This page explains how LEAT chooses suppliers and pays them. It applies to
everybody: our own staff, the suppliers who bid, and anybody who wants to
check that we did what we said.
We work out what we need. We decide how much competition the purchase
deserves. We ask suppliers. We compare what they offer against rules we
published before we saw any of it. We choose. We check what arrives before
we pay.
No single person does all of that. That is the whole design.
The value decides, not the person who wants the thing bought.
The exact amounts are set in our procurement policy. The system works them
out from the total, so splitting one purchase into several smaller ones to
stay under a limit does not work. It is flagged for review instead.
For the larger purchases, bids are sealed. Suppliers upload their offer
encrypted. Nobody at LEAT can read any of it until the closing time has
passed and two appointed people have each confirmed they are present.
This is not a formality. Before the closing time nobody can open a bid, no
matter who they are or what they click.
The scoring rules are published before bidding opens and cannot be changed
afterwards. Not by anybody, including whoever runs the tender.
Each person on the evaluation panel scores independently. Their sheets
cannot be edited once submitted, including by the chair. If somebody
changes their mind, they write a new sheet with a reason, and the original
stays readable.
Three separate things have to line up before an invoice is paid:
We pay the smallest of the three. Somebody who did not order the goods
confirms they arrived. Somebody who did not receive them approves the
payment.
Suppliers get a receipt for every bid, which they can verify themselves
without asking us. Every bid opening is recorded and cannot be altered
afterwards. If you think something went wrong, see the page on raising a
concern.
