North East Procurement Organisation
Guildhall
Quayside
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 3AF
Telephone: 0191 433 5949
Email: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx
Jonathan Brown (sent by email)
6th August 2021
Dear Mr Brown,
Freedom of Information Request.
I refer to your request of
NEPRO(3) Supplier Variations Your initial request was:
Dear NEPO,
To clarify your earlier response are NEPO stating that you are not aware of
any variations in the SDA which would represent a breach of the framework
agreement? Or are NEPO stating that they are aware of variations, but this is
not subject to FOI and is not a matter of public interest?
The NEPRO website states that suppliers pay a 5% management fee on the
successful completion of projects. Does the framework agreement between
NEPO and Bloom Procurement Services allow the Neutral Vendor to vary the
amount of the fee charged to SPS suppliers?
If variations are not permitted by the framework the SDA is intrinsically and
explicitly linked to the framework agreement and so is not a private sector to
private sector matter which can be ignored by NEPO. Any material variation
from the framework agreement is a public interest matter. And therefore, is
covered by and subject to FOI.
If the framework does not allow a fee variation what processes are in place by
NEPO to ensure that Bloom is complying with this contractual
condition. Through these processes how many suppliers are NEPO aware of
who have benefited from a fee variation?
As a supplier to the Bloom marketplace, I believe that Bloom offers rebates to
other suppliers (our competitors). What governance does NEPO have in place
to ensure there are no breaches/special deals and what action does /will
NEPO take when it discovers such activity?
We take this matter very seriously as it puts us at a competitive disadvantage
which goes against the whole concept of a “neutral vendor“ and puts SME’s
like us at a serious disadvantage with larger companies in receipt of a fee
variation.
Yours faithfully,
Jonathan Brown
NEPO’s response:
To clarify your earlier response are NEPO stating that you are not aware
of any variations in the SDA which would represent a breach of the
framework agreement? Or are NEPO stating that they are aware of
variations, but this is not subject to FOI and is not a matter of public
interest?
NEPO are stating that the SDA is an agreement between Bloom Procurement
Services Ltd and their supplier(s) and as such this is not covered under FOI.
The NEPRO website states that suppliers pay a 5% management fee on
the successful completion of projects. Does the framework agreement
between NEPO and Bloom Procurement Services allow the Neutral
Vendor to vary the amount of the fee charged to SPS suppliers?
All suppliers pay 5%. The Managed Service Fee payable to the Delivery
Partner for all SPS Projects and subsequent Work Order Agreements under
this Framework Contract shall be in accordance with that which has been
Tendered under the Pricing Schedule at and capped at no more than 5.0%.
The Managed Service Fee is chargeable to the Appointed SPS Provider only
and based on the total SPS Proposal cost approved and accepted by the
Contracting Authority for any given SPS Project and corresponding Work
Order Agreement.
If variations are not permitted by the framework the SDA is intrinsically
and explicitly linked to the framework agreement and so is not a private
sector to private sector matter which can be ignored by NEPO. Any
material variation from the framework agreement is a public interest
matter. And therefore, is covered by and subject to FOI.
NEPO do not agree with this for the reason set out above.
If the framework does not allow a fee variation what processes are in
place by NEPO to ensure that Bloom is complying with this contractual
condition. Through these processes how many suppliers are NEPO
aware of who have benefited from a fee variation?
All suppliers pay 5%. NEPO has robust, comprehensive reporting and
contract performance monitoring measures which are fully set out in the
NEPRO Framework.
As a supplier to the Bloom marketplace, I believe that Bloom offers
rebates to other suppliers (our competitors). What governance does
NEPO have in place to ensure there are no breaches/special deals and
what action does /will NEPO take when it discovers such activity?
NEPO are unable to work with speculation but would welcome evidence. The
agreement between Bloom Procurement Services Ltd and NEPO is clear on
the required neutrality and any deviation from this would be against this
agreement.
We take this matter very seriously as it puts us at a competitive
disadvantage which goes against the whole concept of a “neutral
vendor“ and puts SME’s like us at a serious disadvantage with larger
companies in receipt of a fee variation.
NEPRO(3) enjoys much of its success thanks to the principles of neutrality
and the fair, open playing field it creates which allows all suppliers, regardless
of size, the thrive. Indeed, enabling SME’s who were previously ‘locked out’ of
many national public sector offerings has been a major success measure of
NEPRO, NEPRO(2) and NEPRO(3). Our recent KPI reporting on awarded
contracts through NEPRO, shows over 70% of projects have been awarded to
suppliers with SME status.
RIGHT TO REVIEW
You may apply to the Managing Director, Guildhall, Quayside, Newcastle
upon Tyne, NE13AF, for an internal review of the decision. This will be a fresh
consideration of your request by a more senior officer. If you wish to request a
review must do this in writing within 40 days of receipt of this letter.
Following the internal review if you are still unhappy you have a right of
appeal to the Information Commissioner as specified below.
You may apply under Section 50 of the Act to the Information Commissioner
at the address given below
Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire
SK9 5AF
For a decision whether, in any specified respect, a request for information
made by you to the Department/office has been dealt with in accordance with
the requirements of Part 1 of the Act.
The Information Commissioner shall consider the matter fully and make a
fresh decision.
Yours Sincerely
North East Procurement Organisation Governance Team.