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Introduction of the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD)

SDP have been working with the Scottish Government ahead of the implementation of the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD). The ESPD is intended by the European Commission to remove some of the barriers to participation in public procurement, especially for SMEs. It will replace the requirement for suppliers to provide up-front evidence or certificates by allowing them to self-declare that they:

• meet the relevant selection criteria
• do not fall within an exclusion clause (or, if they do, they can demonstrate that they have taken self-cleaning measures)

The ESPD will be mandatory for use by contracting authorities in Scotland from 18 April 2016 and will replace the standard pre-qualification questionnaire (SPQQ), and any other PQQs that Scottish contracting authorities are currently using. Work is currently being undertaken to map the new ESPD questions to the existing sPQQ questions, in order to minimise the impact on suppliers that have already stored information on the electronic version of the sPQQ contained within the PCS-Tender system.

As the ESPD will be generic and the same for all of the EU member States, buyers will have to set out the specific requirements and minimum standards into their contract notices. Suppliers will use the ESPD response to indicate whether or not they have complied with the minimum standards and any other requirements set out in the contract notice. When a contract is awarded, the successful bidder will the be required to provide proof that they meet these criteria.

Read more on the Scottish Government website

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