Assisting the Independent Assessor

Contract summary

Industry

• Legal services - 79100000

• Legal advisory and representation services - 79110000

Location of contract

Any region

Value of contract

£25,000

Procurement reference

tender_134987/623904

Published date

11 October 2017

Closing date

31 October 2016

Contract start date

29 November 2016

Contract end date

30 March 2018

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Other

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

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Description

Devon farmer, Mr xxx, alleges that he suffered losses as a result of relying on incorrect information placed on an online portal provided by Defra which meant he was too late to apply for a derogation for 2011 from the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008 (as amended). He complained to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) who in their report, found maladministration against Defra for the original mistake made on the online portal (for which Defra had already apologised) and a further maladministration for the delay in dealing with Mr xxx's complaint. The PHSO was however unable to assess the extent of Mr xxx business or personal losses but made a number of recommendations which Defra addressed through the implementation of an Action Plan (agreed with PHSO).
The Plan was approved by the then Permanent Secretary in December 2014. It included the appointment of an Independent Assessor (IA) (barrister) to identify the extent of any losses incurred by Mr xxx's businesses as well as an assessment of his personal losses which relate to injury, distress and loss of amenity as a result of the maladministration. The IA would also consider whether Mr xxxx took steps to mitigate his losses. It has taken some time for those acting for Mr xxxx to provide submissions to the IA. Their claim against Defra for business losses currently stands at some £8.5m.
xxxxx of xxxx Chambers was appointed in November 2015 as the Independent Assessor and approval was given in December 2016 for xxxx(junior counsel) to assist him in the production of his report due to the length of time it had taken for Mr xxxx to provide additional material and Mr xxxx's court commitments.
The Attorney General's Office gave approval to appoint xxxx at C panel rates (£80/hour). The IA circulated a draft of his report in May. Mr xxxx's representatives have just submitted extensive comments on the report which will need to be considered by the IA with support from xxxx. The value of her contract is therefore increased to £25k to reflect this additional, complex work and the length is extended to 31 March 2018.
We have financial provision in 2017/18 to pay for these costs. The appointment of the IA was authorised by the Permanent Secretary as a fundamental part of the Action Plan.

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More information

Previous notice about this procurement

Assisting the Independent Assessor

• Awarded contract
• Published 24 May 2017

Additional text

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 help@bravosolution.co.uk. The link you require for new registration/amendments to registrations is -
https://defra.bravosolution.co.uk

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Award information

Awarded date

19 December 2016

Contract start date

29 November 2016

Contract end date

30 March 2018

Total value of contract

£25,000

This contract was awarded to 1 supplier.

HANNAH CURTAIN

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About the buyer

Address

DEFRA
London
SW1P 3JR
England

Email

Network.Procurement@defra.gsi.gov.uk