Vol. 461 No. 2
36 Dr. Woods asked the Minister for Finance if Government tendering procedures require the maintenance of an arms-length relationship to all companies until the contract is awarded; and if it would be improper for a company to be assured that it has obtained the contract before all procedures and interviews with other companies have been completed. [1292/96]
42 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Finance the specific procedures that exist for the awarding of public contracts. [1231/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 36 and 42 together. The national guidelines which govern the award of contracts by public sector bodies, are set out in a booklet entitled Public Procurement. These run to 46 pages, but the basic principle is that competitive tendering should always be used unless there are exceptional reasons for proceeding otherwise. This is to ensure the maximization of value for money for taxpayers and an open and fair regime for suppliers of goods and services, since all suitable suppliers should be given an equitable opportunity of competing for public business. The range of public procurement is very wide and there are specific rules covering specialised areas but the fundamental policy, which should be adhered to in all cases, is that appropriate market testing should take place and basically fair, non-discriminatory, procedures be applied.
The specific procedures governing procurement depend, inter alia, on the nature of the contracting body, and the value of the contract in question. There is a legal obligation to advertise throughout the European Community and to follow specific procedures set out in the relevant EU directives for contracts above threshold values specified in the directives. These are obviously too lengthy to list here but, again, their essence is that open, non-discriminatory competitive procedures apply on a community-wide basis.
In the case of contracts which do not fall within the scope of EU directives, and where the contracting authority is a Government Department or office, then the national procedures apply. As I mentioned, these also specify a competitive tendering process, except in the most exceptional circumstances. The competition may be based on an open advertisement, or on restricted tendering, where a number of firms are invited to apply. In the latter case, the number of firms invited to tender should not be less than five. Where the contract exceeds a certain threshold, and the proposed award is exceptional in some way (such as passing over the lowest bid; award on the basis of a single tender) then the award must be approved by the Government Contracts Committee.
