Supply London :: Procurement

No, you should not be excluded from selection if your experience is from the private sector. This has no bearing on your technical or professional capacity to deliver.

Am I entitled to feedback?

Contracting authorities are only required by law to provide feedback to unsuccessful bidders if the contract is at the thresholds required for advertisement. See link for current EU procurement thresholds.

If you feel that requests for feedback are not properly acknowledged contact the Office of Government Commerce Supplier Feedback service at http://www.ogc.gov.uk/procurement_policy_and_practice_ogc_supplier_feedback_service.asp

Regardless of the value of the contract, it is considered good practice to provide feedback however this practice will vary from organisation to organisation.

What about this requirement for 3 years audited accounts?

The UK government advises contracting authorities to be flexible. Other evidence of financial stability can be accepted. It is now recommended that buyers ask for no more than 2 years accounts. Always clarify if a full 3 years of accounts is necessary. The requirement should always be proportionate to the value of the contract.

Does my turnover restrict me to a certain value of contract?

The general rule of thumb is to evaluate risk by looking at your turnover relative to the value of the contract. A low risk decision would be awarding a contract that is around 25% of the turnover of the supplier. However, best practice also encourages that decisions are based on your financial and economic suitability for a contract that considers all areas of risk. You will need to demonstrate evidence of good sound financial practices and track record.

Examples include:

Management Accounts
Financial projections including cash flow
Capital availability

Is all purchasing handled by procurement departments?

Some contracting authorities devolve their spend to senior business managers. Others centralise the purchasing function.

What are the rules for advertising contracts?

These rules are found in the Directive 2004/18/EC, “the public services directive” and this is implemented in the UK by the Public Contracts Regulations 2006. These principles ensure the following:

all suppliers are treated favourably,
all requirements are proportionate to the value of the contract,
the process is non-discriminatory
there should be mutual recognition of standards (for example quality standards) across the EU

Handy tip: If you are considering the public sector as a potential market and want to know which organisations are classified as “public sector”, you can find a list of all public bodies listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations found at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20060005.htm.

What types of tender procedures might I have to respond to?

Request for quotes
Open procedure
Restricted procedure
Negotiated procedure
Competitive dialogue

Request for quotes: you are asked to submit a quote or proposal for a product or service. This can be done for tenders below the EU threshold for suppliers, services and works contracts.

Open procedure: all bidders are invited to submit a tender in response to a contract notice.

Timescales to respond. You should have no less than 52 days from the date of dispatch of tender notice, no less than 36 days if a PIN (prior indicative notice) has been issued and never less than 22 days to respond.

Receiving your tender documents: You should get your tender documents within 6 days of receipt of request provided you ask in good time before the final date for receipt of all tenders.

Restricted procedure: consists of two stages

Stage 1 (Pre-qualification stage): A selection process to shortlist suppliers according to:

economic and financial standing,
technical capability, capacity and experience
certain exclusion criteria

Stage 2 (Tender Award Stage): No less than five bidders invited to formal tender following the selection process.

Your tender will most likely be evaluated in three stages according one of two criteria

Lowest price, or
Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT)

Negotiated procedure: The negotiated procedure is restricted to cases where pricing of the works or services is difficult to establish or where services cannot be precisely drawn up. There will be a pre-qualifying stage followed by an invitation to negotiate. At least three contractors will be invited to negotiate.

Competitive dialogue: Again used for complex projects where the contracting authority wishes tenderers to specify the technical means by which certain outcomes can be met. This process involves a pre-qualification process. After short listing at least three potential tenderers, the form of the contract and the technical specification are discussed after which the tender documents are issued. Tenderers submit tenders based on the solutions discussed in the dialogue.

What happens at the contract award stage?

The successful tenderer will receive formal notification about the client’s intention to award a contract. If your tender is unsuccessful you should be notified straightaway.

What is the Alcatel Period or 10 day standstill period?

The European Court of Justice ruled in the Alcatel decision there should be a period of time between the contract award decision and the start of the contract to ensure that unsuccessful bidders are able, in justified cases, to bring a legal action in the national courts before the contract is signed.

Once a decision is made, all bidders must be notified of the authority’s decision.
There must be a minimum of 10 calendar days between the despatch of the award decision notice and the conclusion of the contract
A detailed debrief must be sent at least 3 working days before the end of the standstill period if requested by an unsuccessful bidder by midnight of the second working day of the standstill period.
If a legal challenge is brought within the 10-day standstill period, public authorities should wait to see whether interim measures are granted before concluding the contract.

What is a Framework Agreement?

Suppliers are selected via any of the procedures above by a purchaser or group of purchasers where goods or services can be quickly ordered when required.

Features of a framework

A framework will exist for a certain time, normally 4 years
Prices and terms tend to be fixed for the duration of the framework
You may still be required to compete with other suppliers on the framework
You could be the only supplier on the framework but for a range of services or goods.
Purchasers can still purchase outside the framework and will do so if dissatisfied.

What you need to do if you are on a framework

Make budget holders aware you exist through effective meetings.
Make sure you communicate to all client facing staff; you never know when an order might come through and you need other staff members to be aware
Make sure you have systems and procedures to take orders quickly.

Framework agreements are an excellent way to get repeat business however once you successfully tender you need to market to members on the framework. Be aware this is an extra cost to your business.

What are indicative notices (PINs)?

A Prior Indicative Notice (PIN) gives advanced warning of contracts to be advertised in OJEU throughout the year, which are known to the Council at the time of publishing. By including a tender in the Prior Indicative Notice, the subsequent tendering timetable can be reduced.

What are small lots?

This is when a contract is subdivided into smaller discrete sets. Each discrete set is a called a lot.

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Procurement

Which organisations are bound by the Procurement Regulations?

Is prior experience in public sector mandatory before applying for larger contracts?