The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) has officially invited companies to tender for the job of administering the national pension saving scheme.

At a media briefing, on 14 January, Tim Jones, chief executive at PADA, explained that the public sector procurement processes being used to find an administrator would result in the winning bid being announced in the summer of 2010.

The services being procured through Scheme Administration include Employer Participation, Enrolment, Collection and Reconciliation, Cash Management, Accessing Pension Savings and the Administration of Account. A supplier prospectus is available on the PADA website. PADA aims to announce the winning bid in the summer of 2010.

PADA launches search for scheme administratorJones added that in order to ensure that Personal Accounts are simple and of minimal cost to both employers and members, the provision of services will generally be through e-channels, such as the internet, email, SMS and telephone IVR.

At the briefing, Jones said the launch of this procurement was an "important and exciting" one for the Personal Accounts initiative.

"We are now taking a major step forward in the creation of personal accounts as we embark on selecting a Scheme Administrator who will work with us to meet the challenges ahead," he said.

"PADA will be seeking suppliers who can demonstrate value-for-money services provision that are secure, innovative and sustainable. I look forward to engaging and working with suppliers who have the same passion and commitment as we do."

This part of the five-part programme that will work towards the launch of Personal Accounts in 2012 is actually contract set B, and Jones said this has been the first launch because this segment of the programme is believed to be the most lengthy to complete.

Bidders will fill out a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ), and then a shortlist will be invited into Competitive Dialogue, which will be followed by the final bids. Matthew James, head of procurement, confirmed that up to three final bids will be considered, and it is anticipated that this process will close at the end of 2010.

Bidders will be guided by a set of Output Based Specifications (OBS), which will be rolled out in three 'drops'.

The contract for the successful bidder will last for an initial period of ten years, with the option to extend this by up to a further five years. After this potential 15 years, the contract would be made available for re-tender.

- Pensions Age January 2009

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