City of Albany defends tendering policies after low transparency rating

The City of Albany has backed its tender policies after the release of a report which rated the City’s level of transparency just 3/10. The Civil Contractors Federation report evaluated the tender assessment process of 29 WA local governments against seven criteria. The City of Albany scored full marks for publishing some explanation of why successful bidders were chosen. For three of the categories — publishing all companies that tendered, publishing the successful tenderer and price bid, and publishing each bidder’s score against the price and non-price evaluation criteria — the City was awarded half-marks. Half-marks were allocated to categories where information was available, but not published in the local government’s next pbulic council minutes. For the remaining three categories — publishing all the prices bid, publishing each bidders score against the non-price evaluation criteria, and publishing detailed explanations of why successful bidders were chosen — no marks were given to the City. The City’s acting executive director of corporate and commercial services, Libby Harding, said the City complied with current legislation. She said concerns have previously been raised by tenderers in relation to having their tender information published publicly. “This has been due to the consideration that it is commercial in confidence, may impact perception of the tenderers or the scoring may be viewed as a reflection of a supplier’s overall performance rather than a reflection of the tender process,” she said. “The City manages a tender process that complies with current legislation and is reflective of feedback from our local business community. “All tenders are thoroughly evaluated by a selection panel against the published evaluation criteria prior to Council approval. “The City will also provide feedback to each tenderer upon request.” The CCF report recommended that all WA local governments publish the names of all companies that tender, each bidder’s score against the price and non-price evaluation criteria, and an explanation by the tender evaluation committee of how the scores were determined. It also recommended the State Government replace the current “blanket” commercial-in-confidence provision in the Local Government Act with a modernised provision, more in line with community expectations and practices in other States. “Should there be a change in future legislation, the City will amend their practices in order to remain compliant,” Ms Harding said.