5.3 The Authority should confirm who in the contractor is undertaking this exercise - the SPV or the FM sub-contractor - any conflict of interest should be identified, managed and resolved at an early stage.
5.4 PPP contractors who operate under the same parent company as a service provider must be excluded from any involvement in the market test process involving that service provider. The same principle would prevent a shareholder in the PPP contractor from being involved in any market test or bid of its own subsidiary. In these circumstances, it may be necessary for the public sector client to take a more active role in managing the market test and it would then be required to comply with any applicable procurement regulations.
5.5 Another solution, which is present in some contracts, is that an Independent Tender Process Manager (ITPM) be appointed.
| Extract from a contract for a training facility, describing the role of the ITPM. - If the SPV, the Facilities Manager or any Associated Entity of either of them is selected as a Prospective Tenderer, the parties must agree on the appointment of an Independent Tender Process Manager to be responsible for the management of the tendering process in accordance with the Tender Requirements. |
5.6 The role of the ITPM would be to oversee the process and to assure the public sector client of the probity of the competition. If the contract does not provide for such an appointment, the parties could still appoint someone to this role if there was a possible conflict of interest.