PfS Issues Guidance on Two
Bidder Procurements
PfS
has issued guidance, released March 2010, on how local authorities should conduct
their procurement in
circumstances when only two bidders compete at IPD1 stage and
there is no bidder de-selection at the end of IPD1. The guidance seeks to shorten
the procurement period and provide greater efficiency and savings.
Reducing the Procurement Period
Overall the recommendations seek to achieve a reduction from the standard 75 weeks
to 61 weeks where there are two bidders rather
than the assumed three.
The recommendations that the guidance makes are to:
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dispense with Initial Bid Requirements and use some less detailed Final Bid Requirements instead |
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not formally evaluate the interim submissions (IPD1) and
simply provide informal feedback |
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list fewer deliverables at the interim submission stage,
eg legal and financial can be developed through the IPD2 stage and submitted in
a staged manner |
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shorten the interim submission timetable in order that there
is sufficient time for corrective action following the CABE review |
PfS are of the view that the above amendments should reduce
the timescale to 61 weeks as follows:
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IPD1 being reduced to only 10 weeks |
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reducing the 7 week IPD1 evaluation period to 1-2 weeks |
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reducing the evaluation of final bids from 8 weeks to 6 weeks |
Conclusion
This guidance will be welcome news to all involved in two
bidder competitions as not only will it speed up the programme, but will inevitably
lead to a reduction in bid costs, which have increasingly been seen as a bar to
entry into the market and have even led to some market participants leaving the
sector. It means that the local authority will need to streamline its own processes;
especially around evaluation periods and decision making processes, to ensure that
they can cope with the reduced timescale. Although the guidance applies only to
situations where there are two bidders from the start, it confirms the intention
of PfS to further reduce timescales to make the procurements more efficient.
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For More Information Contact:
Graham Burns
TPP Law Limited
53 Great Suffolk Street
London SE1 ODB
t 020 7620 0888
f 020 7620 0778
e info@tpplaw.co.uk
Email: Graham
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