Annex – Procurement Options
Our Preferred Option
A 5 year contract with the fallback of the right to extend one or more of the current contracts if there are insufficient or unaffordable bids.
Other Options Considered and Rejected
Option 1
Extending the existing contracts for 2 years and deferring the procurement. We want to secure 5 year contracts if we can because we believe this option is more attractive to the market.
Option 2
A 5 year contract with a commitment not to extend the existing contracts. We need the back stop of the right to extend the existing contracts if there are insufficient bids to allow us to make auditor appointments to all opted in bodies or if any of the bids received propose unacceptable prices.
Option 3
A 5 year contract with pre-determined prices for years 1 and 2 thereby avoiding the need for firms to price in the value of the right to extend the existing contracts. We believe such an arrangement will be unattractive to the market. Firms should be able to offer their own prices for years 1 and 2.