Tender: Global Repatriation Services for Deceased Armed Forces and Entitled Personnel

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The Ministry of Defence is seeking a supplier for global repatriation services for deceased Armed Forces and other entitled personnel, on an individual or multiple basis, including specialist support for major incidents where the MOD leads or supports the response. The contractor must provide a 24/7, 365-day global service that complies with medical and legal requirements and can deliver body preparation, embalming, facial reconstruction, dressing, provision of coffins and shrouds, coffin marking, and transport arrangements (civil flights used only where RAF flights are unavailable). Where local funeral infrastructure is absent or following a major incident, the supplier may need to deploy staff into military theatres and ensure their security in operational or conflict zones worldwide, overseas, or, exceptionally, in the UK, and may be required to provide a Mortuary Assistant for an in-theatre mortuary. The contractor must be a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors or equivalent. For guidance, average demand over the last three years has been nine repatriations per year, with occasions of up to 150 in a year; specialist major-incident services have not yet been required. Work will be undertaken on a call-off basis with no guaranteed business and the stated £4.9M contract value is a not-to-exceed figure that does not guarantee orders or that this value will be reached. Further details are set out in the Statement of Requirement in Annex A to the Schedule of Requirements.