The effects of compulsory competitive tendering and European law on local authorities

Book abstract:

The interaction of Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) and European law, in particular that relating to public procurement and the transfer of undertakings, continues to have significance for local authorities throughout the EU, despite CCT having been abolished in January 2000. This book is the outcome of research into the effects of CCT on two English local authorities, Resbrough Borough Council and Greenbrough Borough Council. It examines in detail the CCT legislation, the principal legal and practical issues that it raised both in the UK and for the EU, its effects on the two local authorities selected and the broader implications for local public procurement in general.

Among the legal issues addressed in the book are the following: policy differences between the various types of services procured - e.g. construction and maintenance, other manual, managerial, professional; the impingement of CCT on local authority discretion in contract tendering processes; and the interaction of CCT and the European Acquired Rights Directive as implemented in the UK by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE).

The results of CCT are considered through case studies of the local authorities that examine the lasting effect on each authority's approach to service provision, organisational structure and general culture. In the last part of the book, the author summarises his findings and offers conclusions that will be of value to public procurement authorities and their counsel everywhere.