WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL
Provision of an Integrated Substance Misuse Treatment Service
Pre Qualification Questionnaire
Please return the completed questionnaire to:
Tim Rising
Contracts Manager – Mental Health & Substance Misuse
Adult Services
Westminster City Council
City Hall, 64 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6QP
Closing date 17:00 hours on 27th July 2009
Page 34 of 66
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Pre-Qualification Questionnaire
SECTION 1
INTRODUCTION, CONDITIONS OF EXPRESSING INTEREST
AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLICANTS
1. Introduction and Instructions
1.1. PQQ and Information Pack
The Information Pack and Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (‘PQQ’) have been prepared by Westminster City Council (the ‘City Council’) for the purpose of providing an application procedure for individuals or organisations interested in tendering for the provision of an Integrated Substance Misuse Treatment Service and to assist Applicants in making their own evaluation of the potential opportunity to enter into a contractual relationship with the City Council.
1.2. Background
The procurement of an Integrated Substance Misuse Treatment Service is being undertaken voluntarily in accordance with Statutory Instrument 2006 No 5 “The Public Contracts Regulations 2006” (which implements the EU Procurement Directive) and in accordance with the City Council’s Procurement Regulations, using the Restricted procedure.
A Contract Notice was dispatched to the Official Journal of the European Union (“OJEU”) on 8 June 2009.
1.3. The Process
1.3.1. The purpose of this PQQ is to determine which organisations will be invited to tender. Only those Applicants who are short-listed through this PQQ process will be issued with an “Invitation to Tender” (ITT).
1.3.2. Following selection of the shortlist (between 5 to 10 Applicants in total for both packages), the City Council will issue an ITT which is intended to have a return date of 23 October 2009.
1.4. Applicant Organisations
1.4.1. The resources and range and depth of skills needed to provide the Service are such that the City Council understands that it may receive applications from organisations that may wish to collaborate to form a consortium contracting with the City Council, or from a single organisation offering the full service. In this context a consortium may mean a formal joint venture where it is intended to set up a special purpose company or it may mean less structured group (such as a prime/subcontractor arrangement).
1.4.2. Each organisation that expresses an interest in the service and completes a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) (whether it is a single organisation or a consortium) is referred to as an “Applicant”. Where organisations intend to act jointly in seeking to be awarded a contract (such as in a consortium bid), the participating organisations must identify one “Lead Applicant”. The Lead Applicant will be responsible for the overall preparation and submission of the PQQ on behalf of all members of the consortium, and for addressing questions about the organisation of the joint application (an administrative lead for the purpose of the PQQ and the process beyond).
1.4.3. Where an Applicant is a sole organisation, references in this document to “Relevant Organisation” shall mean that sole organisation and where the Applicant is a consortium, references to “Relevant Organisation” shall mean the Lead Applicant and each consortium member.
1.4.4. In particular it is critical for Applicants to set out whether they intend to be evaluated and shortlisted as a group. Applicants should be aware that if they are evaluated as a group, this might enhance their scores in some areas (for example turnover) but it would potentially not then be open to the City Council to allow the consortium members to change without revisiting the PQQ process. Applicants must therefore give careful thought as to the relationship of the various Relevant Organisations put forward in response to this PQQ.
1.4.5. Please note that if any of the information supplied in response to the PQQ changes at any subsequent stage in the procurement process, the Relevant Organisation is required to notify the City Council accordingly. In the case of a consortium submission, it is the responsibility of the Lead Applicant (Applicant) to send the information to the City Council.
1.4.6. In summary;
1.4.6.1. Each group of Applicants must nominate a Lead Applicant for the purposes of communications with the City Council.
1.4.6.2. Any bidding group must make clear its proposed constitution and structure and the relationships between members.
1.4.6.3. To the extent that members of a consortium wish to be evaluated as a group, then PQQ information must be submitted for EACH Relevant Organisation to the extent applicable.
1.4.6.4. The City Council reserves the right to seek clarification regarding the relationship between members of a group as part of its evaluation.
1.5. This PQQ
1.5.1. This document sets out the instructions for the pre-qualification process and the assessment procedure by which submissions will be evaluated.
1.5.2. This document contains 3 Sections as follows:
· Section 1 – Introduction, conditions of expressing interest and Instructions to Applicants
· Section 2 - The evaluation procedure for the PQQ
· Section 3 - The PQQ including Appendices 1 -6
1.5.3. This PQQ has been produced to enable the City Council to evaluate the legal eligibility, economic and financial standing, ability and technical capacity of Applicants.
1.5.4. The Information Pack will give Applicants an overview of the Contracts.
1.6. The Programme
1.6.1. The current programme for the procurement of an Integrated Substance Misuse Treatment Service is as follows (dates are for indicative purposes only and subject to later confirmation):-
Table 1.1 – Procurement programme timetable
Publication of OJEU advert / 8 June 2009Closing date for return of PQQs / 27 July 2009
Issue Invitation to Tender / On or around 10 August 2009
Receipt of written questions / 11 September 2009
Deadline for reply to written questions / 18 September 2009
Tender return / 23 October 2009
Tender presentations/site visits / Week beginning 9 November 2009/
16 November 2009
Approval for award of contract / December 2009
Alcatel period / December 2009
Award of contract / December 2009/January 2010
Start date / On or around 1 August 2010 or 1 September 2010
1.7 The PQQ and its General Requirements
1.7.1 Please ensure you read all parts of this questionnaire to ensure you are capable of fulfilling all of the requirements.
1.7.2 Applicants from outside England and Wales are advised that a number of the questions refer to awards, standards and legislation relevant to this jurisdiction. In each of these cases, the Applicant is invited to submit its home country’s equivalent award, standard or legislation as necessary, and provide a commentary on the comparability with that requested.
1.7.3 The questions in the PQQ are all based on Regulations 23-26 and have been split into 5 sections (A to E):
· Section A of the PQQ requests details of the Applicant; how it is organised and, where appropriate, what the relationship is between the Relevant Organisations. Information is sought regarding court actions and / or industrial tribunals, and confirmation regarding eligibility to tender;
· Section B asks for economic and financial information for each Relevant Organisation;
· Section C - supplemented by Sections D and E - asks for information that will be used in determining whether the Relevant Organisation meets the City Council’s minimum standards of technical capacity and ability. Each Relevant Organisation must detail its technical capacity and ability for undertaking its designated role within the Applicant’s proposals;
· Section D asks for details of the experience of each Relevant Organisation of working on similar contracts;
· Section E requests information regarding health and safety, equality and diversity, quality and environmental management.
1.7.4 All documents submitted must be in English.
1.7.5 Applicants should ensure that all pages of their responses are clearly identified, including the name of the Applicant, and the section / question to which the response refers.
1.7.6 Applicants should answer all questions contained in the PQQ and provide all supporting information in the format requested and on the forms provided. Additional pages may be used where necessary provided each page is correctly referenced as stated in 1.7.5 above and (unless otherwise instructed) inserted in the appropriate section of the document (i.e. not as an appendix). Whilst the City Council is not restricting the number of additional pages that may be used, please be as concise and focused as possible in your responses such that important information is not buried. Applicants should indicate “Not Applicable”, or “N/A” where questions do not apply.
1.7.7 Please be aware that the City Council can only make its evaluation from the information you supply. A common reason why companies fail to progress through the PQQ process is due to incomplete information, inappropriate references, unsubstantiated statements or information presented in a manner not reasonably obvious to the assessors. It is the Applicant’s responsibility to provide all the answers and information requested in a clear, concise and logical manner and at the appropriate points within the document. Cross-referencing and reliance on attachments (other than where specifically requested) should be avoided.
1.7.8 Please do not:
1.7.8.1 Include any promotional literature or cross-reference to any web-based material.
1.7.8.2 Provide any information other than that requested as the City Council will not consider it as part of the assessment process.
1.7.8.3 Make any alterations to the form or the questions asked. For the avoidance of doubt, returned questionnaires will not be evaluated if they are in any form other than that required.
1.7.9 In line with the UK Government’s Procurement Strategy for Local Government, the City Council is minded to make available the information from the pre-qualification process for 24 months from the closing date to assist other contracting authorities with their procurement. By responding to the PQQ, Applicants are agreeing to this information being made available as described unless stated otherwise by Applicants.
1.8 Instructions for Use of Electronic Form
1.8.1 This PQQ is being issued to Applicants electronically by email in Microsoft Word format. This should be used to print out extra forms and to complete and return the questionnaire as instructed. Hard copies of this PQQ will only be issued upon request to the contact shown in 1.15.
1.8.2 Boxes are provided on the questionnaire form in which to type or write a response. The box is formatted for single spacing and 12pt font. Please do not alter the font size. Additional rows may be added to any boxes/tables if required. Where it is necessary to include additional sheets, please ensure they are inserted at the relevant point and suitably cross-referenced as instructed in 1.7.6.
1.9 Completed Questionnaire
1.9.1 Completed questionnaires (5 hard copies plus 1 electronic copy on CD or data stick – apart from accounts for which only one copy is required) must be returned to the address shown in 1.14 so that they arrive by the submission deadline of 17:00 hours, on 27 July 2009. The outside of the return envelope must clearly state “Integrated Substance Misuse Treatment Service PQQ Response”. If delivering by hand, please ensure that a receipt is obtained.
1.9.2 Submissions received after the date and time in 1.9.1 or otherwise not in accordance with the instructions in 1.9.1 may not be considered for evaluation.
1.9.3 Please complete the checklist in Appendix 6 to ensure that you have provided all of the information required, returning a copy of it with your completed questionnaire.
1.10 Accuracy of the information supplied
1.10.1 The information contained within and supplied with this PQQ and Information Pack has been prepared by the City Council in good faith but does not purport to be accurate, complete and exhaustive or to have been independently verified nor to contain all of the information that a prospective service provider may require.
1.10.2 Applicants should not rely on the information supplied and should carry out their own due diligence checks and verify the accuracy of the Information Pack, and should seek their own professional, financial or legal advice. Nothing in the Information Pack is warranted by the City Council or its advisers nor shall be deemed a promise or representation as to the future. Applicants shall further be deemed to have carried out all necessary research, investigations and due diligence and all necessary enquiries in order to have satisfied themselves as to the nature, extent, volume and requirements of the Contracts, their obligations described in the Information Pack, the extent of the personnel, equipment, assets, plant and machinery which may be required and any other matter which may affect their Tenders.
1.10.3 None of the City Council, its directors, officers, members, employees, staff, agents or advisers (including but not limited to Sharpe Pritchard);
1.10.3.1 make any representation or warranty (express or implied) as to, or accept any liability or responsibility in relation to, the adequacy, accuracy, reasonableness or completeness of the Information Pack or any part of it (including but not limited to loss or damage arising as a result of reliance by the Applicant on the Information Pack or any part of it) . Any persons considering making a decision to enter into contractual relationships with the City Council following receipt of the Information Pack should make their own investigations and their own independent assessment of the resources required for and commercial risk associated with the Contracts and should seek their own professional technical, financial and legal advice;
1.10.3.2 accepts any responsibility for the information contained in the Information Pack or for its fairness, accuracy or completeness, or at any other stage of the procurement process for the Integrated Substance Misuse Treatment Service leading up to the execution of the Contract Documents nor shall any of them be liable for any loss, damage or expense (other than in respect of fraudulent misrepresentation) arising as a result of reliance on such information or any subsequent communication. Only the express terms of any written contract relating to the subject matter of this Information Pack, as and when it is executed shall have any contractual effect in connection with the matters to which it relates;
1.10.3.3 will be liable for any costs incurred by any Applicant responding to the PQQ, whether incurred by them directly or their advisers or sub-contractors.