1. Is The Public Sector For You? Presented by Phil Adams PASS Consultant BiP Solutions Limited

2. Understanding the Public Sector Marketplace

3. Defining the Market In 2009-10 total public sector expenditure was £669bn –Pay made up £164bn –Grants made up £242bn –Procurement was £236bn Total public sector expenditure in this tax year (2011-2012) is estimated by the Treasury to be £702bn There are in excess of 44,000 public sector bodies in the UK across sectors such as Central Government, Local Government, Health, Education, MOD, Police, Fire, Housing Associations, etc 250,000+ Contracting Authorities in Europe

4. Regulatory Mechanisms WTO Government Procurement Agreement 1994 EU Treaty of Amsterdam 1997 EU Directives 2004/18/EC and 2004/17/EC UK or Scottish Public Contracts Regulations 2006 Remedies Directive 2007 and Public Contracts (Amendment) Regulations 2009 Public Procurement (Miscellaneous Amendments)Regulations 2011 The Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 Case Law

5. The EU Treaty is binding on Member States and their public bodies. The Treaty requires them to remove all barriers to the free movement of goods and services in the EU. The key Treaty principles are non-discrimination, equality of treatment and transparency. Other principles of the Treaty from EU law are mutual recognition and proportionality. EU Treaty

6. Scottish Public Sector Procurement Category A Category B Category C1 National Procurement Where a single interface with the public sector facilitates efficiency and competitiveness of suppliers. e.g. IT HW, Telecoms, Office Equipment & Supplies Sector Specific SPCD APUC; Scotland Excel; NHS National Procurement Regional Collaboration at local level e.g. Tayside Consortium Where interface coordinated via a sector Centre of Expertise. e.g. Wheelie bins, Medical Equipment Category C Where interface coordinated via regional hub or local organisation SPCD Local 185 Major procuring organisations; in excess of 900 in total

7. Key Procurement Issues

8. Non-OJEU Procurement Transparency applies to: –Low value (under the EC Directive thresholds) –Concession contracts (non-works) –Contracts for Annex II B Services –Works Contracts under EC thresholds Every contract not covered by OJEU publication requirements OJEU allows for non-OJEU contracts to be advertised through the Official Journal.

9. OJEU Thresholds 2012-20132010-2011 £ Supplies & Part A Services - Central Govt/NHS 113,057 101,323 - Local Govt, bgpl* 173,934 156,442 - Defence and Security 347,868 N/A Part B Services 173,934 156,442 Works 4,348,3503,927,260 * Bodies governed by public law

10. 2012-20132010-2011 £ Prior Information Notices - Supplies/Services 652,253 607,935 - Works 4,348,3503,927,260 Small Lots Provision - Supplies & Services 69,574 64,846 - Works 869,670 810,580

11. Open (any undertaking may tender) Restricted (any undertaking can apply to be selected to be invited to tender) Negotiated with or without a call for competition and Competitive Dialogue (any undertaking can apply to be selected to participate) Accelerated restricted/negotiated (for use only in exceptional circumstances of urgency not of the contracting authority’s making) EU Procurement Procedures

12. Timescales ProcedureProcessMin Timescale OpenTender52 days (36 with PIN) RestrictedExpression of Interest37 days Tender40 days (36 with PIN) Restricted AcceleratedExpression of Interest15 days Tender10 days NegotiatedExpression of Interest37 days Negotiated AcceleratedExpression of Interest15 days Competitive DialogueExpression of Interest37 days

13. Selection Criteria Mandatory Exclusions Optional Exclusions Economic and Financial Standing Technical and Professional Ability Comparable Contracts Quality Assurance Environmental Standards Policies Contract Specific Questions

14. What Cannot Be Done Contracting authorities should not: –ask for evidence that is not directly linked to the subject of the contract. –ask about candidates’ general policies, where this goes beyond what is necessary to assess the candidates’ capacity to perform the particular contract.

15. Contracting authorities may require economic operators to provide additional information to clarify that information already provided. Any information that is requested can be assumed, by the courts, to have been taken into account, even if only the relevant aspects of that information were considered.

16. Assessment of Tenders

17. Award Criteria Lowest Price or Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) MEAT Criteria Quality, price, technical merit, aesthetic and functional characteristics, environmental characteristics, running costs, cost-effectiveness, after sales service, technical assistance, delivery date/delivery period/period of completion.

18. Weightings All tenderers to be reasonably informed of the criteria and arrangements which will be applied to identify the most economically advantageous tender. Contracting authorities may derogate from indicating the relative weighting of the award criteria in duly justified cases for which they must be able to give reasons where the weighting cannot be established in advance, in particular on account of the complexity of the contract In such cases, they must indicate the descending order of importance of the criteria

19. Tender Evaluation The appraisal of tenders will cover a variety of aspects including: Priorities of the requirement (e.g. quality of service more important than innovation, etc) Technical assessment Commercial assessment Critical success factors High-level criteria for both quantifiable and non-quantifiable items

20. Debriefing It is government policy that unsuccessful tenderers for all public contracts should be informed of the position without delay. Contracting authorities are also recommended to release related general information to unsuccessful tenderers on request. Suppliers may be informed if they failed on price grounds. However, they are not entitled to have details of other tenders (including prices) disclosed to them as a matter of routine.

21. Standstill Notice 10 day timescale for notification by electronic means (email or fax), 15 for other means (non electronic) Authority must provide “award decision notice” to bidders at start of standstill A “summary of reasons” must be provided

22. 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

23. Improving Your Chances Of Success

24. BASIC TIP #1 Know that public sector is a regulated market Stay alert Read OJEU Visit websites Know the CPV codes relevant to you and use them Express your interest In time In the way required

25. BASIC TIPS #2 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 –Finally: Before returning tenders, read instructions one more time and make sure you have complied with them

26. BASIC TIPS #3 Ask about the markings and weightings –If weighting is not revealed, ask about order of priority Ask about budget Ask about disqualifying criteria – Especially turnover Be sure to provide all submissions and answer all questions Quantify your questionnaire answers as far as possible

27. BASIC TIPS #4 Verify acceptability of variations Do not do the most important work close to the deadline Remember to identify ‘Added Value’ issues Do not be late in delivering Send the number of hard copies asked for Give early thought to Terms and Conditions of contract

28. BASIC TIPS #5 If offered a tender meeting: –Take only key personnel – not sales team or window dressing –Arrive on time – but expect to run late and stick strictly to the given timetable –If using presentation tools – know how to operate them –Ensure your presentation team know the tender and each other –Don’t interrupt own team members –Don’t make rash promises

29. BASIC TIPS #6 After contract award Always ask for a debrief, whether you win or lose Ask about range of scores and where your bid came within that range Similarly, ask for the range of prices Note when procurement will be due for re-tender If you have difficulty getting information, consider using FoISA

30. Final Pointers Don’t believe the PQQ/ITT is correct – ASK questions if in any doubt Identify any problems early and discuss Always show how and why your tender provides good VfM Be positive and professional

31. Q&A

32. Thank You