Pre -qualification questionnaire · 4 Meets the criteria Good 3 Meets the criteria in most aspects, fails in some Satisfactory 2 Fails to meet the criteria in most aspects, meets

Contract name

Tender number

OJEU number

.

Pre-qualification questionnaire

1

1

Contents Page

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 2

2. Service Overview ................................................................................................ 3

3. Objective of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) ................................ 4

4. Instructions for the completion of the PQQ ..................................................... 5

5. PQQ Evaluation .................................................................................................. 7

6. Organisation Details ........................................................................................ 11

7. Organisation Structure .................................................................................... 15

8. Conflict of Interest ............................................................................................ 16

9. Financial Information ....................................................................................... 17

10. Insurance ....................................................................................................... 19

11. Technical & Professional Capability ........................................................... 20

12. References ..................................................................................................... 21

13. Health & Safety .............................................................................................. 22

14. Inclusion & Diversity..................................................................................... 23

15. Sustainability ................................................................................................. 25

16. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 .............................................. 27

17. Quality ............................................................................................................ 27

18. Freedom of Information ................................................................................ 29

19. Declaration .................................................................................................... 30

2

1. Introduction The merger of Brighton and Hove Borough Councils, together with a number of functions previously run by East Sussex County Council within the two Borough’s areas, resulted in the formation of Brighton & Hove Council in April 1997. It was granted City status in 2001, to become Brighton & Hove City Council (‘the Council’). The Council is a ‘unitary authority’, which means that it is a single tier authority responsible for all local governance functions within the area. This includes functions such as social services, libraries, waste disposal and collection, highways, education, planning, licensing and much more. From 1 April 2013, the city’s Public Health formally became part of the council. Overseeing the running of these services and taking the lead in creating a vision for the future of Brighton & Hove is the Leader of the Council and Administration. The Leader is elected by the full Council and is the convenor of the Green Group which currently forms the Administration, and whose Members hold the ‘Chairs’ of the various policy committees, having also been appointed by the full Council, that have responsibility for designated areas.

1.1 The Council’s Corporate Priorities

The council’s overall corporate priorities are:

• tackling inequality • creating a more sustainable city • engaging people who live and work in the city • modernising the council

These priorities centre on sustainability and community involvement to make a real and lasting difference to local people's quality of life.

1.2 Locations

The main administrative council buildings are King’s House and Hove Town Hall in Hove, and Brighton Town Hall, and Bartholomew House in central Brighton. There are also various satellite buildings located within the city boundaries.

1.3 Number of employees

The Council currently employs around 9,500 staff including schools.

3

2. Service Overview [To be provided by the client] If the goods or service will involve timber or wood-derived products, please include the following paragraph in your service overview: The tenderer's attention is drawn to the contract requirements governing the supply and use of timber and wood-derived products in performing the contract. It is Brighton & Hove City Council’s policy that all timber and wood-derived products are either

• from independently verifiable legal and sustainable or FLEGT licensed or equivalent sources, or

• recycled timber or wood-derived products [Delete if this paragraph if not appropriate to your tender.]

4

3. Objective of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) This PQQ sets out the information which is required by the Council in order to assess the suitability of potential tenderers in terms of its technical knowledge and experience, capability/capacity, organisational and financial standing to meet the requirement. During the PQQ stage, the intention is to arrive at a shortlist of [Number] qualified providers for formal Invitation To Tender (‘ITT’) against the requirement as advertised in OJEU Notice [OJEU No.] dated [Date]. Please note that the general information requested under sections 6 and 7 for ‘Organisation Details’ and ‘Organisation Structure’ is unlikely to be requested during later stages of this tender. However, if there are major changes in the financial stability and/ or material adverse publicity with respect to the performance of your company (including the loss of customer contracts of a similar or greater value, complexity and/or scope) it is incumbent upon your organisation to notify the Council.

5

4. Instructions for the completion of the PQQ

4.1 Timetable

Please find below an indicative timetable:

Task Date

Issue of PQQ [Date]

Last date for Suppliers questions

[Date - 14 days from issue of PQQ]

BHCC response to questions*

[Date - 7 days following last date for questions]

PQQ return date [Date]

Issue of Invitation to Tender documents (ITT)

[Date]

*Please Note: All bidder clarification questions and answers will be circulated via the EU Supply e-sourcing site messaging service by [DATE - following last date BHCC response to question]

4.2 General

Please answer all questions in full and in the same order as they were provided. Please number any supporting documentation. Please complete the declaration at the end of the form. Actual figures should be provided for all financial, statistical or numerical information based upon your company’s records. If this is not possible, please provide estimates indicated by “Est.” after the figure. Please answer the questions specifically for your company, not for the group if you are part of a group of companies. Please include, where appropriate, continuation sheets and any supporting documents, marking clearly on all enclosures the name of your company and the number of the question to which they refer.

6

4.3 Point of Contact

[Contact Name] Corporate Procurement Room 201, 2nd Floor Kings House Hove BN3 2SR Email : [Email] Phone : 01273 29 [Ext] Fax : 01273 29 [Ext] No other persons are authorised to discuss the content of this document or the substance of the tender on behalf of the council.

4.4 PQQ questions

Any questions you may have regarding this PQQ must be sent using the messaging facility in the EU Supply e-sourcing site. Tenderers should endeavour to submit their questions by the date in the timetable at 4.1. All questions and answers will be made anonymous and circulated to all Tenderers using the messaging facility in the EU Supply e-sourcing site at least four days prior to the PQQ closing date.

4.5 PQQ Return

4.5.1 Completed PQQs and any supporting documentation must be uploaded to the EU Supply e-sourcing site by no later than the PQQ return date shown in the timetable at 4.1. PQQs received after this closing deadline will not be considered.

4.5.2 Tenderers are required to limit the amount of marketing material submitted with the PQQ to that which is directly relevant to the questions set in the PQQ.

7

5. PQQ Evaluation The Council will evaluate responses on the basis of the economic and financial standing, and technical or professional ability of potential tenderers. Any tenderer invited to tender based upon information provided in a PQQ does not imply any acceptance by the Council as to the tenderer’s economic or financial standing, technical or professional ability to carry out the subject of the contract. Tenderers should note that quality criteria are scored initially and tenderers ranked accordingly. Following this a shortlist of tenderers will be assessed according to the financial criteria. If successful at this stage they will then be invited to submit a tender according to the timescales in the PQQ document. The number of tenderers invited to tender will be restricted to five where possible. References will be requested from tenderers’ current clients and their absence may have a critical influence in the selection process as will any other missing information.

5.1 Selection criteria

Selection for ITT shortlist will be based on the following criteria (not in any order of importance). [This section should indicate how the evaluation of Quality is going to be broken down. The breakdown should include any sub criteria and associated weightings]

Section Sub Section

Criteria Assessment Weighting

6 6.1 – 6.3 & 6.4

Organisation details Information only

6.2 (a&b)

Legal actions Pass/Fail

6.5 Contract History Pass/Fail

6.6 Client History Information only

8

6.7 Council Supply Information only

7 Organisation Structure

Information only

8 Conflict of Interest Pass/Fail

9 Financial Information Pass/Fail

10 Insurances Pass/Fail

11 Technical & Professional Capability

See below

11.1 [Relevant question] Assessed (%)



11.4 Technical & Professional Capability – Sub contractors

Assessed (%)

12 12.1 References Pass/Fail

13 Health & Safety See below

13.1 Training For Information

13.2 Infringements Pass/Fail

13.3 Responsibility and Structure

For Information

14 14.1 – 14.7

Inclusion & Diversity For Information

14.2 Adverse Findings Pass/Fail

15 15.1 – 15.6

Sustainability For information

9

15.7 Non-compliance of Environmental legislation

Pass/Fail

15.8 [Question] [Assessed] (%)

15.9 [Sustainable timber If relevant to tender]

Pass/Fail

16 16.1 – 16.8

Quality For Information

5.1.1 Technical and professional capability will be scored on the following 0-5 point system.

Score Performance Judgement

5 Excels in meeting the criteria Excellent

4 Meets the criteria Good

3 Meets the criteria in most aspects, fails in some

Satisfactory

2 Fails to meet the criteria in most aspects, meets it in some

Unsatisfactory

1 Significantly fails to meet the criteria Poor

0 Completely fails to.meet the criteria

Not to be considered

All technical & professional criteria will be scored by each member of the evaluation team according to the above table. Final scores will be agreed following an evaluation ratification meeting, and these scores will then be weighted according to the weightings listed in section 5.1. The formula used to calculate the weighted scores for each of the sub-criteria is the score given to each sub criteria multiplied by the weighting factor shown for that sub criteria i.e. Question Weighted Score (%) = (Tenderer’s score / 5) x Question Weighting. PQQ responses from potential tenderers which do not pass the “pass/fail” criteria above will be excluded from further consideration.

10

5.2 Retention of Information

5.2.1 At least one copy of each potential tenderer’s completed PQQ will be retained by the Council.

5.3 Freedom of Information

5.3.1 In accordance with the obligations and duties placed upon public authorities by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (together the ‘Information Laws’), all information submitted to the Council may be disclosed in response to a request made pursuant to the Information Laws.

5.3.2 In respect of any information submitted by Tenderer that the Tenderer considers to be commercially sensitive the Tenderer should set out the following information in Section 17 of this PQQ:

• clearly identify such information as commercially sensitive • explain the potential implications of disclosure of such

information • provide an estimate of the period of time during which the Tenderer believes

that such information will remain commercially sensitive.

5.3.3 Where a Tenderer identifies Information as commercially sensitive, the Council will endeavour to maintain confidentiality. Tenderers should note, however, that, even where information is identified as commercially sensitive, the Council might be required to disclosed such information in accordance with the Information Laws. Accordingly the Council cannot guarantee that any information marked ‘commercially sensitive’ will not be disclosed.

11

6. Organisation Details

6.1 Please use the table below to provide your organisation’s details

Organisation Name:

Address Line 1:

Address Line 2:

Town/City:

Postal Code:

Phone Number:

Fax Number:

Web site Address:

Company Registration Number:

Charities or Housing Association or other registration number (if applicable)

Please specify registering body

Date of registration

Registered address (if different from above)

VAT Registration number (if applicable for your organisation)

Please provide your Unique Tax Reference Number (formerly CIS Tax Certificate)

Legal Status e.g. Plc, Ltd, Charity etc

12

Has the organisation traded under any other names

YES/NO (delete as appropriate)

6.2 A) Outstanding Legal Actions

Does the organisation have any outstanding legal actions against it?

If yes please provide details. If unsatisfactory details are provided, the Council have the ability to fail this application


B) Professional/business conduct

Have you or your organisation ever been accused of or committed an act of grave misconduct in the course of your business or profession? In this context "grave misconduct" includes any breach of The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010. If yes please provide details. If unsatisfactory details are provided, the Council have the ability to fail this application


6.3 e-Procurement

Does your organisation have the facility to receive Electronic orders?


Does your organisation have the facility to create Electronic Invoices?


Does your organisation currently use punchouts, electronic catalogues or electronic


13

marketplaces?

6.4 Contact Details

Please provide details of the person that the council should contact regarding your reply to this PQQ.

Full Name:

Job Title:

Phone Number:

Fax Number:

Address:

Email:

6.5 Contract History

In the last three years has your organisation:

6.5.1 Had a Contract terminated or been refused the opportunity to re-tender for a contract? Yes/No (delete as appropriate)

6.5.2 Been successfully sued for breach of Contract? Yes/No (delete as appropriate)

6.5.3 Do you have any pending court cases? Yes/No (delete as appropriate)

If you answer YES to any of the above please provide details on a separate sheet marked clearly with the question number.

14

6.6 Client History

Have any of your contracts in the last three years been terminated for reasons other than expiration of term?

Yes/No (delete as appropriate)

If ‘yes’, please give details of up to three occasions here.

Company

Contact Name/no/email

Length of relationship

Scope of services

Reason for relationship ending

6.7 Council Supply

6.7 Are you an existing or previous supplier to the Council?


If ‘yes’, please give details here.

BHCC Department

Existing or historical relationship?

Length of relationship

Scope of services

BHCC Contact

15

7. Organisation Structure Outline the management structure of your organisation, on a separate sheet, with specific details of management levels, highlighting the experience and qualifications of the principal managers who would be employed in providing this contract. Please give below the address of the office responsible for providing this contract:

Address Line 1:

Address Line 2:

Town/City:

Postal Code:

16

8. Conflict of Interest

8.1 Do any of your senior managers or any employee who would be directly involved with the proposed provision of this contract have any relatives who are, or have in the last five years been employed by the Council or are or have been elected Members of the Council?


8.2 Does your organisation have any association (either directly or indirectly) with any member or employee of the Council?


If ‘yes’, please give details here.

8.3 Have any of the senior members of the firm (for example a sole trader, partner, director or company secretary) been involved in any firm which has been liquidated or gone into receivership?


If ‘yes’, give details here.

17

9. Financial Information

Please provide a copy of your organisation’s audited accounts for the last three years* on electronic media e.g. CD, DVD or memory stick

*if your organisation is unable to provide three years of

data please contact the ‘Point of Contact’ outlined in section 4.3

Please provide a statement of your organisation’s turnover, Profit & Loss and cash flow position* for the most recent period of trading (or part year if full year not applicable) and an end period balance sheet where this information is not available in an audited form

*please outline any grant funding your organisation has

received if this will be used for delivery of the contract.

Information attached?

What was your organisation’s turnover in the last three years* specifically in the provision of the works, goods and/or services required by the Council

* if your organisation is unable to provide three years of

data please contact the ‘Point of Contact’ outlined in section 4.3

Year: £

Year: £

Year: £

If your organisation is a subsidiary of a group the information requested above is required for both the subsidiary and ultimate parent company. Where a consortium or association is proposed the information is requested for each member company. Parent company and/or other guarantees of performance and financial standing may be required if considered appropriate. Please provide confirmation of your organisation’s willingness to arrange for a guarantee or a performance bond.


Please provide the name and address of your organisation’s banker

Has your organisation met the terms of its YES/NO (delete as appropriate)

18

banking facilities and loan agreements (if any) during the past year?

If the answer to the above is no please state what were the reasons, and what has been done to put things right

Has your organisation met all its obligations to pay its creditors and employees during the past year?


If the answer to the above question is no, please explain why not:

19

10. Insurance [Levels to be set by Insurance]

10.1 Minimum covers

The minimum insurance covers required by the Council are: Public Liability [Value – between £2 to £10 million] Employers Liability £10 million Professional Indemnity [Value – between £1 to £2 million] Copies of all the above insurance policies must be included in this submission with accounts.

10.1.1 If you do not currently have the required level of insurance cover please confirm that your organisation is prepared to meet and maintain the level of cover required by the Council for the duration of the contract if awarded. Yes/No (delete as appropriate)

20

11. Technical & Professional Capability

11.1 Resources

What resources has your organisation used previously to undertake work of this type i.e. details of staff, skill level of staff, equipment (if valid), mobility of resources and staff retention rates etc? [This question must be tailored to suit the project you are supporting].

11.2 Experience

Please outline your organisation’s experience in undertaking this type of work. [You may want to impose a word count on this response]

11.3 Recent delivery of similar services

Please give details of how your organisation has previously provided services similar to those outlined in Section 2 within the last 5 years. [Responses could focus on:

• Flexibility

• Innovation/product development

• Meeting timelines

• Increasing revenues

• Streamlining process

• Increase in customer satisfaction]

11.4 Sub-contracting

Please provide a statement of any of the work which you intend to sub-contract to another person or company, identifying the sub-contractor and the relevant works to be sub-contracted expressed both by value and proportion of contract sum, or proposed proportion (%).

21

12. References Please provide details of three references with which you have had a contract of a similar size and characters that proposed by the Council within the last three years, two of which must be current. If you have a current contract with the Council, the Council reserves the right to use this as one of the references. References will taken up for shortlisted suppliers and form part of the evaluation process. [references will need to be sought for top scoring bidder at ITT stage prior to award – unsatisfactory responses should be investigated]

Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3

Name

Organisation

Contract name

Scope of contract

Title

Address

Tel. No.

Fax No.

Email Address

Contract length

Annual Contract Value

22

13. Health & Safety

13.1 Staff training

13.1.1 Is it your policy to require your staff to receive training on health and safety?


13.2 History

13.2.1 Within the last five years, has your company been subject to any prosecutions, infringement notices or other actions by the Health and Safety Executive or Environment Agency in respect of any breach or suspected breach by your company of health and safety or environmental or equivalent legislation? If ’yes’, please enclose full details here of the nature of the notice or action (etc.) and of any remedial steps subsequently taken by your organisation.


13.2.2 Please note that we may check the prosecutions and notices databases. A prosecution or enforcement notice will not automatically disbar a potential tenderer from working for the Council. However failure to disclose such facts may be taken as an indication of the unsuitability of that potential tenderer.

13.3 Responsibility & Structure

13.3.1 Please state the name and position of the person with overall responsibility for health and safety in your organisation together with any relevant qualifications.

Name

Position in Organisation

Qualifications

13.3.2 Please state the name and position of the person (if different to above) appointed to provide health and safety advice as required by Regulation 7 of the Management of Health & Safety Work Regulations 1999, together with details of experience and any relevant qualifications.

Name

Position in Organisation

23

14. Inclusion & Diversity

14.1. Does your organisation have policies in place to ensure compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and relating to equal opportunities, discrimination and harassment?


14.2. In the last three years, has any adverse finding been made against your organisation by an Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal or any court, (or in comparable proceedings in any other jurisdiction) in relation to any claim made by your employees, former or potential employees?


If the answer to the question above is yes please give details here

14.3. In the last three years has your organisation been the subject of formal investigation by any statutory body in relation to your employees?


If the answer to the above question is yes please provide details of the relevant statutory body which investigated, including any adverse finding against your organisation (if appropriate) and what steps your organisation has taken as a result of any such investigation and/or finding?

14.4. Do you have a responsible person nominated for equal opportunities/ discrimination/ harrassment control?


14.5. Is your policy relating to equal opportunities and discrimination set out in:

Instructions to those concerned with recruitment, selection, remuneration, training and promotion?


Documents available to employees, recognised trade unions or other representative groups of


24

employees?

Recruitment advertisements or other literature? YES/NO (delete as appropriate)

14.6. Are your staff with supervisory/managerial responsibilities required to receive training on equal opportunities, discrimination and harassment issues


14.7. Does your organisation carry out equal opportunities monitoring?


If the answer to the above question is yes, which categories does your organisation use for monitoring your workforce and applicants for employment?

25

15. Sustainability

15.1 Do you have an Environmental/ Sustainability Policy statement? If yes, please supply


15.2 Do you have an Environmental Management System (EMS) certified to ISO 14001, BS8555 or EMAS by a UKAS accredited certifying body? If ‘yes’, please enclose a copy of the certificate


15.3 If you answered ‘no’ to question 15.2 do you have a programme in place to manage the environmental impacts of your business’ activities, such as STEM? If ‘yes’ please give details


15.4 Do you have environmental objectives and targets? If ‘yes’, please provide a maximum of three examples


15.5 Do you audit/assess your environmental performance? If ‘yes’, please give details


15.6 Do you have a responsible person nominated for environmental/ sustainability issues? If ‘yes’ please give their name & job title


15.7 In the last three years, have you been taken to court for not compiling with environmental legislation requirements? If ‘yes’, please provide details and what steps your organisation has taken as a


26

result?

15.8 [you may wish to include additional questions relating to sustainability initiatives material to the contract]

[%]

15.9 Sustainable timber [delete section15.9 if this section is not appliable]

[If the goods or service will involve timber or wood-derived products, please include this section:]

The Council has adopted a Sustainable Timber Procurement Policy.

This policy commits the Council to purchasing timber and wood derived products from independently verifiable legal and sustainable sources, traceable from the forest to the final processor through a clear chain of custody. The Bidders’ attention is drawn to these contract requirements governing the supply and use of timber and wood-derived products in performing this contract.

Should the Bidder be shortlisted for this tender it will become a condition of the contract that the Bidder confirms that all virgin timber to be used in this contract will be from:

• sources certified as legal and sustainable by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), or licensed under the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) scheme.

OR

• sustainable sources supported by documentary evidence. Do you agree to this condition? Yes/No (delete as appropriate)

[Delete section 15.9 if not applicable to your tender]

27

16. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012

16.1 Consideration of the Social Value Act

16.1.1 The proposed contract is for [insert description of contract]

16.1.2 The majority of this contract value will be for [describe the main element – i.e. services, goods or works].

16.1.3 The social, economic and environmental well-being of Brighton & Hove City has been considered and the decision has been taken that a consultation with citizens will...[describe the process for consultation if there is one, or state that there is no requirement for consultation].

17. Quality

17.1 Does your organisation have ISO 9001 or equivalent? (if yes please provide a copy of the certificate)


17.2 If the answer to the above is no, is the organisation actively pursuing ISO9001 Certification (or equivalent)?


17.3 Target date for certification

17.4 Please detail the services covered by registration

17.5 Do you have Investors in People (IIP) or equivalent?


17.6 If the answer to the above is no, is the organisation actively pursuing IIP accreditation or equivalent?


17.7 Target date for certification

17.8 What other quality awards/qualifications does the

28

organisation have relevant to the Service Overview?

29

18. Freedom of Information In accordance with 5.3.2, please submit your response below.

30

19. Declaration I confirm that the information supplied is truthful and accurate and I have authority on behalf of the company to make this declaration. I understand that any information which is subsequently to be found to be inaccurate or not factual may preclude my organisation from this and any future tender with the Council. If a contract has been entered into, which relied on the truthfulness of the information supplied and this subsequently shown to be inaccurate, then the contract may become invalid. Notwithstanding any other legal remedies the Council reserves the right to terminate any such contract and to recover any costs and expenses associated with the tendering letting and re-letting of the contract.

Signed for and on behalf of the Organisation:

Signed:

Position/Status in the Organisation:

Organisation’s name:

Organisation’s address:

Date: