4.15 The grounds for eliminating a participant from further participation in the procurement process are set out in Regulation 23 of the procurement Regulations. They include circumstances where a participant has been convicted of a criminal offence relating to the conduct of his business, where a company has been wound up, has failed to pay relevant social security contributions etc. Participants should be asked to confirm in their response to the prequalification questionnaire that none of the grounds set out in Regulation 23 apply to any member of the relevant consortium. Participants should also be required to inform the NHSScotland body during the bid process if any of these grounds apply subsequently. NHSScotland bodies should note that certain of the grounds listed in Regulation 23, in particular those relating to criminal activities, will result in mandatory rather than discretionary elimination of a participant from the process.
4.16 The other central purpose of the prequalification questionnaire is to assist the NHSScotland body to determine which of those participants who are not disqualified under Regulation 23 grounds should be selected to compete in the next round of the procurement competition, the ITPD stage.
4.17 In selecting participants to go forward to the ITPD stage, NHS bodies may only take in to account factors relating to the economic and financial standing, ability and technical capacity of participants. Factors relating to the award of the contract itself (for example, a participant's approach to design issues etc.) may only be considered at the ITPD stage. Similarly, at the ITPD stage only factors relating to the award of the contract itself may be taken into account in selecting participants to progress further in the competition. Factors relating to the economic and financial standing, ability and technical capacity of participants may only be considered at stages after prequalification where there has been a significant change in a participant's status or where it is necessary to seek confirmation in respect of details already provided. Note that the financial standing PQQ tests should be reconfirmed at Preferred Bidder selection and prior to entering into Financial Close.
4.18 The information which may be taken into consideration to determine the outcome of pre-qualification is set out in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Where the information referred to in the Regulations is not appropriate to a particular case, then they may ask for other information. Supplementary information may also be asked for but only in the circumstances specified in Regulation 26 of the Regulations.
4.19 The time allowed for the participants to respond to the PQQ will vary with the information asked for by the NHSScotland body, but a period of four weeks from the date the OJEU notice closes will normally be long enough for participants to collate their responses.
4.20 If a submission is borderline or unclear, the NHSScotland body can ask for more information for clarification. Such requests must be very specific and kept to a minimum. NHSScotland bodies may consider interviewing prospective participants as part of the PQQ process.