Procurement - grant fund manager - dynamic purchasing system (DPS): buyer guide

Using the DPS

Using the DPS for tenders

The DPS provides a list of pre-qualified suppliers that meet the minimum selection criteria. This simple route to market allows Central Government organisations to procure Grant Fund Managers without undergoing a full regulated procurement process. Buyers only need to issue and evaluate their individual tenders.

All DPS call-off tenders must be carried out electronically. A dedicated area within Public Contracts Scotland – Tender (PCS-T) has been created specifically for buyers to call-off from the Grant Fund Manager DPS.

To access this dedicated area, buyers must:

• contact the CVfM mailbox at cvfm@gov.scot and request access to the Grant Fund Manager DPS
• once access is granted, use the available templates to facilitate your call-off process

Buyers should only request access to the DPS dedicated area when they have a tender requirement.

Undertaking a Call-Off

Prior to issuing your full ITT documentation you have the option to engage with all the suppliers about your potential opportunity. This can be helpful to gauge interest and views from suppliers on your requirement. For example, you may wish to issue a project summary document highlighting the key aspects of your requirement which will allow suppliers to review before the full ITT documentation is issued.

Should you choose to issue a project summary via the dedicated DPS area of the PCS-T system, please clearly identify this as an ‘Expression of Interest’ (or similar wording) in the title to avoid confusion with actual ITT documentation. If a supplier responds to say they would not be interested in bidding for the proposed call off tender, they must still be invited to participate as a matter of procedure.

There is no “direct award” process available via the DPS and buyers must give all suppliers that have been established on the DPS the opportunity to respond to your ITT. It is important that you ensure that all DPS suppliers are included in all communications in relation to your Call-Off as the process you adopt must be transparent.

Tender documentation

Buyers should develop their call off tender documents as they would for any tender, including how and when to respond, along with details of the evaluation criteria to be used.

The award criteria must include both cost and quality criteria. The weightings must be determined prior to issue of, and included within, the Call-Off tender documents.

Please note that the overall weightings must be within the following ranges:

• quality/technical: 40-80%
• price/cost: 20-60%

You must give suppliers a minimum of 10 days to respond to any tenders issued via the DPS. However, buyers should take into account the complexity of their requirement and be pragmatic when deciding the duration a tender is open for.

Evaluating responses

Responses received by the deadline should then be evaluated and awarded in an open, fair and transparent manner at all times and buyers should ensure that the winning supplier offers the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT).

Terms and conditions

The terms and conditions that can be utilised for all Call-Offs are:

• model services contract
• SGTC2 – Scottish Government Standard Terms and Conditions for Services
• supplier terms and conditions
• any other relevant terms and conditions

Terms and conditions for Scottish Government are available.

It is for the buyer to review and consider the terms and conditions (including seeking any legal advice they feel is required) You should include them as part of your tender documents and subsequent Call-Off contract.

Buyer points to note

• the financial stability of potential suppliers should be checked by buyers at each Call-Off as part of the checks in relation to the specific call off requirements
• insurance/liability levels should be set by buyers at a level that is suitable for the individual call-off, there is no one-size fits all approach

Awarding contracts

There is no obligation for buyers to undertake a standstill period.

With all DPS Call-Off’s awarded, an appropriate Contract Award Notice on Public Contracts Scotland should be published.

VAT

• if a call-off contract is awarded and is at a value of more than £87,500 per annum, the supplier is legally obliged to register for VAT with HMRC
• the buyer should include wording within the call-off specification to highlight that the bidding suppliers must be VAT registered if the call of value exceeds £87,500
• the onus lies with the supplier themselves, but in instances where a contract is awarded with a value greater than the annual VAT threshold, and the supplier is not VAT registered, the Scottish Government would be legally obliged to contact HMRC to advise them