Repatriation Services

Tender description

The Ministry of Defence has a requirement for global repatriation services, on an individual or multiple basis for deceased Armed Forces and other entitled personnel. The services may include specialist services in the event of a major incident resulting in mass fatalities, where the MOD leads or supports the response. The supplier must provide a 24/7, 365-day global service, ensuring compliance with medical and legal requirements. This includes body preparation, embalming, facial reconstruction, dressing, provision of coffins and shrouds, coffin marking, and transport arrangements (civil flights will only be used where RAF flights are unavailable). Where local funeral infrastructure is absent, or after a major incident, the supplier may need to deploy staff into military theatres to carry out repatriations and ensure their security in operational or conflict zones worldwide, overseas, or exceptionally in the UK. The Contractor may also be required to provide a Mortuary Assistant for an in-theatre mortuary. Further details can be found in the Statement of Requirement in Annex A to the Schedule of Requirements The Contractor must be a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors, or equivalent. For guidance only, average demand over the last 3 years has been 9 repatriations per year, but exact numbers are unknown and there have been occasions where150 repatriations have occurred in a year. Specialist services for a major incident have not yet been required, but this does not indicate future need. The contractor will undertake tasks on a call-off basis. No business is guaranteed under any resulting framework agreement. The £4.9M contract value is a not-to-exceed figure and does not guarantee any orders or that this value will be reached.