PRELIMINARY COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT PUBLIC PROCUREMENT BILL

Abstract

In this short note, I identify three key objectives which the draft Public Procurement Bill (Bill) aims to achieve.  Two of these are substantive: the advancement of preferential procurement, including local production and opportunities for local suppliers; and value for money, which includes innovation and efficiency, and the maximising of competition.  The third objective is to achieve regulatory coherence through the consolidation of all public procurement laws in a single statute.  The note then examines relevant provisions in the Bill in order to assess the extent to which they support these objectives and are likely to result in improvements in the targeted areas.  Ultimately it concludes that none of the key objectives are clearly met by the Bill.  Regarding preferential procurement, the Bill provides only a light framework without adequate guidance on how it should be populated through the making of regulations.  The provisions which give effect to the concept of value for money by regulating the considerations for contract award, are unclear in regard to the role of pricing relative to other bid evaluation criteria.  Finally, although the Bill repeals a number of provisions in other statutes dealing with public procurement matters, and at least one statute in its entirety, it also provides for a multitude of new regulatory instruments that may be promulgated by a number of State actors, which is likely to result in another complex web of procurement laws and instruments which organs of state and prospective suppliers will have to navigate.