§ Jim DowdTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 4 February, Official Report, column 188W, what benefits were envisaged when the tender process was undertaken; whether this benefit was lost by its discontinuance; whether the cessation of the tender was in accordance with EC regulations covering these matters; how many suppliers were short-listed; how many of these were unable to accept the terms and462W conditions and if he will name them; how many were able to accept the terms and conditions and if he will name them; what principal reason was given for being unable to meet the terms and conditions; whether issues relating to patents were cited; whether the short-listed suppliers were informed of the reasons for the discontinuance; and what ratification procedure will be used to assess applications from schools. [99110]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe tendering process was aimed at reducing burdens on schools through establishing framework contracts with a range of suitable suppliers of electronic registration solutions to offerschools choice and a simple way of contracting with their preferred supplier. The decision to abandon the procurement exercise was taken because too few of the short-listed suppliers could meet the terms and conditions of the framework contracts, thus severely restricting the choice for schools. Information about these contracts and short-listed suppliers is commercially confidential.
Tendering was stopped in accordance with all appropriate regulations and the schools included in the electronic registration project are now free to buy systems on the open market subject to ratification by the Department. Guidance on purchasing systems has been made available to schools and this, together with information on the process for the approval of systems is available to view on the TeacherNet website:http:// www.teachernet.gov.uk/Management/tools/ict/IMS/Electronic_Registration/