While no bid received will be exactly the same, there are certain common requests or requirements you may expect to come across, either through our procurement process, or specifically for a water supply, leakage or demand management bid. We have tried to provide an overview of these items below.
Please note, this is not an exhaustive list of requirements - nor is any request guaranteed. We recognise there may be many different types of potential bids, covering a wide range of different durations and complexities. The appropriateness of each of these elements will be considered with regard to the nature of each bid.
This page is a working document and will be updated as the Water Bidding Market develops.
Our procurement process
Procurement processes, evaluation and communication are compliant with EU treaty principles ensuring equal, transparent and non-discriminatory treatment for all bidders.
Our procurement process will differ depending on the nature and value of the bid. To ensure that we take a proportionate approach, we have defined bids as ‘simple’ or ‘complex’.
Simple Bid
We would consider a bid to be simple if it involves a one-off transaction, such as the transfer of an existing abstraction Licence from a third party to Yorkshire Water, with the Environment Agency’s approval.
This could involve Yorkshire Water purchasing the abstraction licence from a small organisation or even an individual, such as a farmer. In this example you could expect our procurement requirements to be lighter, as we consider it would be disproportionate to ask the individual to submit extensive information such as details of environmental, quality management or information security systems.
Examples of the information required for a simple bid are:
- Agreement by the Environment Agency to transfer the abstraction Licence.
- Evidence of the ability to supply the quantity of goods required.
- Evidence of the success of a campaign.
Complex Bid
For more complex bids, our procurement process will likely be more substantial.
A complex bid is likely to involve a commercial relationship between Yorkshire Water and a third party for a defined period of time. As such, we may need a greater understanding of the bidder’s financial sustainability or working policies.
We may be required to supply the bidder with data that needs to be securely stored or permit the third party to work on Yorkshire Water assets or with Yorkshire Water customers. Our procurement process will need to test the bidder’s ability to meet that need.
In all instances, the information that we require from a bidder is consistent with what we would require from suppliers of other goods and services to Yorkshire Water that have not originated from the Bidding Market.
Examples of policy information we are likely to require for complex bids are:
- Financial sustainability – credit ratings, turnover ratio.
- Health and Safety – management systems, incident management, accident frequency rate, employee wellbeing and infringements.
- Environmental – management systems, infringements, energy and waste management.
- Human Rights – Equality Act compliance, living wage compliance, modern slavery compliance.
- Quality Management – quality management systems.
- Information security – policy, data protection, GDPR.
- Contract Management – public, product and professional liability.
Having received a bid we will, where appropriate, use the standard negotiated process within the Utilities Procurement Regulations 2016 to deal with questions and ambiguity with bidders during a clarification stage.
Bids in excess of values specified in the European Contracts Directive will be regulated by the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016. For those under the threshold, we will comply with the principles of transparency, equal treatment/non-discrimination and proportionality.
If there is a possibility that the proposal is not unique to the bidder, we may need to issue a formal call for competition to the open market. The call for competition would allow the wider market to be included in an open competitive tender process for a solution of the type suggested by the bidder, which would highlight whether there are alternative providers. This step may be required in order to ensure compliance with The Utilities Contract Regulations 2016 by ensuring avoidance of artificially narrowing competition. If this formal market test results in no alternative suppliers, then we are able to progress with the original bidder.
Communication regarding procurement outcomes and award decisions are completed in line with an OJEU process.
Convictions
Yorkshire Water requests that the following is disclosed when completing a Bid Submission Form. Has the Bidding Entity or its Directors or any other person who has powers of representation, decision or control of your company been convicted of any of the following offences:
(a) conspiracy within the meaning of section 1 or 1A of the Criminal Law Act 1977 or article 9 or 9A of the Criminal Attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 where that conspiracy relates to participation in a criminal organisation as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA on the fight against organised crime
(b) corruption within the meaning of section 1(2) of the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889 or section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906
(c) the common law offence of bribery
(d) bribery within the meaning of sections 1, 2 or 6 of the Bribery Act 2010, or section 113 of the Representation of the People Act 1983
(e) where the offence relates to fraud affecting the European Communities’ financial interests as defined by Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the financial interests of the European Communities:
- the common law offence of cheating the Revenue
- the common law offence of conspiracy to defraud
- fraud or theft within the meaning of the Theft Act 1968(i), the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969, the Theft Act 1978 or the Theft (Northern Ireland) Order 1978
- fraudulent trading within the meaning of section 458 of the Companies Act 1985, article 451 of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(n) or section 993 of the Companies Act 2006
- fraudulent evasion within the meaning of section 170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 or section 72 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994
- an offence in connection with taxation in the European Union within the meaning of section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993
- destroying, defacing or concealing of documents or procuring the execution of a valuable security within the meaning of section 20 of the Theft Act 1968 or section 19 of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969
- fraud within the meaning of section 2, 3 or 4 of the Fraud Act 2006; or (ix) the possession of articles for use in frauds within the meaning of section 6 of the Fraud Act 2006, or the making, adapting, supplying or offering to supply articles for use in frauds within the meaning of section 7 of that Act
(f) any offence listed— (i) in section 41 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008; or (ii) in Schedule 2 to that Act where the court has determined that there is a terrorist connection
(g) any offence under sections 44 to 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 which relates to an offence covered by subparagraph (f);
(h) money laundering within the meaning of sections 340(11) and 415 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; (i) an offence in connection with the proceeds of criminal conduct within the meaning of section 93A, 93B or 93C of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 or article 45, 46 or 47 of the Proceeds of Crime (Northern Ireland) Order 1996
(j) an offence under section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004;
(k) an offence under section 59A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003;
(l) an offence under section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009; or
(m) an offence in connection with the proceeds of drug trafficking within the meaning of section 49, 50 or 51 of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994. Non-payment of tax and social security contributions Breach of obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions that has been established by a judicial or administrative decision.
Where any tax returns submitted on or after 1 October 2012 have been found to be incorrect as a result of:
- HMRC successfully challenging the potential supplier under the General Anti – Abuse Rule (GAAR) or the “Halifax” abuse principle; or
- A tax authority in a jurisdiction in which the potential supplier is established successfully challenging it under any tax rules or legislation that have an effect equivalent or similar to the GAAR or “Halifax” abuse principle;
- A failure to notify, or failure of an avoidance scheme which the supplier is or was involved in, under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme rules (DOTAS) or any equivalent or similar regime in a jurisdiction in which the supplier is established Scoring Methodology.