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Beverley Vara and John Dagnall report on a recent case emphasising the importance of mediation ‘A failure to provide reasons for a refusal was unhelpful to the real objective of encouraging the parties to consider and discuss ADR. The court pointed out that discussions between legal advisors and experts at various stages in the litigation …
Continue reading "Mediation: The (not so) cold shoulder"
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Jack Hayward reports on a busy month in procurement practice ‘On 19 September 2013, the Cabinet Office published a government consultation on proposals for making public sector procurement more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).’Just as we go to press the decision in Covanta Energy Ltd v Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority [2013] has been …
Continue reading "Update: Letting it go to waste"
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Liz Dunn and Stephen Humphries explain the opposition to HS2 ‘There is a stark difference in the level of consultation required from promoters of NSIPs under the Planning Act 2008 compared to promotion under the hybrid bill procedure.’The High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project has recently generated considerable press interest. The two-phase national scheme, designed …
Continue reading "Infrastructure: Off the rails"
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Catherine Wolfenden investigates the implementation of the draft EU directives ‘While there is still plenty of scope for legal argument interpreting Article 72, nonetheless the new provisions are likely to mean that modifications to public contracts can be made with great confidence and that a new procurement process is not required.’Three new draft Directives on …
Continue reading "Legislation: Grand designs"
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Martin Vincent examines exemption from the Public Contracts Regulations To benefit from the Teckal exception, a contracting authority must control the contractor to a degree that is similar to that which it exercises over its own departments.’There is seemingly a lot of confusion out there regarding contracts between contracting authorities and whether they are exempt …
Continue reading "Regulation: Wishing well"
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Dr Stuart Thomson looks at the importance of policy development ‘The party conferences are not just about politicians and their advisers but party members, local councillors, trade unions, the media and other campaigning groups. These could all be stakeholders that are important to a campaign.’Involvement in the development of policy can take many different forms, …
Continue reading "Policy: Decisions, decisions, decisions"
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Louisa Sutton summarises recent Cabinet Office guidance ‘Bidders are being given more freedom to negotiate for contracts that are not “off the shelf”, although poor performance under previous contracts is expressly permitted as a ground for exclusion from the process altogether.’The Cabinet Office has issued a Procurement Policy Note (PPN), which summarises the main outcomes …
Continue reading "EU Law: A word to the wise"
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Dr Sam De Silva considers the utility of governance models ‘In general terms, governance is the overall process by which the customer and the service provider oversee and regulate their relationship.’In any long-term outsourcing relationship, there are bound to be issues – avoiding them is nearly impossible. Some may think that after the contract is …
Continue reading "Contract Management: Ruling the roost"
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Victoria Peckett and Ted Rhodes review the toolkit launched for UK companies bidding for Rio 2016 contracts ‘CMS (London and Rio offices), in conjunction with both UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the Law Society, have produced a toolkit to guide UK businesses though the various Brazilian procurement processes.’One year on from the London 2012 …
Continue reading "Sport: Playing fair"
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Julie Scotto discusses the disappointing start for the green investment bank ‘The reasons behind the green deal’s lack of success include: high-interest rates, penalty payments and hidden charges associated with this form of borrowing.’ What initially started out as an idea to make the UK government the ‘greenest government ever’ could in fact become a …
Continue reading "Environment: Bank on the banks"
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