Scoring correction caused Buying Solutions delay

Government procurement body confirms last-minute addition to Lot 2 prompted it to extend standstill period

Buying Solutions says set-back was caused by correction of a score

Buying Solutions has clarified that the latest delays to its £6bn commodity IT framework were caused by its decision to correct the score of one supplier.

Confusion spread through the channel this morning when candidates were told the date winners would be officially notified had been pushed back from 22 February to 1 March.

Suppliers were informed if they had made the Intention to Award phase on 10 February, after which a short “standstill period” in which unsuccessful firms could appeal started.

Buying Solutions confirmed that the standstill period was restarted today. This was due to one unsuccessful candidate on Lot 2 (which covers infrastructure hardware) having its score "corrected".

The firm in question is thought to be Fujitsu Services, which is also on Lots 1 and 3, although Buying Solutions would not confirm this.

“This restart was due to the issuing of a revised notification after correcting a score relating to one of the suppliers,” said a Buying Solutions representative.

“The corrected score means that two suppliers are on equal marks for twelfth place in Lot 2 so we intend to award contracts to 13 suppliers in this Lot rather than the original 12.”

Buying Solutions has simplified the structure of the upcoming three-and-a-half year framework, carving it into just three product-specific Lots relating to desktop hardware, infrastructure hardware and commodity software.

The current framework has 28 suppliers across 11 Lots, ten of which are product specific and one of which is an “all-encompassing” Reseller Lot. This means that public sector customers currently have to invite up to 17 suppliers each time they run a further competition.

The new Commodities IT Hardware and Software (CITHS) framework features 20 suppliers across three Lots, which Buying Solutions claims will be easier to use.