The Scottish Government has developed a number of tools to help you:

• identify and work on how to increase economic, social and environmental benefits from your contract.
• agree your sustainable procurement priorities.

You can use the following tools when developing your commodity/service strategies:

• The Flexible Framework Assessment Tool: an organisational level maturity matrix to help assess current sustainable procurement progress and suggest improvement actions
• The Prioritisation Tool: an early stage tool (as a matter of good practice, you should complete this at a category or organisation level prior to working on your commodity/service strategy)

Life-Cycle Impact Mapping: Every product and service has a 'life cycle' or number of stages it goes through:

• obtaining raw materials;
• manufacturing and logistics;
• use of products or works and the delivery of services;
• re-use/re-manufacture and final disposal.

Life cycle impact mapping (LCIM) is used to identify and assess the social and environmental impacts of these stages.

The Sustainability Test: used at category/commodity/service level to identify potential scope of benefits.

The above tools can be accessed by registering on the Sustainable Procurement Tools platform.  Accompanying Sustainable Procurement Guidance can also be accessed on the Sustainable Procurement Tools and is available for both registered and unregistered users.

By using these tools you can:

• identify what risks and opportunities can be targeted for each commodity
• help manage those risks and exploit opportunities
• include recommendations in your Commodity Strategy to be addressed as part of the procurement process to help address risks and opportunities identified.

There are always different options available to you when examining how to achieve this balance. You may wish to visit the Case Studies section of the Sustainable Procurement Tools platform to read process-focused examples of how sustainable procurement benefits have been embedded in public procurement exercises. 

Risks and opportunities from sustainable procurement are aligned with the National Outcomes and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To meet your obligations under the Sustainable Procurement Duty you must consider how to facilitate the involvement of:

• Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and
• Third Sector Bodies and
• Supported Businesses

in all procurement exercises. 

To do so there are some specific actions you must take:

• Develop transparent, detailed organisational Procurement Strategies and Annual Procurement Reports, including Forward Plans.  This helps prospective bidders identify opportunities ahead of the advertisement stage and plan resources. Procurement Strategies and Annual Procurement Reports are mandatory for Organisations who expect the value of their regulated contracts in that year to be £5 million or over (excluding VAT).
• Increase the use of debriefing.  This supports the development and improvement of bidders, benefiting both the bidders and the organisation for future procurement exercises. 

SME’s

The majority of businesses are SME’s. By doing everything you can to make it easy for SME’s to bid for your exercise then you are reaching the broader market and this can benefit your organisation as well as the broader economy.

Some things you can do to help SME’s access public procurement include:

• Make sure your procurement exercise is advertised properly;
• Keep tender documentation clear and precise;
• Use lotting to enable smaller companies to identify potential opportunities;
• Make sure to include SME’s in pre-tender market engagement;
• Check that your tender and selection criteria are proportionate and will not exclude SME’s - e.g.  do you really need such high levels of insurance for this tender?
• Using a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) can offer benefits to SME’s in that, on qualifying they can access the contract at any time through it’s life and have access to smaller competitions within larger frameworks. 

There are many more things that you can do (or indeed not do), and you should take time to explore these as part of your strategy development.  Speaking to colleagues, your UIG and contacting organisations such as the Supplier Development Programme can be very helpful.

Third Sector

The Third Sector, which includes charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups, delivers essential services, helps to improve people’s wellbeing and contributes to economic growth.  It plays a vital role in supporting communities at a local level.  The economic contribution of Third Sector organisations is steadily increasing and we expect this to continue in the coming years.  Some things you should do to help Third Sector suppliers access your procurement exercise include:

• Identify and engage with any relevant Third Sector suppliers as early as possible in the process;
• Examine the market to identify any potential “blockers” to entry – e.g.  are there providers for some of the requirement but not all?  Would using lots help open up the opportunities?

Many of the actions that you can take to make sure SME’s are engaged can also support the inclusion of Third Sector organisations.  Each local authority in Scotland has a “Third Sector Interface” (TSI) and further information can be obtained from them if you need help in identifying local Third Sector organisations.

Reserving Contracts for Supported Businesses

Where a market exists, your Organisation can “restrict” competition so that only supported businesses can bid.  In these cases, this must have been assessed as appropriate as there are specific rules around the restriction of competitions.

SPPN 1/2025 provides further information and guidance on Reserving Contracts for Supported Businesses, including:

• Determining whether an organisation meets the definition of a supported business for the purposes of public procurement legislation;
• Identifying supported businesses; and
• Monitoring and reporting.

Fair Work practices are actions an employer adopts for the benefit of its workers.  They are above the minimum legal requirements and reflect the five dimensions of the Fair Work Framework.

When developing any procurement exercise, you must do so in line with Statutory Guidance.  This requires you to consider how to address Fair Work practices in all procurement exercises before you start your procurement.

To support this Best Practice Guidance and a Toolkit have been developed to offer additional guidance and practical tools for public bodies and suppliers.  Guidance has been embedded throughout the Procurement Journey.

The Scottish Government believes that contractors who go beyond minimum legal requirements by adopting Fair Work practices will:

• increase innovation,
• improve workplace outcomes and business performance,

positively impact on the delivery of a public contract. The payment of the real Living Wage is considered by the Scottish Government to be a significant indicator of an employer’s commitment to Fair Work practices. The payment of the real Living Wage is one of the clearest ways an employer can demonstrate a positive approach to its workforce.

- the real Living Wage should not be confused with the National Minimum Wage (including the ‘national living wage’), which is the legal minimum wage set in law by the UK Government.

The Scottish Government expects:

• Organisations to promote Fair Work practices in all relevant procurement exercises.  At the same time ensuring  a balance between contract quality and cost.  This will  include the impact of  working conditions costs, and
• Suppliers delivering public contracts to adopt and demonstrate appropriate Fair Work practices., They should ensure these are delivered for all workers engaged on public contract delivery.

In addition to the Sustainable Procurement tools, a Fair Work practices commodity/service strategy: checklist and flowchart is available to help identify how to address fair Work in relevant procurement exercises with an example  - Fair Work commodity/service strategy: checklist - home support services.

The Toolkit also includes Information Sheets on:

• Frequently asked questions
• What is Fair Work?
• What is the real Living Wage?
• What are Fair Work practices?
• Useful resources

You must make sure the performance of the contract by suppliers complies with their obligations in environmental, social and labour law.  It is essential that robust requirements are built into your strategy, procurement documents and contract management processes.

For example, when considering how to address Fair Work practices in a procurement exercise, you must assess whether you should exclude supplier(s)  if they do not meet their legal obligations as a diligent employer. 

SPPN 09/2016 includes guidance and contract conditions an organisation can adapt for use in its contracts.

You must consider how you can promote innovation through your procurement exercise.

Some methods you can use to achieve this are:

• using outcome specifications,
• identifying options to innovate through the procurement process
• directly procure research and development to inform your requirements

You may find SPPN 3/2023  to be helpful when considering how to support innovation through procurement.

You can apply life cycle costing as part of the specification and subsequent evaluation. 

Life Cycle Costing may be used where additional environmental costs result from the products or services being purchased e.g. carbon emission costs from purchased machinery  and the environmental disposal cost at end of life.

Further information on whole life costing and life-cycle costing can be found in Additional Resources

Lifecycle Impact Mapping:

Focuses on social and environmental impact rather than cost. Life cycle impacts help the user identify and assess impacts. For example, it may help to focus attention on the disposal phase before the procurement is carried out.  This  allows you to build end-of-life management requirements into performance clauses for successful contractors and your  own internal management procedures.

There is specific guidance around the use of labels within procurement.

To specify labels in your procurement exercise you need to meet the following criteria:

• The labels can only concern criteria that are linked to the subject matter of the contract
• They have to be based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria
• The label itself is established in an open and transparent procedure and accessible to all interested parties
• The label requirements are set by a third party over which no potential bidder has any decisive influence

Rather than apply a label on a broad basis, if it’s more proportionate you can detail which label requirements are to be met.  This will reduce the burden on bidders and could expand the number of capable bidders for your process.  

Labels must comply with the label requirements of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and equivalent labels must be accepted.  Where the bidder can demonstrate it has not been possible to obtain either the label or an equivalent, through no fault of its own, you must accept other appropriate means of proof e.g. manufacturers technical dossiers.

A detailed understanding of the current spend and future requirements, of participating organisations, are key to the commodity/service strategy development.

An organisation should determine what resources are available for delivery of the service.

Financial planning is essential to ensure that service specifications are realistic.  This ensures the specified requirements and outcomes are informed by the organisation’s analysis and benchmarking of costs.  This means delivery will be within the available budget.

An organisation should consider what funding it can commit to the delivery of a service and for what period of time.

For Care and Support Services in particular, consideration should be given to the anticipated size and shape of service contracts in light of the promotion of self-directed support and any growth in direct payments.

An organisation should assess whether the service has met specified key performance indicators and other contractual requirements previously. It should seek feedback from people who use services and their carers and review other information relating to the quality of the service, including information from contract management and service review and information from the regulatory bodies, including any complaints about the service.

It is important to consider the Specific Considerations for CSS Contracts.

To assist with spend analysis, many Scottish public sector organisations can access information on historical commodity/service spend via The Hub.  The Hub contains many pre-defined reports and data that can be exported into MS Excel format.

The Hub can be used to identify possible transactional savings and collaborative opportunities.

Some suggested areas for analysis are:

• total expenditure and volume
• expenditure by commodity/service and sub-commodity/service
• expenditure by division or department or geography
• expenditure by supplier
• future demand projections where possible
• collaborative opportunities
• benchmarking
• profile of suppliers (large, SME etc.)

The Spend Analysis Example, generated using information from The Hub can be found in the additional documents section below.

The data in The Hub is not at line-item level . This means that detailed spend information will still need to be obtained from suppliers, or where available, from purchase order systems. 

It is good practice to ensure suppliers are contractually required to provide line item spend details as part of the contract to support:

• benefits analysis
• contract and supplier management
• supplier development
• future procurement activities/renewals.

In addition to Spend Analysis, an organisation should review  existing delivery arrangements for a service with a view to:

• identifying if and how the service needs to change.  This may be  to meet individual needs and/or intended outcomes;
• consider a fresh application of any new laws or agreements as decided by applicable free trade agreements
• evaluate existing arrangements for delivering the service against best value principles.

Evaluating existing arrangements for delivering the service against best value principles will require an organisation to consider:

• whether the service is effective and of good quality;
• what it costs and whether it is cost-efficient;
• whether it promotes equal opportunities; and
• whether it contributes to sustainable development.

Organisations may access the Contracts Register for their organisation to assist in evaluating existing arrangements, including contract value.

The Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) Contracts Register module provides the facility for buying organisations to operate a private register of all contracts they have in place and a public register of these contracts to meet the obligations of Section 35 of the Procurement Reform Act (Scotland) 2014.

It is important to note that the contracts register will pull through the contract value from the contract award notice. You should always be as open and transparent as possible when completing this field. This field can be manually amended but please be aware that all relevant amendments have to be manually duplicated in The Hub as there is no integration between the two systems for manual amendments.

Regulation 51(6) allows a contracting authority to withhold publication of information in the contract award or the conclusion of the framework agreement.  This is where the release of the information:

(a) would affect  law enforcement or go against the public interest;

(b) would prejudice the commercial interests of any person;

(c) might prejudice fair competition between economic operators.

relying on (b) above you would need to be able to show the commercial interests of the company concerned would definitely be prejudiced by the release of this information.

Be aware that even if you withhold the contract value from a contract award notice, this does not exempt the information being subsequently disclosed under the Freedom Of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).  FOISA thresholds are higher i.e. - to withhold under FOISA, the information would have to, or be likely to cause substantial prejudice.  Also the public interest in withholding the information would have to outweigh the public interest in its release.

Detailed contracts register user guidance can be found in PCS.

PLEASE NOTE:  if you do not use PCS for producing a contract register, you still must produce a publicly available one.

Developing a Service Strategy

When developing a service strategy, an organisation must decide how the service will be put in place and develop the service specification.  An organisation should consider service characteristics and develop a procurement plan which describes:

• The introduction and description of the purchase (considering the purpose, critical nature of it and any sensitivities etc.);
• Whether it is advertising the requirement and awarding the contract or framework agreement by competition, extending an existing contract or making a direct award without competition;
• The reasons for that decision;
• The procurement process (for example, open procedure) that will be followed and relevant timescales;
• How it can be demonstrated that the procurement exercise will be fair, transparent and non-discriminatory, i.e. compliant with procurement legislation;
• The roles and responsibilities of staff involved in the procurement process; 
• The applicable governance arrangements and approval process;
• How and when it will communicate its intentions to people who use the service and also their carers and proposals for their involvement in the procurement process;
• How it proposes to address Fair Work practices in order to impact on the quality of the service.  The Practical tools, Fair Work commodity / service strategy checklist and Flowchart,  have been developed to help identify relevant Fair Work practices when developing the service strategy.  An example completed service strategy checklist and example contract award criterion question is also available for home support services;
• Any cyber risks, with reference to the Scottish public sector Guidance Note on Supplier Cyber Security
• How the service specification will be developed with the involvement of people who use the services and also their carers and suppliers in its development (including any opportunities to contribute to economic, social and environmental wellbeing and to reduce inequality);
• The type and duration of the proposed contract of framework agreement, available budget and estimated contract value;
• Research of the supplier market to identify current suppliers providing the same or similar service and any spend analysis available;
• Risks identified that may impact on the progress of the procurement;
• Anticipated benefits and outcomes;
• What criteria will be used to select suppliers and award the contract or framework agreement (including whether award criteria or performance indicators should include equality considerations);
• What transitional arrangements will apply if an existing service transfers to a different supplier;
• How the contract or framework agreement will be managed;
• how the relationship between the organisation and supplier will be managed;
• Arrangements for reviewing the service;
• What action it proposes to take at the end of the contract term; and
• How the procurement exercise will be evaluated.

Establishing individual needs and intended outcomes

As a matter of best practice an organisation should have a local commissioning strategy and/or service(s) plan which establishes strategic and individual needs and determines what type of service should be put in place to meet those needs and deliver the intended outcomes.  An organisation should ensure that there is clarity about:

• The needs to be met and the outcomes to be delivered by the service taking into account requirements of the public sector equality duty;
• How people who use services and their carers will be involved in defining their needs, expressing their wishes and choices and influencing the design of the service;
• What choice and control the service will provide for the people who use the services;
• How the service will meet the National Care Standards; 
• How the service will contribute to the organisation's overall objectives.

Contract Renewal and Direct Award without Competition

An organisation should analyse the benefits and risks to people who use services, and also to service delivery, of advertising the requirement and awarding the contract or framework agreement by competition.  For existing services, this will require consideration, through consultation with people who use services and their carers, of the impact that any change in service provision of supplier will have on:

• People who use services and their carers;
• Continuity of care;
• The quality of the service and the outcomes delivered;
• The cost of the service;
• The market;
• The workforce.

This analysis may suggest that, where an organisation is satisfied with the quality of a service and that best value is being achieved, the existing supplier should continue to deliver the service.  If an organisation's contract with the existing supplier includes an extension option that is within scope, the contract may be extended for the specified period.  In the absence of an extension option, any decision by an organisation to renew (or "roll forward") its contract with the existing supplier must be compliant with public procurement legislation.  Legal advice should always be sought in respect of any procurement decisions.

Alternatively, the analysis may suggest that the requirement should not be advertised at the current time and that a staged approach should instead be adopted.  If an organisation decides to adopt a different timetable for advertising the requirement, it should describe this in relevant procurement documents and set out how it intends to move towards competition in the future.

Risk of legal challenge for breach of the procurement rules

An organisation should assess the risk of legal challenge if it decides not to advertise the requirement and proceeds to award the contract or framework agreement without competition.  A legal challenge may have serious implications for procurement activity and future service delivery.  For example, for a "light touch" contract with a value of at least £663,540 such a challenge would be pursued as a commercial action.

If your procurement is Digital or ICT in nature, consideration must be given to the Digital Public Services Scotland Programme. This strategy sets out the ambitions and actions at sector, cluster or organisational level.

Further standards and guidelines can be found in the ICT High Level Operating Model and the Digital First Service Standard.

All UIG’s (with the exception of Care and Support Services) should have a minimum of two members i.e. the Buyer and the end user

The benefits of establishing a UIG are:

• The ability to draw on the cross-functional expertise within the group
• Stakeholder views are considered in the decision making process
• Clear communication channels can be established
• Presents 'one face' to potential suppliers
• Formalises the governance arrangements and identifies the decision makers
• Clarifies roles and responsibilities
• Facilitates the generation of ideas
• Facilitates buy-in and compliance
• Stakeholders working together to understand and overcome any barriers to success
• Embed best practice
• Support the implementation of continuous improvement processes to safeguard the future of public service for future generations
• bring together the ideas and insights of groups to obtain a holistic view.

Stakeholders should work to:

• Embed best practice
• Encourage and sponsor continuous improvement
• Encourage innovation
• Understand and remove any potential barriers to success

Where there are a large number of stakeholders, for example a collaborative contract, it may not be possible to have all stakeholders represented on the UIG.

Stakeholder mapping is a useful tool to help identify who should be represented.  This is based upon their likely impact upon the success of the project.

You must also ensure you understand your Organisation's policy or requirements regarding engaging with end users/customers of the commodity or service and whether they should also be involved in the UIG.

Depending on the specifics of the procurement exercise, the Buyer may ask stakeholders the following questions prior to the starting their procurement: 

• Have alternatives to procuring been considered and discounted?
• Do you have a budget?
• Is there a robust documented business case supporting this procurement exercise?
• Will this expenditure stand up to public scrutiny?
• Are you aware of opportunities to buy your specific requirement through existing collaborative contracts. If so do you know how to access them?

Stakeholder Map & Degree of Engagement

For the procurement exercise to be effective, it must meet the reasonable expectations of stakeholders and end users.

A clear understanding of stakeholder and end users' views is essential. To obtain this understanding you must have effective stakeholder engagement,  taking into account all stakeholder views.

Many stakeholders will be positive and supportive however, it is also important to understand the reasons why stakeholders may not be supportive.

In order to manage this you may wish to consider some of the following:

• Ask your colleagues whether they know of any strong views stakeholders may hold.  This will help you gain an understanding of any issues that may arise and reasons for these
• Meet with stakeholders on a 1:1 basis in advance to understand their views and concerns
• Ensure stakeholders are encouraged to contribute fully
• Ensure a good governance structure is in place.  This  should include identifying and addressing any conflicts of interest

The stakeholder map is a useful tool for the UIG to plan communications to stakeholders who are not UIG members. 

You may wish to issue the attached UIG Welcome Pack which covers:

• Roles and Responsibilities,
• Core competencies,
• Business conduct,
• Gifts and hospitality and a
• Stakeholder Declaration of Interest.

A UIG charter should be agreed.

Members of the UIG should not underestimate the amount of time and commitment involved in being a member. Although the UIG may meet only fortnightly or monthly there will be work to be completed in between meetings. Members should come to meetings fully prepared.

A UIG Membership Template an be used to record UIG membership and contact details.  Information can be found in the UIG Information and Templates below.

Stakeholders should:

• always be open to new ways of shaping the requirement by asking the market and identifying what the market can supply.
• give consideration to the options for shaping the market,
• encourage the market to develop in such a way that it can meet Organisations’ future requirements.
• assess future demand of the commodity/service.  This can be based on team knowledge and expertise, and upon information obtained from non-team members.

Engaging the market provides an opportunity to ensure the services provided are at the forefront of those available. Market sounding should also take into account the knowledge held by others buying Organisations, trade bodies and business support Organisations e.g. Federation of Small Businesses and Chambers of Commerce etc.

Care should be taken to uphold the principles of transparency and equal treatment during such discussions. It is strongly recommended that market sounding activity is documented so that, if challenged, there is a record on file of what took place.

The purpose of Contract and Supplier Management is to work closely with suppliers and internal customers to:

• minimise the total cost of ownership and
• maximise supply chain efficiencies throughout the life of the contract.

Contract and Supplier Management should result in contract procedure and process improvements.  It should also increase Procurement Function knowledge and experience, which can then be used to benefit future contracts.  This can be done by:

Care should also be taken to manage the risks to changes in contracts e.g. you may require to retender if there is substantial modification.  

Organisations should use the four quadrants of the balanced scorecard in a consistent manner. This will allow measurement of a supplier’s performance across all organisations and / or sectors using that supplier.

Contract and Supplier Management should:

• ensure that the service/contract is delivered to the required standards
• provides value for money;
• proactively identify and manage any risks which may impact on a supplier’s service delivery / fulfilment of the contract requirements;
• improve and develop contract and supplier performance across organisations, sectors and nationally. A consistent approach will maximise efficiencies and promote adding value across the supply base;
• appropriately influence supplier activity and decisions, improving value for money, over and above cost savings;
• ensure the contract is effectively administered, for example from a change management perspective.

You should frequently aim to improve your own and supply base performance by various techniques.

Definition

Contract Management and Supplier Management differ.

Supplier Management refers to activities across a supplier’s whole portfolio of contracts. These activities are normally more strategic, longer term activities. Some examples could be:

• a project to move to reusable pallets for all products and contracts delivered by the supplier
• or for a stationery supplier, moving to a new on-line catalogue ordering system

Contract Management applies to the specific contract for the good(s) or service(s) being procured. For example:

• increasing the quality of refuse sacks to the UK requirements
• or amending the hours worked by staff on a security contract

However, although different, Contract Management and Supplier Management are linked. It is very difficult to perform effective Supplier Management if basic Contract Management disciplines are not in place. It would be difficult to discuss strategic partnerships, innovation or joint ventures if you do not understand the supplier's contract details. You need to understand how the supplier is performing day to day.

Effective Contract Management is therefore necessary for successful Supplier Management

Importance of Contract Management at Board/Senior Management Level

An effective Contract Management strategy should be a high priority for Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) or Chief Operating Officers (Accounting Officers) and Senior Management Teams.

Effective contract management is necessary for an efficient and compliant business. Contracts must be managed: especially those which deliver services, provide infrastructure or third-party essentials.

Central functions of an Organisation’s Contract Management strategy should include:

• complying with corporate governance regulations;
• managing risk;
• eliminating or reducing cost (not by impacting supply chain efficiency or profit);
• maximising revenue streams.

Managing the contract information, obligations and the contract life-cycle are critical to meeting compliance regulations. This means that the entire process needs to be sponsored at an executive level. This includes:

• contract creation;
• clarity of final agreement;
• electronic contract management system; and
• integration of contract data with back-end systems and contract performance reporting.

The above need to be rolled-out to your entire organisation (for at least the most critical/high impact contracts).

Robust Contract Management will reduce risk to your Organisation. This includes issues such as conflict of interest and fraud.

Your Organisation must consider these areas as a vital part of its governance. You must ensure all appropriate measures are taken to prevent, identify and remedy conflict of interest and include measures to combat fraud, throughout the life of the contract.

Both you and the supplier should be motivated and enabled to deliver additional value. This should be done within legal limits and over and above that specified in the original contract, e.g. not simply extending the expenditure. The process should deliver benefits such as:

There are a number of formal and informal continuous improvement methods. These range from: full continuous improvement programmes; to organisational collaboration; and improved internal and external communication.

One of the key continuous improvement tools used in the Scottish Public Sector is the Procurement and Commercial Improvement Programme (PCIP).  This is designed to drive forward best practice and develop procurement activity.

Contract and Supplier Management can be considered successful when:

• the arrangements for service delivery continue to be satisfactory to both parties, and the expected business benefits and value for money are being achieved or exceeded;
• the supplier is efficient, co-operative and responsive;
• the Organisation understands its obligations under the contract;
• there are no surprises;
• there are no disputes;
• professional and objective discussions over changes and issues are straightforward and easily managed;
• efficiencies are being realised;
• the Organisation’s procurement department contract and market knowledge improves, and benefits future contracts.

Remedies provide legal solutions to bidders/potential suppliers as a result of procurement law breaches by public bodies or utilities.

This includes:

• stopping entering into a contract or concluding a framework agreement if a court proceeding notice has been issued and served
• changes to remedies/penalties for the most serious breaches of the procurement rules.  This includes:
  • ineffectiveness orders (orders which cancel a contract or framework agreement)
  • shortening the duration of a contract or framework agreement
  • imposing a financial penalty on the public body concerned
  • time limit changes for bringing court proceedings

Further information can be found in part 3 of the Public Contract (Regulations) 2015. Alternatively, guidance and advice can be sought from your organisations legal department. 

• Have you received the most up-to-date supporting documents referred to in the selection stage response e.g. certificates?
• Was the Standstill Notice sent to all tenderers?
• Were there any candidates concerned and if so was the Standstill Notice sent to them?
• Has the standstill period actually passed?
• Were any concerned tenderers or candidates not notified electronically? If so, 15 day standstill applies.

The contract documentation should be collated and finalised to reflect the successful tenderer’s submission and agreed terms and conditions. The documentation must be signed in duplicate by the appropriate authority levels in both the contracting and tenderer's organisations.

It is important to include the Fair Work practice commitments from the successful tenderer’s bid as standard Contract & Supplier Management criteria in the contract terms, including any agency or sub-contractor workers.

It is also important to include terms, which will apply to any new members to the workforce during the delivery of the contract.

You must consider who you need to inform when a contract has been awarded and the information they will require e.g. notify stakeholders and users of the contract award providing them with timescales, details of the contract and any migration considerations. Many organisations have a governance process which requires internal approval to be obtained before the contract is awarded to a supplier.

If utilising PCS-Tender, the Contract Award must be activated on the system. Please note that this does not generate correspondence to the tenderers and this should still be issued by the buyer.

The Contract Award Notice must now be created on PCS 

You should examine tenders to ensure bidders:

• are not making fradulent claims

• have delivered similar types of work, if they have claimed to do so.

In doing so the following points should be considered:

Where tenders appear abnormally low for the offered supplies and services, you are required to clarify the price or costs proposed..

These clarifications may relate, in particular, to the following:

• the cost of the manufacturing process of the goods provided
• the proposed technical solutions or any exceptionally favourable conditions available to the bidders
• the originality of the supplies or services proposed by the bidders
• the bidder's compliance with applicable obligations in environmental, social or labour law
• the bidder's subcontracting arrangements
• whether the price or costs take into account the grant of subsidies

Note: if it is found that the tender is abnormally low due to an environmental, social or employment law obligation breach the tender MUST be rejected.