Prior to the receipt of expressions of interest, the government project team should prepare an internal document detailing procedures for the evaluation of expressions of interest,. The evaluation of expressions of interest document will include:
∙ roles and responsibilities of the relevant government parties
∙ guidelines for consistent application of the evaluation criteria, including the rating of specific responses provided by proponents. The evaluation criteria documented in the request for expression of interest document should not be amended. In the unlikely event that it is necessary to amend the evaluation criteria, the amended criteria should be communicated to all proponents at the same time and sufficient time should be allowed to enable the proponents to adequately address these amended criteria
∙ the weightings (if any) assigned to the individual selection criteria
∙ a schedule which links specific information requirements to individual selection criteria
∙ the process for assigning ratings to responses to individual criteria
∙ the process for determining the overall ratings for individual expressions of interest.
An evaluation committee should evaluate expressions of interest. The evaluation committee is likely to be drawn from the government project team and should be endorsed by the steering committee. Specialist advisers will provide support to the evaluation committee as required. Subject to the probity plan, an independent probity auditor should oversee the evaluation process to ensure that it is conducted in a fair and equitable manner.
In the evaluation of expressions of interest, the focus is on the Proponents' technical and financial capabilities to deliver the service requirement.
The evaluation committee should prepare an expression of interest evaluation report summarising the expressions of interest received, providing an assessment of each expression of interest against the evaluation criteria, and recommending the potential proponents (if any) to be shortlisted for progression to the binding bid stage.
When developing the shortlist, the evaluation committee should have regard to the following criteria:
∙ the proponent's capability to construct, operate and finance the facility
∙ the quality and innovation contained in the response to the project's objectives and service requirements
∙ the need to maintain competitive tension in the bidding process for as long as practicable
∙ the cost to proponents in preparing binding bids.
The shortlist generally includes three to four proponents in order to create adequate competition and cover the risk of a party withdrawing. A shortlist of three will be sufficient where there is adequate confidence in the capability and motivation of the bidders although a shortlist of two may be appropriate in certain circumstances. A shortlist of more than four is likely to lead to some shortlisted bidders losing interest where their chance of success-20 per cent or less-may not warrant the significant investment of time and resources in preparing a bid.
The steering committee will report, through the respective Directors-General, to the Portfolio Minister, the Premier and the Treasurer following its consideration of the expression of interest evaluation report. The Ministers will present a joint submission to Cabinet through Cabinet Budget Review Committee detailing their recommendations.