Supply Scotland SME Engagement Programme 2011 - Presentation

CHAIRMANS OPENING ADDRESS

GRAHAME STEEDManaging Editor, Government Opportunities

Find out more by visiting www.govopps.co.uk today

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Government Opportunities (GO), the leading media brand for the procurement sector, has changed too.

The all-new GO portal brings you the latest intelligence, insight, opinion and debate shaping

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Whether you are buying for or supplying to the UK public sector, the GO portal is the only reference point you need to navigate the brave new world of public procurement, finance and service delivery.

Alastair Merrill

Director, Commercial & Procurement

Romulus, founder of Rome – a pioneer in public procurement

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Champion of transparency in public procurement

“The Senate, yielding to the prayers and lamentations of the tax-farmers, annulled these arrangements and ordered fresh terms to be made.

The censors gave public notice that those who had treated the former contracts with such contempt should not be allowed to make fresh bids. They signed fresh contracts for everything on slightly easier terms”

Livy

The Value for Money Triangle

Tiberius Gracchus (c.168 -133 BC) & Gaius Gracchus (c.159 -121 BC) Early advocates of SME engagement

www.scotland.gov.uk/procurement

Delivering Services to Local Government Gerry Thorogood

Commercial Team Leader

19/04/2011

Local Government Experience• E-tendering services

• 550 public awarding authorities– South Lanarkshire Council– East Renfrewshire Council– Hertfordshire County Council

• Web Portals• Hertfordshire County Council• Procurement Agency for Essex• London Development Agency

• Consultancy and Training Services• Local and Central Government• Scottish Enterprise

Findo How to identify opportunities?

Find, Win, Deliver

Wino Building Relationshipso Positioning Your Innovationo Policy Through Procurement

Delivero Project Executiono Communicationo Prepare for Change

Finding Opportunities


Find, Win, Deliver


Delivero Project Executiono Communicationo Prepare for Change

Relationship Building

• Know your audience:

• Visit their buyer profile website

• Get to understand their major initiatives

• Attend events

• Send relevant case studies

Positioning Your Innovation

• Can you offer a Variant Bid?

• If so, you need to limit any risk. (actual or perceived)

• Innovation not limited to the service(s) or product(s) you are providing

Remember:• If offering a Variant – you may be required to

also offer a Compliant Bid• Government wants innovative proposals but is

typically risk averse.

Embracing Government Policies

• Corporate Social Responsibility

• Sustainability

• Delivering Community Benefits

• Supplier Diversity

• Fair and Ethical Trade

• Economic Regeneration


Find, Win, Deliver


Delivero Project Executiono Communicationo Managing Change

The Contract

• Don’t give in too easily on contract negotiations

• If delay in signing, obtain a letter of commercial cover

• Negotiate and agree any Key performance Indicators (KPIs)– Outputs and outcomes– Ensure clearly defined

Governance

• Controlled environment for project delivery

• Contract performance reviews

• Formalise Reporting requirements

– Don’t underestimate!

• Change control process

– Change request

– Impact analysis

– Commercial proposal

Managing Changes

• Don’t underestimate where you might benefit commercially from future changes in project specifications

• Be prepared for changeo Requirements can and probably will changeo The way you service the contract can change

• Opportunities for expansion may develop

Project Execution

• Establish a strong delivery team

• Get all stakeholders involved and committed early

• Continuously identify project issues and risks

• Encourage continuous improvement

Communications

• Establish communication rules

• Engage early with all stakeholders

• Openness critical

• Tell the good and the bad news

Winning & Learning Experiences

Scotland’s business landscape

19 April 2011

recession and its impactRecession from 2008 longest and deepest since the end of the second world war

• UK economy contracted 6.2% over 18 months

• Scottish economy fell 6.3% in 15 months (entered 1Q later than UK)

UK officially exited recession in the last quarter of 2009 (growth of 0.1%)

Impact to Scotland

• increase (60,000) in JSA claimants and in ‘white collar’ unemployment

• fewer opportunities and greater competition for positions

• slump in house sales and house building

source: Slims

recession and its impactRecession drivers:

• rising commodity and oil prices

• collapse of confidence in world financial system

• bursting of UK house market bubble

Sectors hardest hit

source: Slims

Financial Crisis

Global slowdown ManufacturingUnemployment rises sharply

Consumer spending hits retail

Housing marketProperty & Construction

Financial Services

lending to companies and individuals

economic performance post recession

the picture at present

Bank of Scotland PMI, March 2011

Strong service sector performance drives economic growth in March

• activity up for third straight month

• new business levels up at fastest pace since August 2007

• staff numbers raised at strongest rate since February 2008

the picture at present

Scottish Chambers of Commerce business survey (Q1 2011 - results)

Rising cost pressures threaten fragile recovery in 2011

• slow activity in January however considerable pick up in February and

March to complete delayed work

• suggestions that Scottish economy stalled in Q1 due to low demand, low

consumer confidence and rising costs and price pressures. Manufacturing

export led but notable drop in confidence

• business confidence

• manufacturing and retail confidence levels are lower than in 2010

• improvement in confidence for construction and tourism

future considerations

• Scottish Parliamentary elections

• Scotland Bill

• Inflationary pressures

• Monetary policy

what we are doing in Glasgow

• Glasgow Economic Commission

• connect to compete: Glasgow’s Transport Priorities

• 2014 Commonwealth Games

• the style mile

• Glasgow Works

Practical Guidance for Tenderers

Presented by

Eddie ReganPASS Consultant

BiP Solutions Limited

SME Importance

Enterprise category Headcount Turnover

Micro < 10 ≤ € 2 million

Small < 50 ≤ € 10 million

Medium-sized < 250 ≤ € 50 million

UK Businesses Number Percentage Employees

Micro 4,560,000+ 95.7% 6,530,000+

Small 166,800+ 3.6% 3,270,000+

Medium 26,600+ 0.6% 2,700,000+

Large 5,900+ 0.1% 9,300,000+

BERR 2008

SME Advantages

SMEs, including black, asian and minority ethnic enterprises [BAMEs], women owned [WO] and disabled owned [DO] businesses and social enterprises bring benefits to the public sector

Greater competition to the marketplace– this helps to drive costs down

Lower cost– SMEs have smaller administrative overheads and

management costs than larger firms

Innovation

– SMEs can bring innovation through, for example, the early exploitation of new technology, providing products or services in new or underdeveloped markets

Quality of service

– SMEs can often deliver better and more personal levels of service and provide a better relationship

Responsiveness

– SMEs have short management chains and approval routes, so respond quickly to changing requirements.

Flexibility– SMEs are likely to be more willing to tailor a product or service

to meet specific customer needs

Specialism– many SMEs survive by supplying specialist products or

services that larger suppliers find unattractive

Consider

• Return on Investment

• Glass Ceiling

• Partnering

• Subcontracting Issues

• Adding Value

• Sustainability

Sustainability

• Apprenticeships and Skills• Equality – gender, race, disability• EU Procurement Markets• Fair and Ethical Trade• Human Rights and Core Labour Standards• Innovation• Local Labour – UK Jobs and Manufacturing• Regeneration• SMEs (including black, asian and minority ethnic enterprises

[BAMEs], women owned [WO] and disabled owned [DO] businesses and social enterprises)

• Sustainable Procurement• Third Sector Organisations (TSOs)

• Tenders that meet the ITT specification

– will deliver what they’ve asked for

• Tenders that comply with the ITT requirements– provide the requested information in the format specified– agree to the Contract Terms & Conditions

• Tenders that deliver Value for Money and are affordable– include added value at no extra cost– are within their allocated budget

What Buyers Look For

Common Mistakes

• Fail to understand the service and/or specification or don’t comply with the specification

• Lack sufficient capacity – believe size doesn’t matter (small company - big contract)

• Not financially strong

• Don’t answer the questions asked

• Don’t show experience of similar work

• Tender doesn’t ‘hang together’ (put together in parts)

Winning Tenders

• Are customer focused

• Clearly provide added value

• Are innovative

• Identify and address risk

• Will deliver and allow for development

Thank You

Public Contracts Scotland

Gary Robinson – Scottish Procurement & Commercial Directorate

Background : Public Sector Spend in Scotland1

• The public sector spend £9bn on third party goods, works and services in Scotland,

• The spend is with 55,000 suppliers annually,• Just under 50% of spending is with SMEs,• Around 30% of spend is with Scottish SMEs,• Around 30% of spend is with companies that employ less

than 100 people,• About 18% of the spend is through collaborative

procurement,

1Source: Scottish Procurement Information Hub

What’s in it for suppliers?

Finding opportunities can take a bit of detective work……

What is Public Contracts Scotland ?

• Scottish Government policy, • Entry point for suppliers to Scottish public sector business opportunities,• One stop shop for suppliers to understand what contract opportunities exist in the Scottish public sector,• Allows buyers and suppliers to communicate via the web

during tendering cycle,• Allows contracting organisations to standardise their

approach to suppliers irrespective of value of contract,• Help facility for suppliers,• In future - entry point for prequalification and electronic

tenders

“One Stop Shop” for Suppliersand Contracting Authorities

Consistent display of contract opportunities

across Scotland

Public Contracts Scotland : Contracting Authorities

TARGET185 Authorities

in 2 years

300+Registered Authorities

using PCS

17,000 business opportunities on site

over last 2 years

Public Contracts Scotland : Suppliers

51,000Registered Suppliers

39,000 unique notesof interest in contracts

84% of Suppliersare SME’s

Over 2 million alertssent to

suppliers each year

73% of contracts Awarded to SME’s

Public Contracts Scotland Site Statistics

Site Statistics (monthly)• 57,000 absolute unique visitors per month• 180,000 visits per month• 1,019,000 page views per month• 5.67 average page views per month• 3:52 min time on site

Direct Traffic• 109,000 (60%)Search Engines• 32,443 (22%)

PCS Additional Facts:

• Site itself – over 1.5m visits to the site per annum, • Over 8m pages viewed by business, per annum,• Users spend over 100,000 hours on the site per year,• Over 300 connected sites for Scottish public bodies,• Events and PR activity throughout Scotland,• Site now deploys monthly news letters to 50,000+

buyers and suppliers,• Site uses social networking – YouTube, app iPhone,

Twitter and Flicker.

Where is PCS going ?

Some Developments in Last Two Years

• Online Clarifications / Q&A

• Attach documents

• Video case studies

• Document Support for SMEs

• Quickquote• Reporting tool development • lntroduction of dual stage process of restricted procedure

PCS: Current Developments

• Subcontracting facility to be expanded for capital

projects; commencing with Forth Replacement Crossing;

• Currently contracting for standardised

prequalification module for PCS;

• Enhancements to site reporting, transparency of

contracts, enhanced quickquote and framework

tool functionality.

• Increased number of contracting organisations

using the system.

Why do we require a standardised approach to PQQs ?

• (Inconsistency) :The prequalification criteria for contracts, although defined within E.U. Procurement Directives, are currently applied in an inconsistent manner across contracting organisations which can lead to a sense of frustration from suppliers.

• (Duplication) : Suppliers repeatedly provide similar PQQ information relating to business probity, financial standing, standard company information and technical/professional ability in different formats to contracting authorities. The current process is, therefore, administratively inefficient for both buyers and suppliers.

Why do we require a standardised approach to PQQs ?

Procedure Types

0

50

100

150

200

250

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Open Procedure

Restricted Procedure

• (Disproportionate) : known issues requiring SMEs to provide unreasonable levels of insurance and assessment of financial records for low value / risk procurement exercises, while the technical and professional ability criterion often neglects the capability of SMEs to demonstrate innovative solutions.

• (Simplification) : Current processes are overly complex and require to be simplified for the benefit of both buyers and suppliers.

Step1 Buyer completes risk matrix

Step2 System suggestsstandard questions to

buyer

Step 3 Buyer has option to add or delete

standard questions

Step 4 Buyer has option to add bespoke (non-standard)

questions

Step 5 Buyer must scoreand weight questions

PQQ issued to suppliers that have noted interest

In the contract

Bidders complete responses to standard

and non-standard questions

Bidders have option of saving responses to standard questions

for future use

Buyer process Supplier process

Completed PQQ returned to

contracting authority

sPQQ - Envisaged Electronic Process

Questions should be proportionate and relevant to the procurement exercise.

Question Document Includes the Following Key Sections

Question GuidanceSection 1 : Explanation of requirements for contract (Mandatory Section)Section 2 : Company Details (Mandatory Section)Section 3 : Criminal Convictions and Business Probity (Mandatory Section)Section 4 : Information regarding Economic / Financial Standing (Optional Section)Section 5 : Technical or Professional Capability (Optional Section)Section 6 : Quality Management (Optional Section)Section 7 : Equal Opportunities (Optional Section)Section 8 : Environmental Management (Optional Section)Section 9 : Health and Safety (Optional Section)Section 10 : Subcontractors (Mandatory Section)Section 11 : Community Benefits (Optional Section)Section 12 : Construction Specific (Optional Section)

Example Question and Scoring

Relevant experience where supplier can clearly meet all requirements and can add value

Good experience, suggesting supplier can meet all key requirements

Experience suggests suppliers can meet most key requirements, but with some minor issues

Mixed experience suggest supplier can meet some requirements but with some major gaps or issues

Poor and less relevant example supplier meets few requirements; serious concerns or issues

No relevant experience provided, or irrelevant to the requirement, or very negative

Weighting

5 4 3 2 1 0 20%

Q – Provide 2 relevant examples that demonstrate your experience and ability to deliver goods, services or works similar to the required outcomes for this contract – see section one.

15%

3

Suppliers must be able to understand what constitutes a good score.

Clarification. Additionally, provide the details of previous car park construction works, confirming that the requirements were completed successfully, contract value and completion dates.

How Do Buyers Find Suppliers – Low Value/Risk Procurement Activity

Sub-contracting

Any Questions ?

Grow your business:Subcontracting opportunities from

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

19th April 2011

Glasgow City Council


Councillor Archie Graham

Depute Leader of the Council and Executive Member for the Commonwealth Games


Presentation Overview

• Background to Games • Creating a positive legacy

Background to the Games


• Biggest multi-sports event Scotland can attract• Over 6,500 athletes and officials • 17 sports at 13 venues • 20 non sports venues• 40 training venues• New athletes’ village• 1.5 billion TV audience• 100,000 media stories and 500 TV cameras



Legacy Themes

• Prosperous• Active• International• Greener• Accessible• Inclusive


Maximising the Business Opportunity: A Prosperous Glasgow

Commonwealth Games Business Portal: - Register for games-related contracts

- Supported by the ‘Buyer Engagement Team’


2014 Games Related Contracts

Catering; Transport; Printing Equipment; Technology; Advertising; Human Resources; Design Services; Security; Venue Fit-out; Seating; Clothing; Marketing Materials


Maximising the Business Opportunity: A Prosperous Glasgow

• Commonwealth Apprenticeship Initiative

• Commonwealth Jobs Fund

• Glasgow Living Wage

• Electronic Supplier/Vendor Management § Register Company profile on Council e-tender

web-site§ Automatic notification of contract opportunities

• Business Tender Support/Advice • International Events programme• Business Showcasing• Business Club Scotland • Business Benefit

§ Community Benefit approach


WWW.GAMESLEGACYGLASGOW.COM

Supply Scotland Conference19th April 2011

Phil MartinScottish Enterprise

Discover how partnering can benefit your organisation

Potential Barriers

• Risk

• Scale/scope of contract

– Financial

– Limitations due to ability to evidence experience

– Labour and/or equipment requirements

– Geographical restriction due to resources

What do the Regulations Say?

The Public Contracts (Scotland) Act 2006 states:

“a Contracting Authority shall not treat the tender of a consortium as ineligible nor decide not to include a consortium amongst those economic operators from which it will make the selection of economic operators to be invited to tender…on the grounds that the consortium has not formed a legal entity for the purposes of tendering”

However:

“where a contracting authority awards a public contract to a consortium it may, if it is justified for the satisfactory performance of the contract, require the consortium to form a legal entity before entering into, or as a term of, the contract”

What do the Regulations Say?

The Public Contracts (Scotland) Act 2006 states:“an economic operator or a group of economic operators as referred to in regulation

28 may rely on the capacities of other entities or members in the group, regardless of the legal nature of the link between the economic operator or group of economic operators and the other entities”

However:

“the economic operator or the group of economic operators shall prove to the contracting authority that the resources necessary to perform the contract will be available and the contracting authority may, in particular, require the economic operator to provide an undertaking from the other entities to that effect”

What do the Regulations Mean?

• The purchaser cannot require applicants to form a legal entity in order to tender but can require them to do so for the purposes of the contract

• The purchaser must take into account the resources of all applicants in a joint bid, but may demand evidence that they are available and require an undertaking to this effect

How Partnering can help…

• Greater financial capacity – through aggregation or lead partner

• More evidence of previous performance

• Greater pool of labour/equipment

• Greater geographical reach

• Sharing administrative burden/resources could help in reducing costs – and therefore prices to customer

• Establishment of strategic partnerships with others

– May be on a individual contract basis or be longer term

• Sharing IP could result in increased innovation in short and/or long term

How can we help?

• Appropriate contracting strategies

• Greater notice of up-coming opportunities

• Open forums with interested suppliers

– Provision of opportunities for networking

• Ensuring sufficient timescale for Pre-Qualification and Tender submissions

• Publication of details of suppliers successful at Pre-Qualification stage

• Encouraging collaborative bids by removing artificial barriers

• Publication of details of Contract Awards – including supplier details

An example outcome…

Procurement Scotland –

Business Management Consultancy and Temporary/Interim Staff Frameworks

• 317 Pre-Qualification submissions received from firms of all sizes

• 15 consortia and 15 SMEs (14 based in Scotland) named as suppliers on the frameworks (of a total of 53 primary contractors)

• a further 33 SME firms supported on the agreements as consortia members or sub-contractors (4 medium, 14 small and 15 micro)

• secured savings of up to 46% across the Scottish public sector

• a range of multi-supplier frameworks agreements which are able to meet a huge range of customer requirements

• By engaging the both markets Procurement Scotland successfully allowed all companies regardless of size or location to compete

Collaborative Procurement

How a Regional Approach Can Provide SME Supplier Opportunities

19th April 2011

Zoe Shankley / Mollie Rogan

Regional Account Managers

Scotland Excel 94

Content• Procurement Landscape

• The Myths....

• What are the Opportunities for SMEs?

• How Will I Know?

• How to Succeed – 10 Top Tips for Suppliers

• Where do I find Support?

• Q & A

95

Council Challenges – Doing More With Less

Procurement Landscape

• Review of Public Procurement in Scotland–John McClelland 2006

• Procurement Reform in Scotland – Key Objectives

– Cash Savings– Efficiency and Collaboration– Embedding sustainable procurement– Improving access to Public Sector

Contracts particularly for SMEs

96

Category A,B, C’s

• Category A – where a single interface with the public sector facilitates efficiency and competitiveness of suppliers e.g. Office Equipment and Suppliers

• Category B – where interface coordinated via a Centre of Excellence e.g exercise books, wheelie bins

• Category C1 – where interface coordinated via a Regional Hub or local organisations

• Category C – procurement at a local level

97

Overview of Scotland Excel Centre of Excellence in Procurement for Local Government

All 32 Local Authorities signed up

Facilitate creation of Contracts for goods and services common to local authorities

Work with Councils to Improve Engagement with Suppliers

Promote and Share Best Practice with Others

Provide Specialist Training Courses

98

Portfolio of Contracts

99

Transport & Roads• Light & Heavy Vehicles, Vehicle and Plant Hire• Bitumen, Salt, Roads Maintenance Materials

Contract Portfolio

100

The Myths....• Council Operate Approved List of Suppliers

• SMEs don’t win National Contracts

• Must be Able to Service ALL Local Authorities

• Tendering Process is TOO Complicated

• Need significant investment in Accredited Quality Systems

• Detailed Management Information

101

Opportunities for SMEs• National Contracts

– Procurement Scotland Cat A Contracts

– Scotland Excel Cat B Contract Portfolio

• Cat Cs and C1s– Regional Collaboration

– Local Councils and/or Public Sector Partners

• Geographic and Product Lotting

• Encourage Consortia Bids

• Understand the Supply Chain

102

How Will I Know?

• Register on Public Contracts Scotland• www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.ukoMake Sure Categorisation is Accurate

103

How to Succeed?10 Top Tips for Suppliers

Pre-Award• Apply immediately and look at

the documents when you get them.

• Respond Fully to all questions.• Ask questions now.• Attachments???• Management Information.

Post Award• Are you talking to the decision

maker.• Sales skills are needed.• Know the customers and what

they need.• Sell what you offered.

104

Where Do I Find Support?

• Public Contracts Scotland http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/

• Scotland Excel

http://www.scotland-excel.org.uk/ • Scottish Procurement Directorate –Procurement Journey

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement

• Supplier Development Programme http://www.sdpscotland.co.uk/home.aspx

105

Questions & Answers

106

Julie Caughey, Corporate Procurement Manager, East Lothian Council

[email protected]

Trained as CA with Coopers & Lybrand6 years as financial accountant with Diageo12 years with ELC – firstly as Finance Manager and for 7 years as Corporate Procurement Manager

It’s about achieving

more than just the supply of goods, services or works

* Often referred to as CBIP

•Targeted Recruitment•Targeted training / work experience•Careers talks•Small Business Development•Environmental Benefits

Sustainable ProcurementCommunity Benefits in Procurement (CBIP)

Opportunity to differentiate your business from others …..

Or another hurdle to jump???

How will the Community Benefits be included in procurement exercises? There are three ways:◦In the specification (or statement of requirements)◦In the questions in the PQQ/ ITT◦In both!

Check the weighting and evaluation criteria

What are the Council’s priorities and main strategies? (Single Outcome Agreement / Corporate Plan)What support (& finance) is available?

•If it’s not clear - ask•Is what is being asked of you “proportionate”?

What you are offering to do (have done)

How you will do it (be specific)Give examples / case studies if availableDon’t be afraid to use pictures in your submissions

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/02/13140629/0

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2006/1/regulation/39/made

www.cskills.org

Implications of theEU Remedies Directive

Presented by

Eddie ReganPASS Consultant


• On 20 December 2007, EU published amending Remedies Directive 2007/66/EC

– Implemented into UK and Scottish Regulations on 20 December 2009

• The policy objectives are

– the harmonisation of the standstill period, and

– the introduction of ineffectiveness as a potential remedy for illegal direct contract awards contracts

• The intended effects are:

– Improved rules governing remedies on the award of public contracts

– Making the procurement process more transparent,

– To further dissuade contracting authorities from awarding contracts illegally, and

– To satisfactorily address situations where awards are made illegally

Standstill

• 10 day timescale for notification by electronic means (email or fax), 15 for other means (non electronic)

• Notice to give summary of reasons

• Derogations from standstill

– Where no OJEU required

– Where only one tenderer

– Call off from framework (but trade off for ineffectiveness)

Contents of Notice

• Criteria for award

• Reasons for the decision (including the characteristics and relative advantages of the successful tender)

• Scores of recipient and winner

• Name of winner

• Precise statement of end of standstill/date before which contract will not be entered into

NOTE, if the notice is sent to a candidate, rather than a tenderer, the candidate is to be told why he was unsuccessful,

but not the relative advantages of the winning tenderer

Remedy of Ineffectiveness

Illegal Direct Award

Cancellation

(unless Court exercises discretion)

Technical Breach *

Is there antecedent Breach?

Alternative Remedies

Yes

No

* i.e. No standstill or contract entry before expiry of standstill or contract entry before court order

When DoesIneffectiveness Apply?

Three grounds in Regulation 47K:

• First ground– Illegal direct award

• Blatant or ignorant failure • Mistake over thresholds (e.g. failure to aggregate)• Mistake over Part B• Incorrect application of Teckal• Incorrect use of Negotiated Procedure without prior publication• Material procurement/contract variations• Failure to apply procurement to relevant property transactions

• Second ground

– Failure to issue standstill or

– Entering contract before standstill dealt with or

– Making contract despite challenge

provided there is an earlier technical breach of Regulation 47A and 47B

• Third ground

– Breach of procedural rules for award of above threshold call off contract under framework or DPS

Ineffectiveness –Court’s Discretion

• Where “good reasons” for maintaining the contract

• Alternative remedies required

• Reasons defined in the Directive-

– Overriding reasons in the general interest

– Economic reasons in the effectiveness of the contract allowed but only if exceptional circumstances and ineffectiveness would lead to disproportionate consequences

– BUT economic interests directly linked to contract do not constitute grounds

Consequences of Ineffectiveness

• Prospective cancellation of all contract obligations from date of declaration AND

• Payment of Civil Financial Penalties (fines)

– To be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”

– Will consider all relevant factors e.g authority’s conduct / seriousness of breach

• Court can make other orders e.g compensation for innocent parties

Additional and Alternative Penalties

• Alternative or in addition

• Alternative where court has exercised discretion or where technical breach and no prior breach of main procurement rules

• Fines (civil financial penalties)

• Penalties to be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”

• Contract shortening

Legal Proceedings

• Can address consequences of ineffectiveness

• Innocent contractor’s claim for breach of contract?

• Relevant Discharge Terms?

• Affected parties to be made aware of proceedings

• Affected party needs to apply to become a party

• Impact of appeal

Thank You

Do’s and Don’ts of Tendering

Presented by

Phil AdamsPASS Consultant


• Know that public sector is a regulated market

• Learn the rules, before you start playing the game

• Stay alert• Read OJEU• Visit websites

• Know the CPV codes relevant to you and use them

• Apply the rules – don’t look for ways to skirt them

Prepare a Database ofCommonly Requested Information

• Financial Accounts

– Bank References

– Insurances

– Credit Check

• Technical Information

– Personnel Profiles

– References and Experience

– Staff Turnover

– Comparable Contracts

• Professional Information

– Licences

– Professional or Trade Register

– Qualifications

• Quality Assurance

– Environmental Standards

• Policies

– Health and Safety Policy

– Environmental Policy

– Equalities Policy

Exemptions

• Absolute Exemptions

– organised crime

– corruption

– fraud to the detriment of the EC or

– money laundering

• Optional Exemptions

– Bankruptcy, etc

– Professional Misconduct

– Non-Payment of Taxes

– Misrepresentation

• When you receive PQQ or ITT documents:

– First thing to do: Read the instructions

– Second thing: Read them again

– Third: Get someone else to read them• Do not presume that the contract notice is infallible• Ask questions!

– Finally: Before returning tenders, read instructions one more time and make sure you have complied with them

Pre-Qualification Questionnaires

• Remember short-listing is about disqualifying applicants

• Copy all documentation and store the originals safely

• Verify acceptability of variations

• Ask about– budget– disqualifying criteria– markings and weightings

• if weightings are not available ask about order of priority

• Be sure to provide all submissions and answer all questions

• Quantify your questionnaire answers as far as possible

• For Mandatory Requirements the answer is always YES!

• Stay focused on client requirement not what the company can deliver

• Do not hold anything relevant back or make assumptions

• Note the order of questions, do not shuffle the answers

• If briefings are offered – attend if at all possible

• Give early thought to Terms and Conditions of contract

• Remember to identify ‘Added Value’ issues

• Do not do the most important work close to the deadline

• Check, recheck and recheck tender - involve others

• Send the number of hard copies asked for

• Do not be late in delivering

• If offered a presentation or clarification meeting:

– Take only key personnel – not sales team or window dressing

– Arrive on time – but expect to run late

– Be careful what you say and where you say it

– Stick strictly to the given timetable

– If using presentation tools – know how to operate them

– Team should know the tender and each other

– Include specialists if questions suggest it

– Don’t make rash promises

• Win or Lose

– Always ask for a debrief,

– Ask about range of scores and where your bid came within that range

– Ask for the range of prices

– If you have difficulty getting information, consider using FoISA

Final Pointers

• Don’t believe the PQQ/ITT is correct – ASK questions if in any doubt

• Identify problems early and discuss

• Always show how and why your tender provides good VfM

• Try to add value throughout the course of the contract

• Audit relations throughout the contract

• Be positive and professional

Thank You

Education

Supply Scotland SME Engagement Programme 2011 - Presentation