August 2007/24 (web only)
Core funding/operations
Request for data

Completed survey forms should be returned to HEFCE by Friday 21 September 2007

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EU statistics on public procurement - annual return for calendar year 2006

This document requires all institutions to report the contracts they have awarded in the calendar year 2006, in accordance with the European Community's Directives on Public Procurement. In previous years we have requested this information in Circulars entitled ‘Public supply, works and services contracts awarded in 200X’.

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To:	Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions English regional purchasing consortia
Of interest to those responsible for:	Finance, Planning, Services
Reference:	2007/24
Publication date:	August 2007
Enquiries to:	Stephen Butcher, HEFCE Head of Procurement and Shared Services tel 0117 931 7425 e-mail s.butcher@hefce.ac.uk

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Table of contents and executive summary (read on-line)

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Contents

• Executive summary
• Background
• Guidance
• Returns
• List of abbreviations

• Annex A   Justifications for use of the negotiated procedure
• Annex B   Part A (priority) service categories
• Annex C   Guidance on completing the survey form
• Annex D   Survey form for completion and return

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Executive summary

Purpose

1.   This document requires all HEFCE-funded higher education institutions to report the contracts they have awarded in the calendar year 2006, in accordance with the European Community's Directives on Public Procurement.

Key points

2.   The EU Procurement Directives have been implemented into national law in the UK by Regulations. Revised Regulations came into force on 31 January 2006 to implement new Procurement Directives.

3.   The information required is set out in the survey form at Annex D. We collect this information on behalf of the Government's recently created Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

4.   As in previous years, institutions are required to submit returns electronically, and to use Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes.

5.   This year the returns will need to incorporate some changes brought into effect by the Public Contracts Regulations 2006. The provision relating to the statistics exercise can be found in Regulation 40: www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/uksi_20060005_en.pdf

6.   The main changes are to reflect the use of the Competitive Dialogue procedures and to indicate in the return when a framework agreement has been awarded. It is information about the framework agreement itself that is required; information is not required on contracts 'called off' from framework agreements.

7.   Information is required for each contract or framework agreement awarded during calendar year 2006 where the estimated value is above the threshold of the Regulations (or is otherwise caught by the aggregation rules) and it does not fall within the scope of one of the specified exemptions contained within the Regulations. This is a legal requirement, nor a matter of discretion.

Action required

8.   Completed survey forms should be returned by e-mail to Ruth Carpenter at HEFCE (r.carpenter@hefce.ac.uk) by Friday 21 September 2007. Returns must be made on the Excel spreadsheet. Where a nil return applies, institutions should still complete and return the form.