Decision

Signing of Acuity Contract

Reasons for the decision

A procurement exercise was undertaken through Hampshire County Council (Ref: ADC28224) in October 2025. An Invitation to Quote (ITQ) was issued to four suppliers who had expressed an interest in the opportunity. Despite this, only one supplier, Acuity, submitted a tender response.
Following evaluation, Acuity was identified as the preferred bidder. However, during contract preparation it became apparent that there was a material discrepancy between the budget stated within the ITQ and the supplier's submitted costs. In addition, inconsistent budget information had been communicated during the procurement process. Following advice from Hampshire County Council, these issues were deemed to have compromised the integrity of the procurement exercise and the process was formally discontinued.
A waiver enabled a direct award to Acuity of a 2 year contract for £64,000, thereby avoiding unnecessary delay and duplication of procurement activity, maintain service continuity and allow the Council to build upon the work already completed through the original procurement exercise.

Alternative options considered

A re-procurement would ordinarily be undertaken but there were compelling reasons why this was not considered appropriate in this instance. Market interest had already been tested through a compliant procurement exercise, yet only one supplier submitted a bid. Acuity therefore remained the only supplier to have submitted a compliant and fully evaluated proposal demonstrating its ability to meet the Council's requirements.
In addition, there was a critical need to maintain continuity of survey provision. Undertaking a further procurement exercise would cause significant delay to mobilisation and service delivery, potentially resulting in the loss of Q1 and Q2 survey results and creating gaps in performance reporting. This would increase the risk of adverse regulatory scrutiny and reduce the organisation's ability to monitor customer satisfaction and service performance.