Once a challenge has been made

 What will the Council do once it has received my expression of interest?

The expressions of interest will be considered by Cabinet Members and the decision will be one of three options, 'accept', 'accept with modification' or 'reject'.

Accept - The group who has submitted the expression of interest will have presented a strong case that they could provide the relevant service. We will then run a procurement exercise to find the best provider.

Accept with modifications - We may seek to agree to an expression of interest being modified if we would otherwise reject it. If an agreement cannot be reached, we may reject the expression of interest.

Reject - The Government has set out a series of reasons why an expression of interest can be rejected:

1. The expression of interest does not comply with any of the requirements specified in the Act or in regulations.
2. The relevant body provides information in the expression of interest which in our opinion, is in a material particular inadequate or inaccurate.
3. The Council considers, based on the information in the expression of interest, that the relevant body or, where applicable
   - any member of the consortium of which it is a part, or
   - any sub-contractor referred to in the expression of interest
   is not suitable to provide or assist in providing the relevant service.
4. The expression of interest relates to a relevant service where a decision, evidenced in writing, has been taken by the Council to stop providing that service.
5. The expression of interest relates to a relevant service
   - provided, in whole or in part, by or on behalf of the Council to persons who are also in receipt of a service provided or arranged by an NHS body which is integrated with the relevant service; and
   - the continued integration of such services is, in the opinion of the Council, critical to the well-being of those persons.
6. The relevant service is already the subject of a procurement exercise.
7. The Council and a third party have entered into negotiations for provision of the service, which negotiations are at least in part conducted in writing.
8. The Council has published its intention to consider the provision of the relevant service by a body that 2 or more specified employees of the Council propose to establish.
9. The Council considers that the expression of interest is frivolous or vexatious.
10. The Council considers that acceptance of the expression of interest is likely to lead to contravention of an enactment or other rule of law or a breach of statutory duty.
11. The Council considers that acceptance of the expression of interest is likely to lead to contravention of an enactment or other rule of law or a breach of statutory duty.

If the Council decides to reject an expression of interest, the decision and the reasons for that decision will be published online.

The Council will notify the groups who have submitted an expression of interest of the decision and the Expression of Interest Register will be updated to show the outcomes of the process.

Procurement Process

If the Council accepts (even with modification) an expression of interest for a service then we will carry out a procurement exercise to select the most appropriate service provider.

The Council will publish the exact timescale once an expression of interest has been accepted.

The procurement process will comply with the Pubic Sector and EU procurement rules. This process is open to competition and involves other potential providers (including private sector) and not just those submitting the original expression of interest.

It is worth remembering that the Right of Challenge does not allow for a service to be run for a trial period. If an expression of interest is accepted, a procurement process will take place.

For further information and guidance please contact the Monitoring Officer, [email protected]