The Public Contracts Regulations
Supplies & Services (except subsidised services contracts)
- Central Government bodies £139,688
- Others £214,904
Subsidised services contracts
- All bodies £214,904
Works (including subsidised works contracts)
- All bodies £5,372,609
Light Touch Regime for Services
- All bodies £663,540
Small lots
- Supplies and services £70,778
- Works £884,720
The Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016
Supplies and Services
- All sectors £429,809
Works
- All sectors £5,372,609
Small lots
- Supplies and Services £70,778
- Works £884,720
The Concession Contracts Regulations 2016
- Concession contracts £5,372,609
The Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011
Supplies and Services
- All sectors £429,809
Works
- All sectors £5,372,609
Small lots
- Supplies and Services £70,778
- Works £884,720
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 set out a number of rules for publication of public procurement notices on the Contracts Finder portal. For SME's and voluntary or charitable organisations (VCSEs) Contracts Finder offers easier access to public contract opportunities under the WTO GPA procurement thresholds necessitating publication on Find A Tender (FTS).
The notice types found on contract finder are:
1. Early engagement
Inviting feedback from industry on early procurement ideas (also known as ‘pre-procurement dialogue’).
2. Future opportunities
Information on procurements that are likely to be published in the future. The notice can be used to indicate when existing frameworks, or approved supplier lists or contracts are going to be available to be bid on.
3. Opportunities
Live invitations to tender. Used to seek to seek supply chain partners to bid for open public sector opportunities, or to tender for
subcontracts in support of delivering a public sector contract, or for lower value contracts.
4. Awarded contracts
Procurement opportunities that have been awarded to a supplier/suppliers.
We have successfully adapted our multi-lingual search & alerting service to continue to work with the EU's TED / OJEU portal (TED Alert) and the UK's new Find a Tender System (FTS Alert) providing additional alerting flexibility for our customers.
The Public Contracts Regulations
Supplies & Services (except subsidised services contracts)
Schedule 1 bodies £122,976
Others £189,330
Subsidised services contracts
All bodies £189,330
Works (including subsidised works contracts)
All bodies £4,733,252
Light Touch Regime for Services
All bodies £663,540
Small lots
Supplies and services £70,778
Works £884,720
The Utilities Contracts Regulations
Supplies and Services
All sectors £378,660
Works
All sectors £4,733,252
Small lots
Supplies and Services £70,778
Works £884,720
The Concession Contracts Regulations
Concession contracts £4,733,252
The Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations
Supplies and Services
All sectors £378,660
Works
All sectors £4,733,252
Small lots
Supplies and Services £70,778
Works £884,720
NHSX is a new joint organisation that will be responsible for digital, data and technological initiatives across the NHS. It aims to take forward digital transformation initiatives within the NHS and introduce the latest digital services and technology in the healthcare system.
A statement from the Department of Health and Social Care states that, among its responsibilities, NHSX will reform procurement by:
“helping the NHS buy the right technology through the application of technology standards, streamlined spend controls and new procurement frameworks that support our standards”
NHSX will work closely with the NHS and the wider digital economy, to ensure that patients and staff have access to world-class digital services. Training will be part of this to ensure that staff are “digital ready”.
The new threshold values have been increased by 6% and apply from January 1, 2018
For contracting authorities such as central government departments/agencies and local authorities:
- €144,000 for contracts awarded by central government bodies.
- €221,000 for contracts awarded by local or regional government bodies, or for authorities operating in the defense sector.
- €5,548,000 for works contracts to be awarded by any contracting authority.
For contracting authorities in the utilities sector:
- €443,000 for contracts as part of procurement for services.
- €5,548,000 for works contracts.
https://www.hsj.co.uk/topics/finance-and-efficiency/bidders-sought-for-190m-nhs-procurement-services...
Solutions – Are You Selling What They’re Buying?
Is there a solution you can supply and support?• Can it be matched within your companies’ current portfolio?
So how do you to identify potential EU buyers? Let’s explore how you can ‘dig up’ areas which fit your offering, and ensure that you achieve the sale.
Here’s an interesting European figure; feral child and fratricidal founder of the first European state, he seems to command a place in our collective imagination. Step forward Romulus.
Many of us will be content to let him remain there, tucked away as another childhood memory; like most foundation myths – culturally instructive but of doubtful historicity. No problem and (therefore) no solution.
Dr. Andrea Carandini thinks differently. A septuagenarian Italian archaeologist and aristocrat, his Romulus is a historical figure and actual founder of Rome. To argue his case, Dr. Carandini (rather tenuously) attempts to match recent discoveries in Rome to a very real eponymous man; a wall here, a palace there.
Rather than being content with a latent piece of information, Dr. Carandini sees an ancient wall in Rome as a solution waiting to happen, he then impatiently searches backwards for a problem to be solved, and duly finds our friend Romulus.
Searching for Problems to Solve.
To suggest that the problem of Romulus’ historicity can be solved by a few contemporaneous finds is in my view off the mark. The truth is that Dr. Carandini’s peers don’t like his thesis because it takes a large shortcut. In winning business, we like shortcuts. We should take our cue from the rogue archaeologist.
Agonistic archaeologists aren’t the only ones who need to work backwards. While Dr. Carandini’s ideas attract scepticism because of this methodology, the idea of finding problems that your products and service can solve is the smart route to success in EU procurement. So how do we best match our solutions (products and services) to European problems (tenders)?
Working Backwards
Rather than enduring the expense of changing your product or service, finding existing problems (EU tenders) which match your existing solutions is the more economic modi operandi. To revert to the over-excavated archaeological analogy, these problems lie right under our feet, waiting for us to use the right tool to dig them up.
Digging for EU Gold
While matching your solution to a greater number of relevant problems is the first and most happy outcome of using tender experts. We will often find that, according to our business instincts, our solutions do indeed need to change according to demand.
But change how? Well, no matter how much we think we know our market, we could all know it that little bit better. Again, information on who’s buying what, when they’re doing it and where they are is under your feet – literally at your fingertips. Information of this kind is invaluable when the time to alter our products or services comes.
Romulus’ existence may never be proved either way, archaeologists will dig on, hoping that the problem can be resolved. For European procurement the future is much less bleak; in attempting to unearth our own Romuli, with our intelligent, pinpoint accuracy – keep digging and you will find EU gold.