The evaluation of the Quality and Social Value element and the Pricing element must be conducted in accordance with what you have specified in your Invitation to Further Competition document.
Intention to Award and Feedback to Bidders
Once you have decided which supplier you want to award the contract to, make sure you follow your organisation's internal approval process before you award your contract.
Holding a Standstill Period
After you have completed your evaluation, it is a good idea to hold a standstill period, although this is not mandatory it is strongly recommend.
If you choose to do this, you will need to:
- Issue Intention to Award letters
- Provide feedback to Providers.
The standstill period starts the day after you send out your notification and must be for a minimum of ten days.
Giving Feedback
- The successful bidder is usually given feedback on their own scores only
- Unsuccessful bidders should be given:
- The overall scores for both the winning and losing bidders.
- A short explanation for each of their own scores.
- The reasons behind the winning bidders score, especially if they scored higher.
Helpful Templates
The Example Intention to Award and Contract Award Letters document provide templates for you to use when advising both successful and unsuccessful Providers of the outcome.
Contract Award
Once the standstill period is complete, you will need to formally award your contract.
You will need to send out the Contract Award Letter to the winning Provider, along with the final version of your Order Form and Call-off Terms and Conditions. Together, these documents form the contract between your organisation and the successful Provider.
The winning Provider should:
- Acknowledge receipt of the Contract Award
- Sign the Order Form and return this to you - you will also need to sign the Order Form in line with your organisation's internal requirements.
Publishing Your Contract Award on Contracts Finder
If the contract value is over £30,000, you’re required to publish a Contract Award Notice for any contracts awarded through the National LGPS Frameworks.
- The notice must be published within 90 days of the contract being signed by the final party.
- You can do this via Contracts Finder - it's free to use and is accessible here: www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. Your procurement team should be able to assist you with this.