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Contract Notice

The provision of External Audit Services

  • First published: 12 October 2015
  • Last modified: 12 October 2015

Contents

Summary

OCID:
ocds-kuma6s-035088
Published by:
Development Bank of Wales
Authority ID:
AA0555
Publication date:
12 October 2015
Deadline date:
09 November 2015
Notice type:
Contract Notice
Has documents:
Yes
Has SPD:
No
Has Carbon Reduction Plan:
N/A

Abstract

Finance Wales is looking to engage a service provider to provide external audit services to the Finance Wales group of companies. Details of the contract, the services required, their scope and Finance Wales' requirements in respect of the same are all detailed in the pre-qualification questionnaire, invitation to tender and supporting documentation, copies of which are available from the sources set out below and in section 1.1 above. CPV: 79200000, 79212100.

Full notice text

CONTRACT NOTICE – OFFICIAL JOURNAL

Section I: Contracting Authority

I.1)

Name, Address and Contact Point(s)


Finance Wales

Finance Wales, 1 Capital Quarter, Tyndall Street

Cardiff

CF10 4BZ

UK

Services

Sarah Patnett

+44 2920338100

procurement@financewales.co.uk

+44 2920338101

www.financewales.co.uk

http://www.sell2wales.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA0555

www.sell2wales.gov.uk

www.sell2wales.gov.uk
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I.2)

Type of contracting Authority and Main Activity or Activities

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No

Section II: Object of the Contract

II.1)

Description

II.1.1)

Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority

The provision of External Audit Services

II.1.2(a))

Type of works contract

II.1.2(b))

Type of supplies contract

II.1.2(c))

Type of service contract

9

II.1.2)

Main site or location of works, place of delivery or performance

Cardiff



UK

II.1.3)

This notice involves

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II.1.4)

Information on framework agreement (if applicable)

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Number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged

Duration of the framework agreement

Justification for a framework agreement the duration of which exceeds four years

Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement

Frequency and value of the contracts to be awarded

II.1.5)

Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

Finance Wales is looking to engage a service provider to provide external audit services to the Finance Wales group of companies. Details of the contract, the services required, their scope and Finance Wales' requirements in respect of the same are all detailed in the pre-qualification questionnaire, invitation to tender and supporting documentation, copies of which are available from the sources set out below and in section 1.1 above.

NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Sell2Wales Web Site at http://www.sell2wales.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=35088.

The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at http://www.sell2wales.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx.

Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.

II.1.6)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

79200000
79212100

II.1.7)

Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

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II.1.8)

Division into lots

No

II.1.9)

Will variants be accepted

No

II.2)

Quantity or Scope of the Contract

II.2.1)

Total quantity or scope

The contract shall run for a period of five (5) years with a break point at the expiry of year three (3). Details of the scope and quantity of the services required are detailed in the pre-qualification questionnaire, invitation to tender and supporting documents, copies of which are available from the sources referred to above.

II.2.2)

Options

Provisional timetable for recourse to these options

Number of possible renewals

In the case of renewable supplies or service contracts, estimated time frame for subsequent contracts

Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information

III.1)

Conditions Relating to the Contract

III.1.1)

Deposits and guarantees required

The specific requirements of Finance Wales will be set out in the contract documentation and may include performance bonds and/or parent company guarantees and/or other forms of appropriate security.

III.1.2)

Main Terms of financing and payment and/or reference to the relevant provisions

The specific requirements of Finance Wales will be set out in the contract documentation.

III.1.3)

Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract is to be awarded

No special legal form is required. However, if a consortium submits a tender which is acceptable to Finance Wales, Finance Wales may require the consortium to form a legal entity before entering into a contract. Joint and several liability of all consortium members may be required (and/or guarantees and/or undertakings by some or all consortium members in respect of some or all other consortium members may be required.

III.1.4)

Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject

III.2)

Conditions for Participation

III.2.1)

Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers


The specific requirements of Finance Wales will be set out in the contract documentation.

III.2.2)

Economic and financial capacity


The specific requirements of Finance Wales will be set out in the contract documentation.




III.2.3)

Technical capacity


The specific requirements of Finance Wales will be set out in the contract documentation.




III.2.4)

Reserved contracts

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III.3)

Conditions Specific to Service Contracts

III.3.1)

Is provision of the service reserved to a specific profession?

No

III.3.2)

Will legal entities be required to state the names and professional qualifications of the personnel responsible for the execution of the service?

Yes

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)

Type of Procedure


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Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure

IV.1.1)

Have candidates already been selected?

No

IV.1.2)

Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

5

Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates

IV.1.3)

Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

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IV.2)

Award Criteria

No


Yes

No

IV.2.2)

An electronic auction will be used

No

IV.3 Administrative Information

IV.3.1)

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

2015/EJ

IV.3.2)

Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

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Other previous publications

IV.3.3)

Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents



 


IV.3.4)

Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

 09-11-2015  12:00

IV.3.5)

Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

 11-12-2015

IV.3.6)

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

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IV.3.7)

Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender 

IV.3.8)

Conditions for opening tenders





Section VI: Other Information

VI.1)

Indicate whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the Estimated timing for further notices to be published


The current contract is for 5 years and so we would envisage the notice to be published in 2021.

VI.2)

Does the contract relate to a Project/Programme financed by Community Funds?

No



VI.3)

Additional Information

Neither FW nor any of its agents or advisors will be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by bidders in participating in the tender process and responding to the PQQ. Finance Wales will not be bound to accept any tender. Finance Wales reserves the right at any time without notice and without liability to any bidder to (i) withdraw from and/or abandon and/or defer this tender process at any time; and (ii) not to award any contract as a result of this tender process.

(WA Ref:35088)

VI.4)

Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)

Body responsible for appeal procedures










Body responsible for mediation procedures










VI.4.2)

Lodging of appeals

Finance Wales will incorporate a minimum standstill period in compliance with the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

VI.4.3)

Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained










VI.5)

Dispatch date of this Notice

 12-10-2015

ANNEX A

Additional Addresses and Contact Points

I)

Address and contact points from which further information can be obtained



Finance Wales

Finance Wales, 1 Capital Quarter, Tyndall Street

Cardiff

CF10 4BZ

UK

Services

Sarah Patnett

+44 2920338100

procurement@financewales.co.uk

+44 2920338101
www.financewales.co.uk

II)

Address and contact points from which specifications and additional documentation may be obtained



Finance Wales

Finance Wales, 1 Capital Quarter, Tyndall Street

Cardiff

CF10 4BZ

UK

Services

Sarah Patnett

+44 2920338100

procurement@financewales.co.uk

+44 2920338101
www.financewales.co.uk

III)

Address and contact points to which Tenders/Requests to Participate must be sent



Finance Wales

Finance Wales, 1 Capital Quarter, Tyndall Street

Cardiff

CF10 4BZ

UK

Services

Sarah Patnett

+44 2920338100

procurement@financewales.co.uk

+44 2920338101
www.financewales.co.uk

Coding

Commodity categories

ID Title Parent category
79200000 Accounting, auditing and fiscal services Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
79212100 Financial auditing services Auditing services

Delivery locations

ID Description
1017 Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot
1022 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan
1015 Central Valleys (Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf)
1013 Conwy and Denbighshire
1020 East Wales
1023 Flintshire and Wrexham
1016 Gwent Valleys (Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly)
1012 Gwynedd
1011 Isle of Anglesey
1021 Monmouthshire and Newport
1024 Powys
1014 South West Wales (Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion)
1018 Swansea
100 UK - All
1000 WALES
1010 West Wales and The Valleys

Alert region restrictions

The buyer has restricted the alert for this notice to suppliers based in the following regions.

ID Description
There are no alert restrictions for this notice.

About the buyer

Main contact:
procurement@financewales.co.uk
Admin contact:
procurement@financewales.co.uk
Technical contact:
N/a
Other contact:
procurement@financewales.co.uk

Further information

Date Details
27/11/2015 12:46
ADDED FILE: Appendix 27 to the ITT
Please find attached Appendix 27 to the ITT which was omitted from the original upload.
10/12/2015 16:31
Consultancy Contract
Good afternoon, We have received feedback from a number of bidders in relation to the update we issued yesterday on the draft contract appended to the ITT (the “Draft Contract”), which we feel need to be addressed promptly. We understand that bidders have an issue with the Draft Contract as it stands. On consideration, we understand the issues that have been raised and, whilst we consider that such issues could have been addressed through tweaks to the Draft Contract, we are prepared to permit each bidder to bid on the basis that the final contract will incorporate the bidder’s external audit engagement letter and terms of business. However, we will shortly be publishing an issues list which will set out Finance Wales’s key requirements as part of the fulfilment of the services contract and which will need to be reflected in the final contract with the successful bidder. If the terms of business of the successful bidder runs counter to those key requirements (e.g. caps on liability that are lower than our required cap), the key requirements will be required to take precedence. Our intention is to limit the issues we raise to matters which are key commercial/legal issues for FW and which do not have an impact on compliance, for example, exclusions and limitations on liability, key warranties and termination rights. This list will be published by close of play Monday 14th December 2015. Bidders do not therefore need to provide comments on the Draft Contract by Monday 14th December. Please note that clarification requests should be submitted to the Sell2Wales portal, or alternatively to Sarah Patnett, Business Services Manager at procurement@financewales.co.uk.
15/12/2015 21:06
ADDED FILE: Contract - Key legal requirements
Following the email dated 10 December 2015 please find attached FW's key legal requirements.
17/12/2015 10:53
Query received
There is a small typo to section 6 if the Technical Questionnaire - Robust Approach to Independence and Conflicts. It should read: 6. Robust approach to Independence and Conflicts Please describe the internal processes you will use to ensure independence of & non-conflict.
21/12/2015 12:17
Clarification in regards to Legal Requirements
We have received some queries/comments in relation to our list of legal requirements and we set out below a list of clarifications in response to those queries/comments: • We anticipate that the contract between FW Plc and bidder will include all the terms and conditions that will apply to the audit services to be provided to FW Plc and an obligation on the service provider to provide the services to FW subsidiaries from time to time during the term of the contract at the agreed fees. However, we recognise that bidders wish to issue individual engagement letters. The terms of such engagement letters will need to reflect the principles of our recent legal requirements document (as amended by the clarifications below). • With regard to the standard of services to be provided, our requirements list referred to the service provider using “all methods, standards and practices customarily used in good and prudent industry practice in the provision of services of the same or a similar type as the Services”. We are prepared to accept that the word “applicable” is used in replacement for the word “all”. • Our initial list referred to an indemnity re breach of contract or negligence. We are prepared to drop this requirement. We also agree with the comments we have received stating that there should be no limits on the service provider’s liability for statutory audit work. With regard to other work under the contract, we are prepared to accept a cap of £2m per incident. • With regard to pricing, we confirm that we expect each of the individual fees proposed in the fee template in Part A of the Tender Questionnaire to be fixed for the duration of the contract (subject to annual CPI increases). However, we also draw bidders’ attention to Q4 of Part B of the Tender Questionnaire which requires a full breakdown of the fees proposed, including any rates sitting behind them. If additional services are required (e.g. the same services required for additional audits or additional services are required as a result of a change in regulation) the relevant fees will be agreed in advance, based on the rates tendered. This principle was reflected in our original draft contract issued to bidders with the ITT. • With regard to payment, we are prepared to consider allowing the service provider to raise invoices in stages for work undertaken. However, invoices must be raised in arrears rather than in advance. Payment terms will remain 30 days. • It has also been pointed out that as it is the statutory auditor, the service provider will not (i) be permitted to assign or otherwise deal with its rights under the contract or (ii) to impose time limits under which claims can be brought against it. We have no problem with making sure the overarching agreement and engagement letters reflect these points. • Bidders have noted that our legal requirements list did not refer to the service provider’s rights to terminate an engagement. To clarify, our legal requirements list was focussed on issues that we expected to see reflected in the final contract documents to benefit FW Plc and its group members. We would expect the service provider’s engagement letter to give the service provider reasonable rights to terminate in the event of FW’s breach etc. With regard to suspension or termination by the service provider for non-payment, we would expect the service provider to give us reasonable written notice that a payment is overdue before suspending or terminating, so that we have time to address any oversight or error that has resulted in the payment being late.

Postbox

The awarding buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Tender Submission Postbox facility.

Submit your tender response electronically in a secure environment.

To create an electronic response please click the "Add to my interest list" button at the top of the page.

For more information on the Postbox Facility please refer to the user guide:

Q&A

Ask the buyer any questions you may have relating to this notice. To ask the buyer a question or questions please click the "View Questions and Answers" button.

Additional Documents

The following additional documents have been attached to this notice. To obtain these documents please select the individual file names below.

Current documents

doc
doc414.50 KB
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xls
xls7.13 MB
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doc
doc728.50 KB
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docx
docx24.44 KB
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doc
doc528.50 KB
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zip
zip8.92 MB
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Replaced documents

There are no previous versions of these documents.


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