|
This guidance is offered as an aid to individuals or companies
that have no prior experience or contact with the Greater London
Authority (GLA) as a purchasing organisation and to those current
suppliers who wish to expand their business contacts with them.
The GLA is also keen to ensure that its suppliers reflect London’s
diversity and encourages as many businesses as possible to apply
for its contracts. It is hoped that this document will provide minority
businesses in particular with awareness and knowledge of GLA procurement
processes, thus improving the quality of their approach to potential
business relationships with the GLA.
The GLA’s approach is to create a business environment that
allows all types of people to realise and reach their full potential
in pursuit of business objectives. The GLA recognises that it may
be difficult for some individuals or companies to compete successfully,
so they need to provide the information, access and opportunities
necessary for potential suppliers to compete for GLA business.
The Greater London Authority
The GLA is a new and unique form of strategic city-wide government
for London. It is made up of a directly elected Mayor – the
Mayor of London – and a separately elected Assembly –
the London Assembly. The Mayor prepares plans on issues from transport
to the environment, and from culture to land use; directs the GLA;
and sets budgets for the GLA, Transport for London, the London Development
Agency, the Metropolitan Police and London’s fire services.
The Assembly scrutinises the Mayor’s activities, questioning
the Mayor about his or her decisions. The Assembly is also able
to investigate other issues of importance to Londoners, publish
its findings and recommendations, and make proposals to the Mayor.
Products and services bought
Listed below are some of the typical purchases that the GLA makes:
Supplies
• Stationery
• Office equipment
• Furniture
• IT hardware and consumables
Services
• Consultancy
• Catering
• Building cleaning
• Window cleaning
• Printing
• Payroll
• Audit
• Banking
• Insurance
Supplier selection policy
Supplier selection is based on overall value for money. Whilst price
is important, the GLA will always consider quality, reliability,
safety, good design, timely delivery, maintenance and after-sales
support before arriving at a decision which is the most economically
advantageous to it.
As far as possible, where the value is high enough to justify the
cost to both parties, contracts are placed after inviting individuals/companies
to submit tenders in competition. The number of individuals/companies
invited to tender will vary with the nature of the order and the
availability of suitably qualified suppliers. In many cases it will
not be practical to include all those suppliers who express an interest,
and where there is a wide field of potential suppliers the GLA may
undertake a pre-qualification process. The GLA complies with EU
regulations on public procurement.
Potential suppliers must demonstrate their financial, commercial
and technical capability to fully meet the contractual requirements
under tender. The GLA will also take account of a company’s
past performance with reference to contracts of a similar nature,
with both the GLA and other organisations. They will also be looking
for a clear demonstration of commitment to equal opportunities in
employment, to the environment and to safe systems of working.
The GLA may ask for references from previous customers, bankers
or business information companies and, in some cases, arrange inspection
visits to a company.
General policies and standards
Equalities
The GLA will encourage applications for inclusion in its tendering
processes from all of London’s diverse communities. It will
endeavour to appoint contractors who are committed to promoting
equality of opportunity in their own employment practices and service
delivery methods and who can demonstrate the ability to assist the
GLA achieve its statutory responsibilities in this important area.
Risk management of contracting with suppliers with no track record
will be explored. This will ensure, for example, that previous experience
outside this country is not necessarily ignored or that suppliers
without long-term experience but demonstrating capability are not
ignored.
Environmental procurement policy
Procurement has a very significant effect on the environment and
the GLA is committed to achieving value for money whilst taking
account of:
• whole-life costs, quality and other benefits, and not just
the initial price
• what the law says (including EU procurement rules and international
agreements on trade)
• guides for suppliers and buyers and other official guidance
(such as HM Treasury and DETR’s joint note on environmental
issues in purchasing and DETR’s Green Guide for Buyers (1997))
and by:
• ensuring that what its buyers actually do is consistent
with this statement, by conducting at least one pilot project or
environmental audit each year covering a part of the GLA
• specifying recycled products and re-refined mineral oils
where practicable and where they offer value for money, taking account
of whole-life costs
• using the European Commission’s mandatory energy-labelling
scheme, buying the most energy-efficient products where they give
value for money, taking account of whole-life costs
• making use of the environmental labels of the recognised
eco-labelling schemes to help identify environmentally preferable
products (ie those with a low environmental impact)
• making use of criteria already established under official
eco-labelling schemes (where available and relevant to the contract)
to improve specifications for products and services
• using the Government’s Green Claims Code to inform
buyers and challenge suppliers who provide product information that
appears to contravene the Code’s standards
• evaluating, as appropriate, the environmental performance
of tenderers when relevant to the contract
Where relevant, tenderers will be required to state what Environmental
Management system has been put in place if any, or if their organisation
has been accredited to BS 7750: 1994.
Health and Safety
The GLA’s standard pre-qualification questionnaire requests
details of an applicant’s health and safety policies. If your
company employs fewer than 5 employees then you are not required
to have a formal Health and Safety statement. Where a policy is
submitted you should ensure that it is signed.
Procedures
GLA’s procurement and contracting procedures are designed
to ensure that the GLA achieves best value from all the money it
spends. The value of a contract determines the procedures that all
GLA officers must follow with respect to how many quotes they need
to obtain, or whether a tender process must be entered into.
Below is a table outlining the procedures all GLA officers must
follow:
Spend/Tender limits Procedure
£ (excludes VAT)
0 - 4999 Purchase order
5000 - 14,999 3 quotes
15,000 - 24,999 3 written quotes
25,000 - 49,999 Mini tender
From 50,000 Full tender
Over 154,000 EU/OJEU
Select List
The GLA has compiled a Select List of consultants. This list will
be used in the award of contracts exceeding certain financial thresholds.
Being accepted on the Select List does not guarantee the award of
any contract. When tendering using the Select List, the GLA Contracts
Code requires that at least five consultants should be invited to
tender. Where this minimum number cannot be met from the list, invitations
may be extended to those not on the list provided those so invited
can satisfy GLA pre-qualification requirements.
For many types of purchase, following a tendering exercise, the
GLA will maintain a contract with one or more suppliers and a Select
List is not maintained. Therefore, you cannot apply to be added
to a Select List for these types of purchases but must wait until
existing contracts end and are readvertised.
Advertising of contracts
All GLA contracts that need to be advertised will appear in one
local (London-wide) newspaper and, if appropriate, a trade or professional
journal. Where the value of the contract exceeds the EU threshold
there will be a publication in the Supplement to the Official Journal
of the European Union (OJEU).
The GLA has a website where tender advertisements are placed. The
address is www.london.gov.uk
In addition to ensure that suppliers reflect London’s diversity,
copies of tender adverts will be sent to a number of minority organisations
for onward circulation to their members.
Tendering procedures
There are three main ways of tendering:
• Open procedure
Under an open tender procedure all suppliers who respond to an advertisement
are supplied with tender documentation, which they can return as
appropriate.
• Restricted procedure
The restricted procedure can best be described as a two-stage approach
in which the GLA invites interested suppliers to undergo a pre-qualification
assessment to draw up a shortlist before inviting those on the list
to tender.
• Negotiated procedure
This is when the GLA, under certain limited circumstances, negotiates
with one or more suppliers of choice. For example, it may be used
in cases of extreme urgency that could not be foreseen by the Authority
or where there is only one supplier in the market. It would not
normally be used when either open or restricted tendering is considered
more appropriate.
Tender submission – tips
Whichever procedure the GLA follows, you should nevertheless read
the advertisement or tender/quotation documents carefully and submit
or request the information required by the dates stipulated by the
Authority.
The GLA normally requires all suppliers to complete a questionnaire
detailing information about their financial/economic standing and
their technical capability. This usually covers information about
when you started business or your organisation/company was formed,
what experience you have in providing the goods/services/works being
tendered for, details of where the GLA may obtain references on
your company, and details of your company’s finances.
To ensure your bid is considered, you must:
• provide all the information requested
• make sure that you answer all questions accurately
• return the information by the closing date specified
Sometimes the information the GLA receives from suppliers is unclear
or in need of further clarification. Once again you should provide
any additional information sought by the closing date set.
The tender documents sent out to suppliers contain details of GLA
requirements. The documents, particularly the specification, should
be read carefully and all information completed fully and accurately.
If you do not understand any part of the specification you should
ring the GLA officer named in the tender documentation and request
further information. This must be done before the tender period
closes.
Evaluation of tenders
In order to preserve the integrity of the competitive process, it
is imperative that the evaluation of proposals is undertaken objectively,
consistently and without bias towards particular suppliers. Accordingly
evaluation of tenders is undertaken by an evaluation panel, comprising
a minimum of three members, to ensure a fair and objective decision
is reached. Because of the nature of the GLA’s contracts it
is unlikely that they will be awarded on the basis of price alone.
The GLA will award the contract to the supplier it considers offers
value for money. For this reason the GLA’s main evaluation
criterion will be the ‘most economically advantageous tender’
(MEAT) as determined by the criteria set out in the tender documents.
The award criteria will vary depending on the type of contract.
Examples of award criteria are experience, technical merit, financial
viability, flexibility to future changes to GLA requirements, speed
of project delivery etc.
Where to go for help
• Debriefing
Unsuccessful tenderers may request feedback. Such requests should
be made to the project manager of the specific contract for which
they tendered. Where such requests are made, the GLA will endeavour
to provide information that will assist the tenderer to improve
on their next tender submission.
• General
Requests for general information on procurement issues at the GLA
may be made in writing to:
The Procurement Manager
City Hall
The Queen’s Walk
London SE1 2AA
Tel: 020 7983 4478
Fax: 020 7983 4137
Appendix A
CONTRACTS SUBJECT TO EU PROCUREMENT RULES – INTRODUCTION
EU procurement rules were introduced by the European Union to open
up competition between Member States. This is because public sector
spending represents huge sums.
EU PROCUREMENT THRESHOLDS
Supplies £153,376
Services £153,376
Works £3,834,411
Details of contracts falling within each of the above are listed
below.
• Values exclude VAT.
• Values are total values NOT annual values, eg a three-year
contract valued at £60,000 per annum (total value £180,000)
is covered.
• Values are to be aggregated, eg if you have an ongoing annual
need for supplies.
• It is a breach of EU law to deliberately divide up contracts
to avoid the rules.
• There are specific rules in relation to extensions of existing
contracts.
• There are specific rules relating to contracts for both
service providers and suppliers.
• There are specific exceptions to the above thresholds. They
are similar to the GLA exceptions, but different procedures apply.
THE EU PROCUREMENT DIRECTIVES
The Directives cover the following:
• Works
Building and engineering capital works over £3,834,411.
• Supplies
Supply, lease, rental or hire purchase of goods over £153,376.
• Services
Supply of services over £153,376 (does not apply to employment
contracts).
The application of the Services Directive is split between Part
A Services (eg IT), which are subject to the full European regime,
and Part B services (eg catering), which have minimal legislative
requirements.
Part A Services (see below) are subject to the full requirements.
This means, for instance, that the services must be advertised in
the OJEU.
Part B Services (summarised below) have minor requirements. The
main requirements are in relation to technical specification and
award notice.
The above categories are in summary form only. There are extensive
and detailed EU definitions for what are covered under each of these
categories.
PART A SERVICES
(full regime)
Accounting, auditing, bookkeeping
Market research and opinion polling
Management consultancy
Architectural, engineering, urban planning, landscaping and related
technical services
Advertising
Building cleaning and property management
Sewerage and refuse disposal
IT
Financial
Transport and courier
Maintenance and repair of vehicles and equipment
PART B SERVICES
(partial regime)
Catering
Legal
Security
Educational
Health and social
Recreational, cultural and sporting
Other
BiP Solutions Ltd, Park House, 300 Glasgow Road, Shawfield, Glasgow
G73 1SQ
Tel: 0141 332 8247 Fax: 0141 331 2652/2792 Email: bip@bipsolutions.com
Web: www.bipsolutions.com
© BiP Solutions Ltd 2004
|
|
