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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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Jack Hayward reports on a collision between outsourcing and procurement ‘Procurement exercises around adult social care provision, procurement of external ambulance services, and the procurement of providers for social housing have all given rise to controversy and legal challenge by way of Judicial Review.’Outsourcing and procurement can make a toxic brew. When organisations in the …
Continue reading "Update: Challenging behaviour"
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Paul Pugh looks at the relationship between procurement and the third sector ‘The Treasury consultation document describes social enterprises as businesses with primarily social objectives, spanning a variety of business models and legal structures.’In the keynote address at Voice ’09 conference, Rt Hon David Cameron MP said:I want social enterprise to be at the heart …
Continue reading "The Third Sector: Speak my language – does procurement understand the third sector?"
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Jonathan Parker provides a timely reminder of the time limits for bringing a procurement challenge ‘Until recently the [Judicial Review] route provided the benefit of a longer time limit for commencing action. However, following reforms to the judicial review system, claims based on grounds arising on or after 1 July 2013 must be commenced within …
Continue reading "Practice: Waiting for no man"
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Peter Jansen considers the lessons to be learned from Metrolink ‘This article considers the contractual route for obtaining disclosure in light of the Greater Manchester case.’Not all forms of dispute resolution permit disclosure or extensive investigation of a claim. This applies to adjudication, a deliberately summary procedure under the HGCRA (the Act), as it does …
Continue reading "Disclosure: Coming off the rails"
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Dr Sam De Silva reviews practice on contract renewal ‘In practice, the circumstances in which exit could occur need to beconsidered as they are likely to significantly affect the willingness of both parties to co-operate on exit, the timing of the required activities and the attitude of the parties to paying for the cost of …
Continue reading "Contracting: End of the affair"
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Dr Stuart Thomson reviews the significance of consultation ‘As consultation becomes a “process” there is a need to be able to prove that at every step sufficient efforts were made. It is not enough to say what was done, a developer or government, needs to have the paper trail in place to be able to …
Continue reading "Procedure: It’s good to talk"
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Katherine Souterconsiders the efficacy of pre-procurement market testing given the reams of regulation and tales of woe in the courts over non-compliance with the Regulations, contracting authorities are often understandably wary of the extent to which pre-procurement market testing is permitted.Can a contracting authority carry out pre-procurement market testing? Yes it can – as long …
Continue reading "Markets: A toe in the water"
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Paul Pughlooks at the future of Social Impact Bonds Under the contract, investors will see a return so long as there is a measured reduction in reconviction events of 7.5% relative to the experience of control group of short-sentence prisoners in the UK.There remains a buzz about Social Impact Bonds (SIB), especially in political circles, …
Continue reading "Funding: Paying the price of change"
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Jonathan Parker discusses the use of shared services It appears that plans set out in Civil Service Reform Plan of June 2012 that shared services “become the norm” will be welcome relief to some. Unfortunately, proposed changes to the EU procurement regime may complicate the realisation of these aims.Shared services are similar to a collaboration …
Continue reading "Services: One for me, none for you…"
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