Tag: Brexit

Public Sector Round-Up 20.11.20

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UK tender publishing update

1144

800

344

Total UK
Tenders		Low-Value
Tenders		OJEU
Tenders

169

68

342

Frameworks
or DPS 		Prior Information
Notices		OJEU
Award Notices
Tender notices published in the UK between 13.11.20 & 19.11.20

If you are interested in finding out what the market looks like for your industry, get in touch and we’ll be happy to provide you with a free overview for your business. Alternatively, start looking for opportunities with our tender search tool on www.tendersdirect.co.uk

In the news this week

£175 million more for cycling and walking as research shows public support
Councils across England have been given access to a further £175 million to create safe space for cycling and walking. This news comes as surveys show 8/10 people support measures to reduce traffic in their neighbourhoods.
This funding is part of the £2 billion announced in May to promote more active travel options.
This funding will be used to create numerous opportunities, of all values, across the country. Visit our dedicated Construction tender category on our site to view current opportunities.

£16 million to introduce digital prescribing in hospitals
16 hospitals across England will receive a share of £16 million to introduce electronic prescribing systems, replacing the need for paper prescriptions. These systems are being used to greatly improve efficiency, and since 2018, 216 NHS trusts have adopted these systems. The long term plan is to eliminate paper prescribing across the entire NHS by 2024 – meaning there will continue to be associated Tech opportunities until then.

Extraordinary notices

Title: United Kingdom-Chester: National Framework Agreement for Provision of Sterile Services and Endoscopy Decontamination Facility
Short description: The framework agreement will allow NHS organisations to procure a Supplier who can design, build and equip a SSD and subsequently maintain the facility and its equipment under a managed service contract. Suppliers may provide finance to the NHS organisation for the design, build and equip of the SSD, as well as ongoing provision of appropriate facilities management.
Published By: Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Date Published: 18 November 2020
Deadline: 04 January 2021
Framework/DPS: Yes
Value excluding VAT: £375,000,000.00
View full notice on Tenders Direct

When Brexit concludes at the end of this year, the government’s new e-tender service ‘Find a Tender’ will replace the OJEU in the UK for above threshold tenders.
Find out what this means for finding and winning public contracts in 2021, in our new post Brexit and Public Procurement.

Top OJEU contract award notices

Title: United Kingdom-London: Pharmaceutical products
Short description: Supply of a range of supportive medicines including end of life, intensive care unit and antibiotics.
Published By: Department of Health and Social Care
Date Published: 16 November 2020
Framework/DPS: No
Value excluding VAT: £791,968.00
Number of tenders received: 1 (Of which were SMEs: 1)
Contractors: Fresenius Kabi Ltd
View full notice on Tenders Direct

Title: United Kingdom-Sale: Street-lighting maintenance services
Short description: Reactive maintenance.
Published By: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Date Published: 18 November 2020
Framework/DPS: Yes
Value excluding VAT: £2,000,000.00
Number of tenders received: 4
Contractors: Acorn Lighting Services Ltd, Jones Lighting Ltd, SSE Contracting Ltd
View full notice on Tenders Direct

Title: United Kingdom-Newport: Postal services
Short description: To print personalised letters containing name, address and a unique reference/serial number for each record/person invited to take apart in the Covid-19 Infection Survey (CIS).
Published By: Office for National Statistics (‘ONS’)
Date Published: 18 November 2020
Framework/DPS: No
Value excluding VAT: £4,500,000.00
Number of tenders received: 1
Contractors: HH Associates Ltd
View full notice on Tenders Direct

Are you winning contracts in the private sector but unsure how to start in the public sector?
Join us for our upcoming free webinar where we will discuss the differences between the two sectors, and how you can start bidding for public contracts.

The topics we will cover are:
◆ How the public sector differs from the private sector
◆ The similarities between tendering in both
◆ How to find public sector opportunities
◆ How to undertake your first public sector tenders

Book your place: Wednesday 25 November 2020, 1.00 to 1.45PM

Tenders Direct is the UK’s most accurate tender alert service. We are the only service to guarantee that with us – you’ll never miss a tender.
Visit www.tendersdirect.co.uk to find out more.

Brexit and Public Procurement

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The Brexit transition period comes to an end this year, and from 1 January 2021 there will be changes to public procurement. 

Key points to be aware of until then: 

  • For any procurement started, and not completed before 31 December 2020, the current procurement regulations will still apply until the contract has been awarded. 
  • From 1 January 2021, the new e-tender service ‘Find a Tender’ will replace the Official Journal of the European Union in the UK for above threshold tenders. 
  • The existing UK government portals – Contracts Finder, Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI – will remain in operation and will be unchanged.   
  • While there will be no immediate changes to procurement policies, from 1 January 2021 the government will have the power to introduce new or temporary legislation.

How will Brexit affect finding new tenders?

Tenders Direct customers will see no difference. 
 
We will continue to source and publish all notices of any value from across the UK and ROI, as well as notices from the OJEU applicable to UK suppliers.  
 
Proactis manages both the Sell2Wales and Public Contracts Scotland portals, as well as the e-publishing platform myTenders. We, along with a number of other approved e-senders, have been working closely with the government to ensure that all high value notices published through our portals are also published to Find a Tender when the switch happens on 1 January 2021. 

Tenders Direct offers a unique tender alert service – we rely on humans, not algorithms. This means that when the switch goes live, our team will be able source, review and classify all notices on Find a Tender. Other services, which rely on automated systems to source tenders, may not be able to adapt as promptly – as they will have to build systems to source and extract notices from Find a Tender. 
 
Visit our website for more information about our unique service.  

Is there anything I should be aware of?

Procurement policies are likely to remain closely aligned with the rules in place before Brexit. However, when the transition period ends, it may become clear that some regulations no longer apply, or amendments are needed to make them more practical to just the UK. As an example, the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 saw the publication of four Policy Procurement Notes which introduced a range of temporary changes to support the needs of both the government and UK businesses. 

With Brexit concluding while the UK works to recover from COVID-19, new temporary regulations to address this unpredictable combination is something we should be prepared for. 

We will provide updates through this blog if there are any developments which may have an impact on you finding and winning work within the public sector.

Further reading

The Policy Procurement Note: Introduction of Find a Tender explains the upcoming changes in greater detail. 

The UK Government have a page dedicated to Public Procurement After Brexit, which has useful information for both buyers and suppliers. 

For details about all of the changes introduced as a result of Brexit, along with a useful readiness questionnaire, please view the UK Transition page on Gov.uk 

Brexit: A “historic moment from which there can be no turning back” – but what does it mean for public procurement?

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eu-1473958_1920After the referendum result last June and the resulting legal challenges, parliamentary debates, votes and royal assent (not to mention the debates down at the pub and on social media) Prime Minister Theresa May has finally triggered Article 50 notifying the European Council of the UK’s intention to withdraw from the EU. Whichever side of the debate you found yourself on one thing is now clear – the UK is leaving the EU and that is likely to have a huge impact for us all.

Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, the PM’s letter to the European Council triggering Article 50 made no specific reference to public sector procurement – it’s unlikely to be at the top of any agenda – but point v.i. of her “suggested principle” for the negotiation deals with trade.

If any major change is to come in relation to public procurement it will be as a result on the outcome of the negotiations relating to trade between the EU and the UK. It is important to note that at present and until the negotiations are complete and the UK leaves the EU, the procurement regulations will remain the same. The European Council’s Directive on Public Procurement has been transposed into UK and Scottish law by the current Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and Public Contracts Regulations (Scotland) 2015 respectively. After exiting the EU, the UK will have the option of amending or replacing these regulations but it seems unlikely that they will change drastically.

All EU member states have roughly the same ambitions when it comes to public sector procurement – openness, transparency, fairness, VfM, increasing access for SMEs – and therefore the current regulations were designed with these in mind.

If you were hoping for a removal of perceived EU “red tape” in public sector tendering I believe you’ll be disappointed. Indeed, you may instead experience some “red, white and blue tape” as the UK lawmakers amend the relevant regulations whilst ensuring that all the principles of good public procurement processes remain in place.

If the UK is to become part of the European Economic Area, a status held by the non-EU countries of Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein then very little is likely to change. The EEA countries are bound by their membership agreement to follow the principles of EU public procurement and all three countries advertise their above threshold procurement requirements in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

Even if the UK does not join the EEA, it is still a signatory of the World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement, which imposes the principles and practices of fair procurement on all its members. The public sector will still need to purchase what it does today and will need to advertise it openly. This may just mean that the opportunities are advertised on national platforms rather than in the OJEU. Either way you can be sure that Tenders Direct will be picking them all up and distributing relevant opportunities to our members!

Millstream reaction to Brexit vote

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After months of campaigning, debates and opinion polls the people have spoken and decided that Britain should leave the European Union. Once the dust has settled on the result the long and arduous task of the Government negotiating an exit will begin.

One of the key questions coming out of this result is: will the UK retain access to the Single Market, through membership of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)? This is what Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland have done but it remains to be seen whether the UK will decide to pursue this option as it will require us to contribute to the EU budget, accept the free movement of EU citizens and to implement European legislation relating to the Single Market. The obligations are very similar to those required of full EU members, but without representation on any of the decision making bodies. It is also doubtful whether the EU will agree to UK membership of EFTA.

Continue reading “Millstream reaction to Brexit vote”

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