§ Mr. DevlinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has considered the response by the City of Bradford metropolitan council to the notices served upon the authority on 3 October 1995 under section 13 of the Local Government Act 1988; and if he will make a statement. [22703]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordMy right hon. Friend has considered carefully the responses which the City of Bradford metropolitan council have made to the notice served on the authority for alleged anti-competitive behaviour. He has today given the authority a direction under section 14 of the Local Government Act 1988 for anti-competitive behaviour.
After careful consideration, the Secretary of State remains of the opinion that the authority acted in an anti-competitive manner in awarding a contract for other catering work worth £112,516 to its in-house direct labour organisation. He considers that the authority required tenderers to have in place systems based on BS5750. He considers that the authority has not been able to demonstrate satisfactorily that the performance bond level was not too high. He is also of the belief that the authority did not consider a full analysis of the ways the contract could have been packaged and that such an analysis would have demonstrated the varying benefits to the authority from adopting different ways of tendering the work. He also notes that, contrary to the advice in paragraph 9 in the Department's circular 10/93, bidders were not allowed to bid for only parts of the contract.
The direction given to the City of Bradford metropolitan council requires the authority to retender the work so that new arrangements are in place by 1 August 1997. The authority will need to obtain the Secretary of State's permission if it is intended to award the work in-house and to consult the British Hospitality Association before drawing up the new contract specification.