Legislation: The new classic public procurement directive – a curate’s egg?

Helen Randall assesses the efficacy and objectives of Directive 2014/24 ‘Many of the changes in the directive have been implemented with the laudable (but, in the author’s personal view, somewhat naive) objective of encouraging SME participation in government tenders.’The new European public procurement directive (Directive 2014/24) has been billed as bringing more speed, flexibility and …
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Tendering: Looking a gift horse in the mouth

Catherine Wolfenden and Ashley Morgan consider the treatment of abnormally low tenders in public procurement An authority cannot reject the tender without seeking clarification of any areas that seem unusually low and evaluating the bid on the basis of the response it receives.In a climate of ever-tightening budgets for public authorities, when a bidder comes …
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Procurement: Taking the high road

In the first of a regular feature, Jack Hayward takes a sideways look at the highs and lows of procurement practice ‘Until we see the draft regulations we can only speculate as to how the government proposes to reconcile the desire to promote local interest with the Public Procurement Regulations 2006.’In the late 1990s I …
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Litigation: Below the belt

Jonathan Parker assesses the treatment of abnormally low tenders ‘In the current economic climate, increasing numbers of EOs appear to be disposed to submit perilously low tenders in an effort to maintain their cash flow. EOs submitting tenders that are too low can have disastrous consequences for a number of parties.’The coming into force of …
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