Category: public procurement

Group M UK Ltd v Cabinet Office – Henderson Chambers

Posted March 18th, 2015 in construction industry, contracts, costs, disclosure, EC law, news, public private partnerships, public procurement, tenders by sally

‘The Technology and Construction Court has reiterated that, in considering whether to lift the statutory suspension of the placing of a public contract following a challenge by an unsuccessful tenderer, it will apply the American Cyanamid principles, as those principles are consistent with the requirements of Directive 2007/66/EC on the award of public contracts.’

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Henderson Chambers, 17th March 2015

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

Selling to government – changes that will make things easier – Technology Law Update

Posted March 2nd, 2015 in contracts, documents, news, public procurement, time limits by sally

‘Do you provide services to public sector bodies? Do you want to? Whether your customer or target is part of government, or an independent publicly-funded institution such as a hospital or university, you should be aware of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. These changes, the majority of which came into force this week, offer greater flexibility in public authority purchasing and increased visibility and supplier access.’

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Technology Law Update, 27th February 2015

Source: www.technology-law-blog.com

New public procurement rules bans use of PQQs for small value contracts – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 23rd, 2015 in documents, news, public procurement by sally

‘Public bodies can put “relevant” and “proportionate” questions to businesses looking to win low value goods or service contracts at an early stage of procurement without breaching new public procurement rules set to come into force later this month, the UK government has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 20th February 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Councillor wins procurement judicial review over £165m city centre scheme – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 17th, 2015 in appeals, EC law, judicial review, local government, news, planning, public procurement by sally

‘A councillor at Winchester City Council has won a High Court judicial review challenge over the local authority’s decision to adopt an updated scheme for a £165m city centre redevelopment without conducting a procurement exercise.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 13th February 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

‘Significant’ changes to public procurement rules to be introduced in weeks – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 9th, 2015 in consultations, EC law, news, public procurement, regulations by sally

‘A raft of major changes to the regulation of procurement in the public sector in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is set to be introduced later this month.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 9th February 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Let Me Stop You There… The test for lifting injunctions in public procurement challenges – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 27th, 2014 in advertising, EC law, injunctions, news, public procurement, regulations, tenders by sally

‘If you’ve seen an advert in the last few years warning you to submit your tax return on time, telling you not to drink and drive, or asking you to consider joining the armed forces, chances are that the company responsible was Group M UK Limited. That company has been at the heart of an important recent case concerning the test for lifting suspensions of contracts in public procurement challenges.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 21st November 2014

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Cartiera dell’Adda SpA v CEM Ambiente SpA – WLR Daily

Posted November 18th, 2014 in company directors, criminal records, EC law, law reports, public procurement, tenders by sally

Cartiera dell’Adda SpA v CEM Ambiente SpA (Case C-42/13) EU:C:2014:2345; [2014] WLR (D) 468

‘Article 45 of Parliament and Council Directive 2004/18/EC of 31 March 2004 on the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts (as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1177/2009 of 30 November 2009), read in conjunction with article 2 of the Directive, and the principle of equal treatment and the obligation of transparency did not preclude the exclusion of an economic operator from a procurement procedure on the ground that the operator had failed to comply with the requirement laid down in the contract documentation to annex to his bid, on pain of exclusion, a statement that the person designated as the operator’s technical director had not been the subject of criminal proceedings or a conviction, even where, at a date after the expiry of the deadline for submitting bids, such a statement had been provided to the contracting authority or it was shown that the person in question was identified as the technical director in error.’

WLR Daily, 6th November 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Healthcare at Home Limited (Appellant) v The Common Services Agency (Respondent) (Scotland) – Supreme Court

Posted August 1st, 2014 in EC law, health, law reports, public procurement, Scotland, tenders by sally

Healthcare at Home Limited (Appellant) v The Common Services Agency (Respondent) (Scotland) [2014] UKSC 49 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 30th July 2014

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Healthcare at Home Ltd v Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service – WLR Daily

Posted August 1st, 2014 in EC law, health, law reports, news, public procurement, Scotland, tenders by sally

Healthcare at Home Ltd v Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service [2014] UKSC 49; [2014] WLR (D) 351

‘On a challenge by an unsuccessful tenderer for a public contract, the question whether the published criteria for the award of the contract had been sufficiently clear was to be determined by the court applying an objective legal standard by reference to a reasonably well informed and diligent tenderer and did not depend on the evidence of witnesses as to how they had understood the document.’

WLR Daily, 30th July 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Centro Hospitalar de Setúbal EPE and another v Eurest (Portugal)—Sociedade Europeia de Restaurantes Lda – WLR Daily

Posted June 24th, 2014 in charities, EC law, hospitals, law reports, public procurement by sally

Centro Hospitalar de Setúbal EPE and another v Eurest (Portugal)—Sociedade Europeia de Restaurantes Lda (Case C‑574/12); ECLI:EU:C:2014:2004; [2014] WLR (D) 272

‘Where a contractor under a public contract was a non-profit association which, at the time of the award of the contract, had as partners not only public sector entities but also private social solidarity institutions carrying out non-profit activities, the requirement for “similar control”, established by the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in order that the award of a public contract could be regarded as an in-house operation, was not met, so that Parliament and Council Directive 2004/18/EC of 31 March 2004 on the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts applied.’

WLR Daily, 19th June 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Public Engagement and Commercial Confidentiality – Oil and Water? – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted May 12th, 2014 in confidentiality, disclosure, freedom of information, health, hospitals, interpretation, news, public procurement, statutory duty by sally

‘CCGs may face pressure to disclose information about commissioning in at least four ways. From:

Their duties to involve the public in “planning of the commissioning arrangements by the group” (s14 Z2 National Health Service Act 2006).
Their duties to involve individual patients in “their care or treatment” (s14U National Health Service Act 2006).
Applications to provide information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Applications for disclosure, as part of litigation brought by failed tenderers following procurement exercises.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 10th April 2014

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Watchdog seeks greater clarity over public sector suppliers’ FOI responsibilities – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 7th, 2014 in contracting out, contracts, freedom of information, news, public procurement by tracey

‘The contracts agreed between public sector bodies and their suppliers should be “more explicit” about which one of the organisations holds information for the purposes of compliance with freedom of information (FOI) rules, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 6th March 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Nordecon AS and another v Rahandusministeerium – WLR Daily

Posted December 9th, 2013 in appeals, contracts, EC law, law reports, news, public procurement, tenders by sally

Nordecon AS and another v Rahandusministeerium (Case C-561/12); [2013] WLR (D) 470

‘Article 30(2) of Parliament and Council Directive 2004/18/EC did not allow a contracting authority to negotiate with tenderers tenders that did not comply with the mandatory requirements laid down in the technical specifications of the contract as published.’

WLR Daily, 5th December 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

NCVO report attacks ‘crude’ implementation of payment by results contracts – Local Government Lawyer

Posted October 31st, 2013 in charities, contracting out, contracts, news, public procurement, reports by michael

“There is general support among charities for ‘payment by results’ but its implementation has often been ‘crude’ and ‘seriously flawed’, a report for the National Council for Voluntary Organisations has argued.”

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Local Government Lawyer, 30th October 2013

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Ministeriet for Forskning, Innovation og Videregaende Uddannelser v Manova A/S – WLR Daily

Posted October 18th, 2013 in EC law, equality, law reports, public procurement, tenders by tracey

Ministeriet for Forskning, Innovation og Videregaende Uddannelser v Manova A/S; (Case C-336/12);   [2013] WLR (D)  383

“The principle of equal treatment did not preclude a contracting authority from asking a candidate, after the deadline for applying to take part in the contracts award procedures pursuant to Parliament and Council Directive 2004/18/EC, to provide documents describing that candidate’s situation which could be objectively shown to pre-date that deadline.”

WLR Daily, 10th October 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

High Court grants injunction to losing bidder over £1bn waste contract award – Local Government Lawyer

Posted October 9th, 2013 in contracts, costs, damages, delay, energy, injunctions, news, public interest, public procurement, waste by sally

“A High Court judge has granted an energy company an injunction preventing a waste authority from entering into a £1bn+ resource recovery contract (RRC) with a rival business.”

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Local Government Lawyer, 8th October 2013

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

French Republic v Commission of the European Union – WLR Daily

Posted October 7th, 2013 in appeals, contracts, EC law, law reports, news, public procurement, state aids, taxation by sally

French Republic v Commission of the European Union (Case C-115/12P); [2013] WLR (D) 364

“The calculation of whether a member state had ‘subsided directly’ by more than 50% a works contract awarded by an entity other than themselves within the meaning of article 2(1) of Council Directive 93/37/EEC which triggered the public procurement procedures under that Directive, included sums arising from tax reductions to the members of commercial partnerships, who were natural persons, investing in a works contract.”

WLR Daily, 26th September 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Companies that blacklist workers face ban from public contracts in Wales – The Guardian

Posted September 12th, 2013 in company law, construction industry, news, public procurement, trade unions, Wales by tracey

“Companies that blacklist workers for taking part in trade union activity face being barred from multibillion-pound public sector contracts under plans unveiled by the Welsh government.”

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The Guardian, 11th September 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

No time to lose: Delay and challenges to public procurement – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted August 22nd, 2013 in appeals, contracting out, delay, local government, news, public procurement, time limits by sally

“If you want to challenge a decision to do with public procurement, time is of the essence. The Court of Appeal has reiterated this warning in one of its last decisions of the term: R (Nash) v Barnet LBC [2013] EWCA Civ 1004.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 8th August 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

“Legislating for Responsible Capitalism”. A paper by Stephen Hockman QC – Six Pump Court

Posted June 19th, 2013 in amendments, company directors, company law, news, public procurement, shareholders by sally

“Stephen Hockman QC has written a paper published by the Policy Network, entitled ‘Legislating for Responsible Capitalism: what it means in practice’.”

In the paper, he explores the legal amendments available to improve the monitoring, transparency and accountability of corporate practice.”

Full story (PDF)

Six Pump Court, 19th June 2013

Soruce: www.6pumpcourt.co.uk