SITA to appeal strike-out of GMWDA legal bid

The company said the Judge who on Monday ruled that its claim was submitted too late to proceed to full trial (see letsrecycle.com story), Mr Justice Mann, had acknowledged that there were grounds “for public interest reasons for an appeal if SITA wish”.

In a statement, SITA explained that: “SITA UK is appealing the decision in the interests of fair competition and equality between tenders. The company does not believe that GMWDA has procured the most economically advantageous tender, which it stated it would at the outset of the procurement process.”

In particular, the company highlighted the fact Mr Justice Mann had labelled the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority's (GMWDA) “lack of openness and conduct generally between January 2007 and 2009” as “a more troubling point”.

It also stressed that, in his judgement, Mr Justice Mann noted that: “GMWDA, which had the benefit of lawyers throughout, took the risk of a substantial damages action in making the limited and careful disclosure it did.”

Yesterday's ruling followed a four-day hearing held at London's High Court last month, where the GMWDA claimed that SITA UK's bid for damages over the procurement of the deal, which it was reserve bidder for, had been submitted too late to proceed under UK procurement regulations (see letsrecycle.com story).

The company launched the claim in August 2009 over claims that it should have been allowed to submit a bid for the contract when Viridor Laing, which eventually signed the deal in April 2009, saw its costs rise and the project change significantly (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, in his ruling yesterday, Mr Justice Mann concluded that SITA's legal bid was out of time, and that there was also no reason for him to show discretion to allow the bid to proceed.