Dear Mr Marsh

Thank you for your FOI on 21st March which has been passed onto Keith Lamb, who is the Fleet Specialist who will reply within the 20 working days deadline the 18th April.

Kind regards

Governance Team
North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO)

[email address] | +(0) 191 2613929 | nepo.org
Guildhall, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3AF

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Dear Mr Marsh 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received 21^st March
2019. Please note that narrative responses are set out below against the
list of questions included in your request and in the order you have
listed them. Please also note that most of the information you have
requested can be obtained through the OJEU Contract Award Notice which was
published at the time of the contract award and a link to this notice is
provided below.

[1]https://ted.europa.eu/TED/notice/udl?uri...

Q1. Suppliers who applied for inclusion on each framework/contract and
were successful & not successful at the PQQ & ITT stages

The tender was run as an ‘Open Procedure’ in line with Regulation 27 of
the Public Contract Regulations 2015 and as such no PQQ stage was used. A
total of 44 submissions were received from suppliers for inclusion in the
Grounds Maintenance Equipment and Plant framework. Of these the following
suppliers were awarded to the contract:

A J & R Scambler and Sons Ltd
Andrew Symons Ltd
Balmers GM
Bartram Mowers Ltd
Broderick Grass Machinery (NI) Ltd
Carrs Billington Agriculture Ltd
Chippindale Plant Ltd
Ernest Doe and Sons Ltd
Euromec Contracts Ltd
F. R. Sharrock Ltd
Fairways GM Ltd
Farol Ltd
Gibson Garden Machinery Ltd
Green Plant UK Ltd
Greenlay (Grass Machinery) Ltd
JG Paxton & Sons
John Deere Ltd (this supplier subsequently withdrew)
Karcher UK
Lister Wilder
Lloyd Ltd
Mason Woodchippers Ltd
Morclean Ltd
MTS Group Ltd
Oakleys Ltd
Orange Plant
Peacock Salt
Platts Harris/Golf and Turf
Ransomes Jacobsen Ltd
Redwood Global
Reesink Turfcare UK Ltd
Rickerby Ltd
Russell Group Groundcare
Spaldings UK Ltd
T H White Ltd
Trafalgar Cleaning Equipment Ltd
Turney Group
Vale Engineering (York) Ltd
Watling JCB Ltd

In respect of the disclosure of suppliers who were not successful we are
unable to provide this information as it is exempt from disclosure under
section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  

Refusal Notice – Section 43(2) Freedom of Information Act 2000

Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) provides
that:

“Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would,
or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person
(including the public authority holding it)”.

In this instance, we believe that disclosure of the information requested
would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of the
North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) and its members.  We also have
reason to believe that disclosure of suppliers would prejudice the
commercial interests of the other suppliers that tendered for this
solution.  We have not contacted suppliers for their views on the request
as, even if they are happy for the information to be disclosed, the likely
prejudice of NEPO and its members interests would lead us to refuse the
request. 

NEPO and its members would be likely to suffer prejudice to its commercial
interests if the withheld information were to be disclosed as it would
result in it losing the confidence of its suppliers and bidders if
commercially sensitive information including evaluation scores and overall
ranking positions were subsequently disclosed. Bidders are already
becoming concerned about the likelihood of disclosure of bids and this is
potentially leading to NEPO receiving either non-compliant or fewer bids
from suppliers.   The reason that we believe the exemption applies is that
the information disclosed would possibly allow those who access the
information to gain an unfair advantage in future bids by obtaining
information which would unfairly prejudice other suppliers in future
processes (which will invariably take place).  As a result, NEPO would be
prejudiced as it would lose the ability to properly compare the quality of
one submission against another.

This exemption is subject to the public interest test.

Public interest test

There is an inherent public interest in ensuring that the NEPO receives
value for money in procuring works, goods and services.  This is because
NEPO has a duty to its clients to provide high quality goods and services
that achieve the best possible price for works, goods and services.  This
in turn ensures that public money is used to best effect.   We recognise
that transparency in procurement is important in enabling the public to
hold public sector organisations to account for the spending of public
money, our duty to clients to provide high quality works, goods and
services and to achieve the best possible price for those works, goods and
services.  This in turn ensures that public money is used to best effect. 
However, in this case, we believe that the balance of public interest lies
in favour of maintaining the exemption as disclosure of aspects taken from
the evaluation process is important for NEPO to be able to identify high
quality suppliers.  

As a result, we are refusing part of your request under section 43(2) of
the Act.

You have the right to request an internal review of our decision to apply
this exemption.

Q2. Contract values of each framework/contract (& any sub lots), year to
date

As a framework contract operating nationally and available to all UK based
public sector bodies it was anticipated that the annual value of the
contract would be £25 million across 3 lots with equivalent annual spend
across these anticipated to be £12.5 million for lot 1, £7.5 million for
lot 2 and £5 million for lot 3.

Q3. Start date & duration of framework

3^rd September 2018 for a 48 month period.

Q4. Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if
so, the duration of the extension?

There is no option to extend the contract.

Q5. Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s)
are being either extended or renewed?

As the contract is in its first year of operation no consideration has yet
been given to its future renewal.

Q6. Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for
this contract?

There is no one senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for
this contract.  Each Contracting Authority has their own senior officer.

Right to Review

You may apply to the Associate 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 and if you
wish to do this you must do so in writing within 40 days of receipt of
this response.

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

Governance Team
North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO)
[2][email address] | +(0) 191 2613940 | [3]nepo.org
Guildhall, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3AF

References

Visible links
1. https://ted.europa.eu/TED/notice/udl?uri...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.nepo.org/