Let’s consider an issue that I know annoys a lot of suppliers and causes some buyers a problem.
I’m talking about Transparency, or rather the lack of it, as once again, hours are wasted pursuing an ‘opportunity’ that wasn’t!
The concept of transparency is to be as open, clear and concise as possible about what you want to purchase, whether goods, works or services, to ensure that the right suppliers respond to the opportunity and the buyer achieves the best outcome possible.
Let me tell you about a very recent experience.
On Monday a possible opportunity is forwarded by a colleague and it looks like a good fit for PASS.
I review the opportunity – Somewhere Council wants a procurement consultant to help them procure, let’s say Banjos.
That seems straightforward enough, so I click the link to the eProcurement system and then spend nearly half an hour providing answers to all sorts of questions, from VAT registration number to number of employees, by way of turnover.
Having finally breached the near impenetrable walls of the system and expressed our interest, I finally access the information.
The specification is pretty straightforward and there isn’t anything that strikes me as an issue, other than perhaps the weighting, but that alone is not going to stop us bidding.
I then spend around an hour trying, unsuccessfully, to download the technical questionnaire and other assorted documents, but the system doesn’t want to play ball and it’s now after 7pm, so I give up for the evening.
The next day, I’m delivering client work, so I need to get a colleague to tackle the system. He also spends around an hour fighting with it, but finally gets the documents downloaded.
So far that’s around two and a half hours spent on this – it better be worth it.
But, it isn’t, because the first question in the technical document is a mandatory one, which advises that the bidder needs to have experience in writing specifications for procuring Banjos, with a clear Pass/Fail outcome.
I look back at the advert. It clearly states that the authority wants a procurement consultant to help them procure Banjos – nowhere does it state they must have bought Banjos before.
Next, I look at the specification and again there’s no mention of experience in procuring Banjos.
Given that neither I, nor my colleagues, have ever bought a Banjo, it means we can’t participate.
Now, let me be clear – I have no problem with an authority seeking an experienced consultant to assist in a procurement, far from it, on many occasions it makes complete sense.
What irritates me is the total failure to be transparent in the original advert and save who knows how many potential suppliers wasting hours of their time in pursuit of an opportunity they couldn’t win.
Which brings me back to the original point about transparency.
The entire reason for Transparency being one of the Principles of Procurement in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 and the Public Contract (Scotland) Regulations 2015, is to ensure that the right suppliers respond to the opportunity and the buyer achieves value for money and the right outcome.
A common complaint I hear from buyers is that they can’t always get the right people bidding for their opportunities.
This isn’t really surprising, when suppliers often can’t get clarity on what is required without applying significant effort.
It’s time for buyers to up their game, especially as even greater emphasis is placed on transparency in the forthcoming Procurement Act.
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