Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Earl Howe on 24 April (Official Report, col. 1510), what is the lowest value at which “it would be disproportionate for the commissioner to hold a tendering exercise”; and whether, should this value be met, “there is no requirement under the regulations of the law to do so”.[HL254]
Answer
Commissioners’ procurement activity must always be proportionate. There is no de minimis threshold in the regulations because the circumstances in which the benefits of a competitive tender would be outweighed by the costs of running such a process will vary from case to case depending on, for example, the nature of the services being commissioned and the complexity of the tendering process chosen by the commissioner.