Chamber and committees

The Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) will consider the research concerning the presence of transgenic DNA in native maize in Mexico at their meeting on 24 January 2002.The potential for cross-pollination is taken into account by ACRE before consent is granted for any GM crop to be grown in the UK. If ACRE consider that the possibility of cross-pollination between GM and native maize varieties in Mexico supersedes their existing advice in relation to the GM oilseed rape being grown in Scotland, we would expect to be advised by ACRE on the implications for the farm scale evaluations.

The Scottish Executive would not hesitate to halt the farm scale evaluation programme if any credible evidence of harm to human health or the environment was to be found.

The Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment will consider this matter at their next meeting, to be held on 24 January. Any advice that the committee offers to the Scottish Executive will be made public.

Potential tenderers are generally required to submit, with their bid, or application to bid, details of relevant previous experience and references. Before any major contract is awarded, enquiries are made as to the tenderers' ability to perform the contract, including consideration of relevant past performance. Also, performance by the Executive's contractors is required to be kept under continuous review by contract managers. In respect of works and works related services contracts, the Executive also makes use of information on past performance available through the "Constructionline" database.

The Executive routinely excludes bidders or potential bidders, either because they are not considered capable of fulfilling the requirements of the contract or because, following a selection process, they have not been short-listed to tender. Records of bidders excluded in this way, and the grounds on which the decision was taken, are not held centrally and the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Also, details of particular decisions to exclude bidders will, in general, be commercially sensitive, since publication could be expected to have an adverse impact on the bidder's commercial standing.

European law places certain obligations on public purchasers when considering potential tenderers' eligibility to bid or when selecting a short list of bidders. The Treaty of Amsterdam requires that purchasers do not discriminate on grounds of nationality and, in effect, that potential bidders are treated equally. European public procurement directives (Services Directive 92/50/EEC, Supplies Directive, 93/36/EEC and Works Directive, 93/37/EEC as amended) where they apply, place detailed obligations on public purchasers in respect of the exclusion or selection of bidders. The directives place certain limitations on the information which may be sought from potential tenderers and which may be used to exclude (or select) bidders. The directives also require that decisions on eligibility are based on objective criteria.

There are a number of grounds on which potential tenderers can be deemed ineligible to bid. These may include, for example, whether or not the tenderer has been convicted of an offence or committed an act of grave misconduct in the course of its business, whether the tenderer is considered to have sufficient economic and financial standing to fulfil the contract and whether the potential tenderer is considered to have the necessary technical capacity and ability to meet the requirements of the particular contract. The extent to which potential tenderers' eligibility is tested varies according to the value, importance and complexity of the contract in question. In certain contract award procedures, full tenders may be invited only from a short list consisting of those potential tenderers considered best placed to meet the Executive's requirements. Such short lists generally include at least three potential bidders (to ensure genuine competition). Limiting the number of full tenders in this way is normal commercial practice and helps minimise the burden of tendering costs for both suppliers and the purchaser. The fact that a potential tenderer has not been invited to bid may, in these circumstances, simply reflect the fact that it was not considered to be one of the strongest applicants.

In certain circumstances potential tenderers for Parliament contracts might be asked to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire, which requests information on a wide range of a company's operations, including their financial and technical capability. Companies may be excluded from the bidding process after evaluation of the results. Applications that do not reach the minimum acceptable score set, or not received before pre-set deadlines, are automatically deemed to be ineligible to tender.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body routinely excludes bidders from the tendering process to ensure that the quality of prospective contractors fully meets the requirements of the Parliament. Grounds for exclusion vary according to the nature and value of each particular contract; examples are inadequate management structures, staffing levels, financial and technical capabilities or quality of systems in place. A lack of similar previous experience or the capacity required to carry out the terms of the contract generally, would also be grounds for exclusion. The Parliament would not normally identify individual companies and release the specific reasons for their exclusion, for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

The tendering procedures followed by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body are documented in the Parliament's Procurement Procedures Manual. The performance of tenderers is routinely evaluated, as part of the selection process, following receipt of completed tender documentation, and may involve taking up references and other reports, site visits and financial viability checks. The extent of this evaluation will be dependent on the nature, value and risk of the contract.