APPLICATION INFORMATION PACK AND PROCESS
Horsham District Council generally issues an Application Information Pack to suppliers responding to tender adverts. The Application Information Pack typically provides the following:
Information Memorandum
This document provides the Applicant with general background information about Horsham District Council; the specific requirements of the tender (i.e. the goods, works or services); the minimum criteria required of Applicants; the application process and other supporting information.
Supplier Selection Process
A bullet point guide listing the minimum requirements for Applicants to progress to the Invitation to Tender stage.
Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)
The Council will use the Applicant’s response to this document for the basis of determining whether the Applicant is suitably qualified to be invited to tender. The level of detail in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire will be determined by the value and complexity of the Council requirements.
A comprehensive Pre-Qualification Questionnaire used for the Council’s high value Waste Management and Street Cleansing tenders together with a simplified pan-Sussex Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, normally used on below European level tenders, can be viewed by clicking on the links at the bottom of this page.
Typically a PQQ will cover some or all of the following areas:
Company Information
This section requests the Applicant to submit key company information including trading name of company, address, contact details, registration number, VAT number, number of staff including names of Directors, etc.
Professional and Business Standing
A statutory requirement, seeking details of the company and/or the company Directors’ professional and business standing.
Financial Information
In this section Applicants are asked for certain financial information relating to the company for each of the last two years. The information is used to assess the financial position of the Applicant in relation to the size of the contract.
Quality Information
Requests details of the Applicant’s Quality Assurance System and how this will be used to ensure delivery of the required level of service.
Insurance
In this section Applicants will be required to provide evidence that the company has appropriate levels of insurance for the particular tender.
Equalities and Equal Opportunities
Horsham District Council strongly supports equality for all sections of the community. The Council strives to ensure that the standards expected from internal delivery services are also met by the companies and organisations who undertake work on behalf of the council. In this section, Applicants are asked to respond to questions about how equality, including racial equality and equal opportunities issues, are dealt with by the company.
Environmental and Sustainability
One of Horsham District Council’s core objectives is for a “Better Environment”, which is realised by a commitment to sustainable development of the region including the protection and enhancement of the environment. The Council expects organisations that it deals with to have similar levels of commitment. Evidence is therefore sought about Applicant’s environmental and sustainability policies, goals and achievements.
Health and Safety
The Council requires all Applicants to submit a Health and Safety Policy signed by a senior manager, which refers to Health and Safety Legislation.
Experience and Technical Ability
This is the most important section, seeking information about the Applicant’s relevant experience and technical ability to carry out the supply of goods, categories of work, or type of service that meet the council’s requirements. Evidence required will include a minimum of three references (preferably from Public Sector accounts). The Applicant’s responses and supporting evidence will be used to assess whether the company has the required level of skills and technical abilities to be invited to tender in relation to other interested firms.
APPLICATION EVALUATION PROCESS
All applications must be returned to the named officer at the address contained in the Application Information Pack by the date and time stated. Applications received after this date may not be considered.
Horsham District Council will evaluate each application using the process and evaluation criteria stated in the Supplier Selection Process sheet. There are three levels of criteria in each application: critical; essential; and desirable; and occasionally a few additional questions are asked “for information”. These criteria are noted below:
Critical criteria – there are only a few critical criteria but they are very important and failure to meet these criteria can result in disqualification. Examples of such criteria can include the company or director’s professional and business standing, Health and Safety record, suitable financial strength to undertake size of contract, etc.
Essential criteria – these are elements of the specification or supplier requirements deemed essential to fulfil the requirements of the contract. Examples of such criteria can include Quality Assurance Systems (internal or accredited), certain technical or capacity supplier requirements, customer references, etc.
Desirable criteria – these are elements of the specification or supplier requirements deemed desirable to fulfil the requirements of the contract. Examples of such criteria can include Environmental Policies/Systems (internal or accredited), e-commerce capabilities, certain technical or capacity supplier requirements, etc.
“For information” – these are requested for information only and are not part of the evaluation process, e.g. full contact details and address of the supplier.
The information provided by the Applicant against these criteria are used to assess the suitability of the supplier and draw up a tender list. If information pertaining to a question is not provided it may not be possible to assess this question. These assessments are usually undertaken by a tender evaluation team at the Council with an appropriate person assessing a certain aspect of the application document - e.g. an accountant may review all applicants’ financial accounts. The results of these assessments are then used to produce a tender list.
Depending upon the competitiveness of the market and the number of applications received, a select tender list may typically consist of between 5 and 20 companies. If an upper limit on the number of companies invited to tender has been set (e.g. 20) but more than this number of companies are able to meet the minimum criteria then the Council may invite the best (e.g. 20) suppliers as identified by the evaluation process.
Sample Pre-Qualification Questionnaire
Sample Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (348kb)
Example Pre-Qualification Questionnaire for Waste Management and Street Cleansing Tenders
Pan-Sussex Self Assessment Pre-Qualification Questionnaire
Pan-Sussex Self Assessment Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (48kb)
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