Question On Notice No. 1928 asked in the Legislative Council on 12 March 2019 by Hon Tjorn Sibma
Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Treasurer; Minister for Finance; Aboriginal Affairs; Lands
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
Can the Department of Finance please explain the administrative process it undertook to identify and select suitable contractors/suppliers for each common user agreement (CUA) it has established or extended since March 2017?
Answered on 9 April 2019
A Common Use Arrangement (CUA) is a whole-of-government standing offer arrangement, awarded to a single supplier or a panel of suppliers for the provision of specific products or services commonly used within government.
The process for advertising and awarding CUAs is facilitated by a senior member of the Department of Finance's CUA team and complies with all relevant State Supply Commission (SSC) policies including Open and Effective Competition; Value-for-Money; Probity and Accountability; Sustainable Procurement; and Procurement Planning and Contract Management.
The procurement process involves request for tender submissions and evaluation of those submissions. The Department of Finance usually forms a Client Reference Group comprising the main agency buyers for the relevant CUA. The requirements of the Client Reference Group for individual CUAs are taken into account for the Request and those agencies are voting members of the evaluation panel making the award decision. The selection process entails evaluation of respondents offers against the following; pre-qualification requirements (if applicable), compliance, disclosure and qualitative requirements and consideration of price. Subsequent to making recommendations on preferred suppliers financial and other due diligence is undertaken by Finance.
CUAs are usually awarded for a period of five years and, prior to each extension option being exercised, a formal contract review is undertaken to determine if the CUA is to be extended or redeveloped. This review includes consultation with the Client Reference Group, discussion with suppliers, market research as to the products/services available including anything new or innovative, detailed analysis of the expenditure, determining the number of suppliers in the market and examination of any similar arrangements in other jurisdictions.
Once awarded a Buyers Guide is developed for each CUA and all purchases made using a CUA must be made in accordance with the relevant Buyers Guide and in accordance with the SSCs Common Use Arrangement policy.