Step 1: Identify your needs
As the buyer you will need to develop a Statement of Requirements setting out the deliverables needed for the duration of the contract.
Step 2: Finalise your needs
It is important that you clearly articulate your exact needs so the suppliers can provide comprehensive, value for money bids without excessive provision for risk/contingency in the pricing. Ensure that your needs are clear and detailed in your call-off procedure documents.
Step 3: Decide what type of call-off you want to use
If you are using Lot 1 (Digital Programmes), you should decide if you are doing a one-stage or a two-stage further competition.
If you are using Lot 2 (Digital Specialists), you should decide if you are doing a one-stage or a two-stage further competition or a direct award.
One stage further competition
You will need to invite all suppliers to bid for your opportunity and assess all bids that are submitted.
Two stage further competition
You can shortlist the suppliers to find the ones most suitable for your procurement using a capability assessment tool.
Only the suppliers on the shortlist will be invited to bid for your opportunity.
Direct award
Based on the supplier responses you receive, if you find a single supplier who can meet your needs you can choose to award your contract directly to them after completing a capability assessment.
Step 4: Complete the call-off documents
When you are ready to send your requirements to the market, and after reading the Public Sector Contract schedules, you will need to complete the call-off documents (also known as a bid pack), which is made up of:
- About the procurement
- How to bid
- Statement of Requirements
- Order Form Template and Call-Off Schedules (suppliers may need to review this during a direct award or further competition to understand which schedules will apply and which special terms have been included)
Step 5: Issue the call-off documents
You can invite either all suppliers in the lot you are using to a one-stage further competition, or the shortlisted suppliers during the second stage of a two-stage further competition after down selection (filtering) using the CAM tool at the first stage.
For a direct award under lot 2, buyers will use the CAM tool and pricing tool to establish which supplier provides the most economically advantageous solution by using the ‘quality’ part of the direct award criteria to the CAM tool and the ‘price’ part of the direct award criteria to the pricing tool.
To get the CAM tool and pricing tool contact us by email. You can use the free CCS eSourcing portal or your own procurement platform to start and complete a further competition or direct award.
Step 6: Evaluation
During your bid evaluation, you must treat all suppliers equally and fairly using the most economically advantageous tender criteria set out in your further competition documents.
You must evaluate the bid as you described in the Call-Off documents and keep a clear audit trail of the process.
Step 7: Award
Once you have identified the most economically advantageous tender, we recommend you apply a standstill period of a minimum of 10 calendar days before awarding your contract. You must tell all the suppliers of the outcome of the further competition by email or letter.
After the standstill is complete, you can place your order with the successful supplier by finalising and placing the completed order form (Framework Schedule 6).
You should provide written feedback to unsuccessful suppliers, setting out the relative strengths and weaknesses of their bid.
