WET News

WET NEWS WATER AND EFFLUENT TREATMENT NEWS News+ Technology must be de ned to drive innovation, p4; OJEU procurement rules overhaul to impact water sector, p6 Onsite: Water supply grid Wessex Water undertakes its biggest and most complex project yet, p8, 10, 11 Insight: Valves, actuators & drives How training can help overcome water hammer, p20 Foresight: Have your say on whether rigger boots provide safe protection on sites, p28 "Our aim with this initiative is to raise under- standing and aware- ness.." Adam Gosnold, p20 "...these appear to be more regula- tions devised by professional civil servants with little experience of the commercial world" Uddalak Datta, p6u The UK government has an ambitious timetable to implement the latest EU public procurement directives – the three directives are likely to be implemented in the UK by the end of this year. T he Environment Indus- tries Commission (EIC) said it is "very disap- pointing" that implementation of Schedule 3 of the Sustaina- ble Drainage Systems (SuDS) legislation will not be imple- mented in October, a- er Defra announced there would be a further delay. Defra said the government remained committed to imple- menting SuDS "at the earliest available opportunity, but C ompanies need to start considering how their pro- curement procedures will need to be amended to comply with changes the EU's public procurement directives and to take advantage of some of the new tools they will provide. The new rules concern three direc- tives that could come into e… ect by the end of 2014. The new directives support simpliŠ ed procurement, better access to SMEs and legal cer- tainty whilst delivering value for money and cutting out the red tape, said Mark Varian at law Š rm Eversheds. Varian said: "The adoption of the directives into national law will provide a platform for public authorities to optimise their use of public procurement thus providing the stimulus package necessary for invest- ment in public services going forward." The Š rst two of the proposed directives, which will replace the Public Sector Directive and the Utilities Directive, aim at simpli- fying the rules around procure- ment procedures thus attracting a greater number of small S evern Trent has highlighted three areas – sewer blockag- es, water quality at treat- ment works and supply interrup- tions over 12 hours – that were below the standards the group set itself. The company said it will continue to drive sewer blockages down, which saw a 13% reduction during the year to March 31, 2014, and it has conducted a thorough end-to-end review of its water treatment processes to improve performance. The group reported a 7.1% rise in underlying group pre-tax proŠ t to £269.1M for the year while turn- over was up 1.4% at £1.8B. Severn Trent chief executive Liv GarŠ eld said the group had delivered another year of good Š nancial performance in 2013-14. She said: "In my Š rst eight weeks I've really enjoyed exploring the organisation from top to toe... We know there is much more we need to do to improve our pro- cesses, speed up decision making and raise our standards." Defra delay on SuDS 'disappointing' – EIC not in a way that a… ects development". It said: "While several departments are working hard on this, it has become clear we will not be in a position to implement Schedule 3 from October, as we had hoped." The department added that a statement will be made in the summer, setting out in greater detail our plans for implementation." A spokesman for EIC said: "This is very disappointing. Not only has the implementation of SuDS been further delayed, but there is no indication of an updated timetable – leaving the industry in limbo, and poten- tially jeopardising¤investment. "The announcement talks of implementing SuDS in a way that 'does not affect devel- opment'. It is not clear what this means, but we are wary of any move to dilute the regulations." "Not only has the implementation of SuDS been further delayed, but there is no indication of an updated timetable" EIC spokesman New public tender rules bene t SMEs currently covered by the exist- ing public procurement rules. A key change is introducing SME-friendly measures such as the requirement for contracting authorities to "comply or explain" in an advertisement in the EU's O¦ cial Journal (OJEU) why they did not split up the works or services into lots in cases where the procurement could have been so divided but was not. Other measures introduced to facilitate SME participation include limiting the turnover requirements to two times the estimated contract value, except in justiŠ ed cases and shortening the timeframes to cut procurement costs and introduce less onerous PQQ requirements. Another key change is switching to 'most economically advantageous tender' (MEAT). Under the current Public Sector Directive, contracting authori- ties have a choice to award con- tracts on the basis of lowest price or most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). * See News+, p6 NEED TO KNOW Around 2,500 new notices are advertised through OJEU every week, including invitations to tender and contract award notices All tenders valued over a certain nancial threshold must be placed in OJEU Simplifying the rules will bene t SMEs around procure- ment procedures Companies will have to explain why works or services are not split into lots Other measures include limiting the turnover require- ments to two times the estimated contract value Liv Gar eld Severn Trent identi es areas for improvement and medium-sized companies (SMEs) as well as promoting value for money and transpar- ency in how public authorities provide goods and services. The third proposed directive, on concession contracts, is intended to complete the legis- lative framework for public pro- curement and address the fact that service concessions are not JUNE 2014 Volume 20 • Issue 06

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