Over half of firms fail to try for iESE framework

More than half the companies invited to bid for a waste framework tender covering London and much of southern England have not bothered to complete the process.

Figures released this week show thatof the 24 waste management and street cleansing companies invited to submit bids by local government ‘quango’ iESE, only 11 companies responded and all 11 have been successful.

It was already clear that some major waste firms had decided not to get involved, including Biffa (see letsrecycle.com story).

Streamlining

The organisation, officially known as local governments improvement and efficiency social enterprise, had hoped that by appointing framework contractors, local authorities in southern England, London and some other parts of England would save money by streamlining their tendering processes through using iESE framework contractors.

In a statement this weekthe ‘quango’ said: We invited 24 companies to bid; 11 submitted bids; 13 declined or failed to tender, we have no information as to the reasons for their ‘no reply’.”

The statement continued: “Having completed a rigorous evaluation process which involved local authority representatives and in accordance with the EU procurement regulations we have issued the contract award notice and the Alcatel 10 day standstill has been completed on 30 April 2012. We are now in a position to conclude agreements with the successful bidders of which there are 11. All 24 invited to tender have been advised of the outcomes.

But, it remains unclear exactly how many local authorities will actually use the waste, recycling and street cleansing framework and whether a predicted 85 million in savings for local authorities will be achieved. No precise details of the number of local authority users are thought to have been released yet.

Responses

Alison Templeton, director of market leverage at iESE, denied that the organisation was disappointed by the number of responses. She told letsrecycle.com today (May 3): If we were disappointed we would not have been proceeding with the contract award.

And, Miss Templeton added that the involvement of the contractors would see them available as tenderers inseven different lots, which reflect both service and geographical requirements. And she said: It was very much accepted from the outset that there is space in the market to reduce the cost of tendering for local authorities.

Disappointed

But, Adam Read of consultancy AEA Technology told letsrecycle.com: I think it is clear that they are disappointed as we have not heard much from them since the fanfare of publicity about the tender process. Only 11 firms bidding is saying that the industry is not as engaged as they would have predicted.

Dr Read added: I think this also says that getting on the list wasnt worth the effort to get on it. The reality is that local authorities will go with whatever route gives them the best value. Some may go with iESE and for them it is the right fit. Others may choose competitive dialogue and others will use consultants for advice. The contracting process is not going to change as widely as predicted.