Procurement

• Retendering of social care services: service providers’ perspectives
• RSLs' Concern About Tendering
• Social care procurement: advertising and competition SPPN 10/2008
• Sitra - A Provider’s Guide to Procurement
• Collaborate - Hact's guide to competing for contracts
• Disclosure of employee information under TUPE
• Competive tendering in social care and support services: CCPS position statement
• How to go about preparing a tender
• Scottish Government's Publications on Procurement and Tendering

Retendering of social care services: service providers’ perspectives

CCPS has conducted a survey among its member organisations in order to gain more insight into providers’ perspectives of the way in which re-tendering exercises are being taken forward in Scotland, and to illustrate some of the practical implications of re-tendering on provider organisations, their staff and the people they support. A copy of the report is available here.

RSLs' Concern About Tendering

Registered Social landlords have been getting in touch with the HSEU to say how concerned they are about the policy and practice of tendering. The concerns were summarised by Fiona Stringfellow of Dunedin Canmore below:

" Registered Social Landlords have two main concerns:

1. Providers of support services (which are also RSLs) are being asked to tender for services that they may have been running successfully for many years. (Edinburgh is looking at tendering of all homelessness services)

2. RSL's have numerous partnership arrangements with the voluntary sector where buildings are either purpose built for use by agencies or where tenancies are provided and support brought in by an agency to enable the tenant to sustain their tenancy.

In the latter case, I have been speaking to support agencies as I was concerned about the impact that reduced housing support funding and tendering will have on tenants sustaining their tenancies.

If tendering of services happens and the agency loses out on the contract, there is the transition stage between agencies transferring over. There is a danger that the tenants become lost in this process and the impact there could be on the sustainability of their tenancy. The impact would fall on Housing Officers to manage any difficulties with the tenancy as a result of co-ordination difficulties with the “old” service provider and the “new” service provider. I’m just not sure that many RSL's are aware of these developments and issues.
Where RSL's have purpose built developments for particular agencies, they could find themselves being faced with a new provider who they have no knowledge of, or working relationship when they own the building and the council tenders the service being operated in the building.’

The issues raised are important to providers and the HSEU is keen to gather suggestions about how to provide a smooth transition. If this issue has affected you or you have any comment to make please get in touch with moira.weir@ccpscotland.org

Social care procurement: advertising and competition SPPN 10/2008

Scottish Procurement Directorate

The Scottish Procurement Directorate has developed a policy note on procurement of social care services which ‘supercedes’ the guidance note produced in 2007 for Supporting People which can be seen here.

The new policy note starts off by acknowledging that social care services fall within Part B services and are therefore not subject to automatic tendering as other services purchased by public bodies are.   The note considers the requirement to advertise contracts and what this might entail as well as the situations where an authority may legitimately decide not to open up a contract to any form of competition.

The policy note mentions framework agreements in passing but does not go into detail about what they or other alternatives to open tendering processes might look like.  

The policy note effectively places a health warning on the use of e-auctions for social care services.

Sitra - A Provider’s Guide to Procurement

Sitra is an English based umbrella organisation that offers support to the housing, care and support sector. Sitra has produced a guide to procurement which can be viewed here.

Collaborate - Hact's guide to competing for contracts

Hact has published a resource kit which is designed to give small providers practical advice on how to compete for contracts which can be viewed here.

Disclosure of employee information under TUPE: Data Protection Good Practice Note

This good practice note explains what organisations need to do to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act) when providing information about their employees under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (commonly known as TUPE) and can be viewed here.

Competive tendering in social care and support services: CCPS position statement

CCPS has produced a position statement on competive tendering in social care and support services which can be viewed here.

How to go about preparing a tender

There are a number of publications available which offer advice and guidance on various aspects of procurment and tendering. These publications can be viewed here.

Scottish Government's Publications on Procurement and Tendering

The Scottish Government has produced a number of publications to help providers learn more about procurement and tendering which can be viewed here.

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