What are framework agreements?
Frameworks are “umbrella agreements” that sets out the terms – particularly relating to price, quality and quantity – under which individual contracts (call-offs) can be awarded throughout the period of the agreement (normally a maximum of 4 years). They are typically used when the buyer(s) identify a need for specific products or services but are unsure of the scope or time-frame.
Continue reading “Framework Agreements: What You Need to Know”
* 2018/19 Public Procurement Thresholds Update Available here *
When procuring goods or services over the financial threshold a public authority must do so under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 in Scotland.
The current thresholds are as follows:
Public contracts
| Supply, Services and Design Contracts | Works Contracts | Social and other specific services | |
| Central Government | £106,047
€135,000 |
£4,104,394
€5,225,000 |
£589,148 €750,000 |
| Other contracting authorities | £164,176
€209,000 |
£4,104,394
€5,225,000 |
£589,148 €750,000 |
| Small lots | £62,842
€84,000 |
£785,530
€1,000,000 |
n/a |
Social and other specific services are subject to the new ‘light touch regime’ as described in a previous blog.
Utility contracts
| Supply, Services and Design Contracts | Works Contracts | Social and other specific services | |
| Utility authorities |
£328,352 €418,000 |
£4,104,394
€5,225,000 |
£785,530 €1,000,000 |
Defence and security contracts
| Supply, Services and Design Contracts | Works Contracts | Social and other specific services | |
| Defence and Security authorities | £328,352
€418,000 |
£4,104,394
€5,225,000 |
n/a
|
Concession contracts
For the first time Concession Contracts are covered in EU Law under a separate directive and therefore separate regulations in the UK.
The EU Directive is found here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/GA/TXT/?uri=celex:32014L0023
The UK regulations here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/273/contents/made
The UK Directive gives instruction on how the value of a concession contract should be calculated: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/273/regulation/9/made
The thresholds for publication in the OJEU refers to Article 8 (1) of the EU Directive which is:
The Sterling equivalent is £4,104,394.
Calculating estimated value
The calculation of the estimated value of a procurement exercise shall be based on the total amount payable, net of VAT, as estimated by the contracting authority, including any form of option and any renewals of the contracts as explicitly set out in the procurement documents.
Contracts subsidised by public funds
All applicable contracts which are subsidised by 50% or more of public funds must be advertised in the OJEU. From time to time a public body may part fund a project and request that the recipient of funding must advertise the procurement in line with public contracts regulations even if their contribution is less than 50% of the overall value. As such any recipient of public funding on a project should verify with the funding body what is expected of them in procuring for the project.
What are small lots?
See this blog.
How do I know if a contract is classed as works?
Many contractual requirements are a mixture of works and services. Whichever element is the highest in value should be taken as the contract nature when determining what threshold to apply. If you are unsure whether a specific element is classed as works or services then you can refer to Schedule 2 of the regulations which lists all activities which constitute works by CPV code:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/102/schedule/2/made
If the CPV code which fits your requirement is not in that list then it is not classed as a Works contract.
Questions? Leave a comment below.
In our blog about election manifestos one thing that was clear is that all the main parties feel that involvement of SMEs in procurement is the key to economic growth. The current Government set a target of 25% of all Central Governments spend to be with SMEs when it came to power in 2010 and it met this target in the 2013-2014 financial year. Framework agreements represent around 45% of procurements in the UK and compared to other EU nations the UK uses this type the most. The purpose of this blog is to explain how important framework agreements can be for SMEs.
Continue reading “Why are framework agreements important to SMEs?”
A survey by the Local Government Association published this week has revealed. Although only a small pool, the result is interesting as it makes you wonder if this is a common trend across government. Only 36% of respondents believe that the EU Remedies Directive has led to more efficient and effective procurement practices.
The Remedies Directive aims to strengthen the hand of losing suppliers to challenge contracts under the OJEU. It highlights steps suppliers can take to challenge the award of a public contract. A key change is the remedy of “ineffectiveness” which gives courts the powers to scrap a contract in particular circumstances including, if it has not been advertised, the “standstill” period has been ignored or if the rules governing a framework agreement have been broken.
Hands up who has heard of the Contract Award Notice (shortened to CAN for those with a particular love for procurement and tendering jargon like us)?
If you have heard of it, then you will know that the CAN is the official notification which must be published in OJEU by the contracting authority AFTER the contract has been awarded. It details the name of the winning bidder, duration of the contract and the value (if the authority has played ball and included that).
When you receive your tender alert emails, remember to look at the document type in the top left hand corner first to check what kind of notification you are dealing with. You don’t want to go asking the authority for contract documents for an opportunity which has already been awarded! The different notice types are automatically organised into separate folders on Tenders Direct to avoid any confusion.
Whether you have or haven’t heard of the CAN, you might be wondering at this point how it can be of any relevance to you unless it has your name down as the winning bidder!?
Well don’t dismiss the CAN straight away as it does have its uses.
A
re you going for lots of tender opportunities but finding that you just can’t seem to get a look in? Could you be guilty of bidding “blind”?
I sometimes get the sense that businesses new to public sector tenders (or sometimes even those with years of experience) think that on submitting a PQQ or a Bid, as long as they’ve made some sort of submission, they’re in with as much chance as anyone at getting into the next round or winning the contract outright. A bit like hoping your lottery numbers come up on a Saturday night or sending out reams of speculative CV’s on the hunt for a new job.
Is it your job to find that golden opportunity hidden amongst hundreds of vaguely related tender notices? How many tenders do you dismiss on title alone? Well, you might just be missing some valuable business opportunities.
I’m a bit late with this blog post, what with Christmas and New Year and then all the snow, but better late than never.
On January 1st 2010 new financial thresholds, which govern whether or not a contract must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), came into force. There’s often a lot of confusion about these thresholds, so I’ll try and explain a bit of the background as well as the actual values of the new thresholds.
Continue reading “Financial thresholds for contracts published in the Official Journal (OJEU)”
Harsh medicine?
On Sunday the Remedies Directive (2007/66/EC) was implemented in UK legislation. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) had drafted ‘The Public Contracts (Amendment) Regulations 2009’ (SI 2009/2992). While in Scotland the Scottish Procurement Directorate (SPD) had drafted The Public Contracts and Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2009 (SSI 2009/428). Although both sets of regulations are implementing the same European Directive there are some significant differences in the detail, although in this article I’ll only concentrate on the main effects.
One of the best ways to improve your tender and PQQ (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire) submissions is to learn from the mistakes and merits of your previous efforts. You can do this by requesting feedback on your performance during the tender process from the awarding authority.
