The Isle of Wight council (IWC) have today informed the Isle of Wight Law Centre that they’ve been excluded from the procurement process for advice, information and guidance (AIG) services.
As has been explained by the Law Centre and their supporters in the past, they were never going to be in a position to bid for the entire AIG contract as they do not provide all the services the Isle of Wight council have chosen to include in the procurement process.
IWC’s reason for rejection
The Law Centre’s tender submission was rejected because it proposed to only deliver Housing related advice and court services, rather than the full scope of the contract as set out in the Tender Pack .
Others bidding will make presentations next week to the IWC and the preferred supplier will be agreed on 11th April.
Brodie: Disadvantaged people will suffer as a result
On hearing news of the rejected bid, Cllr Geoff Brodie said,
“The IW Law Centre never had a chance with this tender process.
“More and more disadvantaged people will suffer as a result of this decision.
“As ever, if you are in need don’t look to the Tories for help.”
Loss of 12 jobs
Last December, The Law Centre said that if the £70,000 funding from the Isle of Wight council was cut, it would result in a loss of 12 jobs and could end up costing the Isle of Wight council between £1.5-£1.9m per annum.
Calls from petition ignored
A petition with over 3,000 signatures calling on the Cabinet to reconsider the procurement plans was rejected back in February.
Colleen Brannon, who presented the petition to the Isle of Wight council, said it was disingenuous of the cabinet to say services would not be lost if the Law Centre did not win the bid, as they are fully aware the Law Centre offers more than just the services sought in the tender.
IWC: Bid was deemed non-compliant
A spokesperson for Isle of Wight council told OnTheWight,
In accordance with the conditions of the tender, clearly set out in the documentation, the Law Centre did not submit a valid response to the tender for the council’s integrated information, advice and guidance services.
The invitation to tender stated: “Tenders must be submitted for the whole of the contract. Tenders for only part of the contract will be rejected.”
The bid did not meet the full requirement and is, therefore, not able to be further considered as it is deemed non-compliant.
Awaiting comment
The Law Centre has been contacted for comment and we’ll update here once we hear back.
Article edit:
9.35am – response from IWC added
Image: cobblucas under CC BY 2.0
