0800 368 4850 or alternatively email them at [email protected]. The link you require for new registration/amendments to registrations is - https://defra.bravosolution.co.uk