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Consultation on the draft Public Contracts and Utilities Contracts (Postal Services) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2008

Scottish Procurement Directorate
Scottish Procurement Policy Note
SPPN 13/2008
Date 19 September 2008

Consultation on the draft Public Contracts and Utilities Contracts (Postal Services) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2008

Purpose

1. To provide information and seek feedback on the draft Public Contracts and Utilities Contracts (Postal Services) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2008.

Background

2. Currently, procurement undertaken by the contracting authority known as the Postal Business of the Post Office is regulated by the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 ( SSI 2006/1). As part of our obligation to implement the Utilities Directive (2004/17/ EC), we are required to bring postal services and certain related services within the scope of the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 ( SSI 2006/2) by the end of 2008. This will allow Royal Mail greater flexibility in its procurement processes although it must still treat suppliers equally and without discrimination and act in a transparent and proportionate manner.

3. The proposed amending regulations (attached at Annex A) will make the necessary changes to the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Overview of the proposed amendments

4. The proposed amendments provide for:

• removal of the reference to the Postal Business of the Post Office in Schedule 1 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations;
• introduction of a new category called 'postal services' in Schedule 1 of the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations.

5. Regulations 2(3) and 3(4) of the draft amending regulations have been inserted to correct an error (unrelated to postal services) in the Public Contracts and Utilities Contracts (Common Procurement Vocabulary Codes) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2008 ( SSI 2008/291).

Action

6. We would welcome comments on the draft amending regulations by 17 October 2008. We are not seeking comments in relation to the 2006 Regulations generally, nor on matters that fall outside the scope of the draft amending regulations.

Any comments should be sent to Jessie Laurie by e-mail ( jessie.laurie@scotland.gsi.gov.uk) or by post to:

7. Annex B contains further information about the consultation exercise. To ensure that we treat your response appropriately, please also complete and return the Respondent Information Form at Annex C

Dissemination

8. Please bring this SPPN to the attention of all relevant staff, including those in Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies and other sponsored public bodies within your area of responsibility. This policy note has also been published on the Scottish Government's website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current.

Contact

9. If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted or any enquiries about this SPPN, please contact Jessie Laurie, Scottish Procurement Directorate, telephone 0141 242 5672 or e-mail jessie.laurie@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.

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