HC Deb 01 April 1996 vol 275 c3W
Mr. Donohoe

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidelines are currently in force in his Department and its executive agencies relating to competitive tendering and the use of single negotiated tenders; on what grounds single negotiated tenders can be used; and what procedures are in place within his Department to ensure that the use of single negotiated tenders in competitive tendering processes is justified in all cases. [22860]

Mrs. Angela Knight

It is Treasury policy that all contracts to be placed by the Department with a potential value of over £10,000 should be the subject of a competitive under tender. The Government's public purchasing policy consolidated guidelines require goods and services to be acquired by competition unless there are convincing reasons to the contrary, such as(a) the requirement cannot be sufficiently defined so that normal tendering procedures cannot be adopted; (b) there are insufficient firms in the market capable or willing to bid; (c) intellectual property rights restrict the options available; or (d) extreme urgency, where for example public safety is at risk. All competitive tenders are processed by the Department's purchasing unit. Cases for single tendering are put to the unit where they are evaluated on an individual basis, following the guidelines.

Mr. Donohoe

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many contracts for goods or services have been awarded by his Department and executive agencies on the basis of single negotiated contracts in each of the last three years; if he will list the companies involved and the value of the contract in each case; what percentage this represented of contracts awarded by his Department and its agencies after competitive tendering; and, in each case, why the contracts were awarded on the basis of a single negotiated tender. [22872]

Mrs. Knight

It is Treasury policy that all purchases made by the Department should be subject to competition. Each exception is treated on its merits. Individual contracts would each need to be checked to determine the overall number in this category, the value of each such contract and the reason why it was awarded on a single course basis. This information could be made available only at disproportionate cost.