Recruitment Drive

Appointment of recruitment agency to source staff to fill 10 management posts related to the establishment of a Lighthouse laboratory as part of the UK Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its response to COVID-19 and with only days available, MDC, on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, is entering into contracts without competition or advertising the requirement.

In accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) and Procurement Policy Note 01/20, the following tests have been met: • There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency - the response to the COVID-19 consequences needs to be immediate because of public health risks. • The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseen - the COVID-19 situation is so novel that the consequences are not something that MDC could have predicted. • It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the Public Contract Regulations (2015) - there is no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation, nor does the MDC have access to an existing commercial agreement such as a framework or dynamic purchasing system.

The situation is not attributable to the MDC - MDC has not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency.