Norfolk County Council (19 014 394)
Category : Other Categories > Commercial and contracts
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Feb 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the tendering process for a supply and installation contract. This is because it would have been reasonable for Mr X to take the matter to court.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council did not fairly and impartially evaluate his tender for a supply and installation contract. He believes the process was biased in favour of another business and alleges a conflict of interests.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and invited his comments.
What I found
- Mr X tendered for a contract to supply and install equipment for the Council in 2019. He and several other businesses submitted bids and the Council awarded the contract to the company which scored most highly according to its scoring system.
- Mr X complains the process was not fair and impartial and suggests a possible conflict of interests in the tendering/scoring process. He claims a loss of potential earnings on the contract as well as time, trouble and costs in preparing his bid.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. Tenders for contracts above a certain size are subject to the Public Contracts Regulations (PCR) 2015. The contract that Mr X placed a bid for was subject to the regulations. Where tenders are subject to these regulations, companies have the right to challenge the outcome in court. This process specifically covers the concerns Mr X had with the process in this case and due to the amount of money involved it would have been reasonable for Mr X to us it if he felt the Council had not conducted the tender properly.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would have been reasonable for Mr X to challenge the Council’s decision at court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman