OPEN INVITATION TO TENDER. CEDEFOP No AO/A/KNE/Eurostat-in-VET/015/06. Evaluation of Eurostat data sources in relation to education,

Transcription

1 European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training Procurement Service Thessaloniki, OPEN INVITATION TO TENDER CEDEFOP No AO/A/KNE/Eurostat-in-VET/015/06 Evaluation of Eurostat data sources in relation to education, training and skills TENDER CONDITIONS Dear Sir/Madam, 1. With reference to the open invitation to tender Evaluation of Eurostat data sources in relation to education, training and skills, published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union No 2006/S on 08/07/2006, please find enclosed the necessary documents. The purpose of this invitation to tender is to conclude a study contract in accordance with the attached Tendering Specifications. If you are downloading these documents from our website, kindly send us an (C4T-services@cedefop.europa.eu) notifying us. 2. If you are interested in this invitation to tender, you should submit a tender in triplicate in one of the official languages of the European Union (preferably in English). 3. You may choose to submit the tender: a) either by post or by courier not later than 04/09/2006 in which case the evidence shall be constituted by the date of despatch, the postmark or the date of the deposit slip, to the following address: European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) Procurement Service For the attention of Mr C. F. Lettmayr PO Box

2 GR Thessaloniki Greece b) delivered by hand not later than 17:00 on 04/09/2006 to the following address: European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), Procurement Service For the attention of Mr C. F. Lettmayr Europe 123, GR Thessaloniki-Pylea Greece In this case, a receipt must be obtained as proof of submission, signed and dated by the official in the above mentioned Service who took delivery. Cedefop is open from 9.00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday. It is closed on Saturday, Sunday and Cedefop s holidays. 4. Tenders must be placed inside two sealed envelopes. The inner envelope, addressed to the service indicated above, should be marked as follows: OPEN INVITATION TO TENDER CEDEFOP No: AO/A/KNE/Eurostat-in-VET/015/06 Evaluation of Eurostat data sources in relation to education, training and skills Tender from (name of Tenderer): NOT TO BE OPENED BY THE INTERNAL MAIL SERVICE If self-adhesive envelopes are used, they must be sealed with adhesive tape and the sender must sign across this tape. 5. All the documents that must be produced in order to tender are listed in the attached Tendering Specifications. The draft study contract is annexed to the Tendering Specifications. 6. Tenders must be: Signed by the Tenderer or his duly authorised representative; Perfectly legible so that there can be no doubt as to words and figures. 7. Submission of a tender implies acceptance of all the terms and conditions set out in this invitation to tender, in the specifications and in the draft study contract and, where appropriate, waiver of the Tenderer s own general or specific terms and conditions. It is binding on the Tenderer to whom the contract is awarded for the duration of the contract. 8. The opening of tenders will take place at Cedefop on 18/09/2006. Each Tenderer may be represented at the opening of tenders by one person. The name of the 2

3 person attending the opening must be notified in writing by fax (Fax No ) or by no later than 17:00 on 15/09/ Period of validity of tenders, during which Tenderers may not modify the terms of their tenders in any aspect: 6 months from 04/09/ Contacts between the contracting authority (Cedefop) and Tenderers are prohibited throughout the procedure save in exceptional circumstances and under the following conditions only: Before the final date for submission of tenders: At the request of the Tenderer, the Cedefop Procurement Service may provide additional information solely for the purpose of clarifying the nature of the contract. Any request for additional information must be made in writing by fax (fax No ) or by (C4T-services@cedefop.europa.eu). Request for additional information received less than five working days before the closing date for submission of tenders will not be processed. Cedefop may, on its own initiative, inform interested parties of any error, inaccuracy, omission or any other clerical error in the text of the call for tender. Any additional information including that referred to above will be sent simultaneously to all Tenderers who have requested the specifications (candidates invited to tender). After the opening of tenders: If clarification is required or if obvious clerical errors in the tender need to be corrected, Cedefop may contact the Tenderer provided the terms of the tender are not modified as a result. 11. This invitation to tender is in no way binding on Cedefop. Cedefop s contractual obligation commences only upon signature of the contract with the successful Tenderer. Up to the point of signature, Cedefop may either abandon the procurement or cancel the award procedure, without the candidates or Tenderers being entitled to claim any compensation. This decision must be substantiated and the Tenderers notified. 12. You will be informed whether or not your tender has been accepted. Yours sincerely, (signed) Christian F. Lettmayr Deputy Director Attached: Tendering specifications 3

4 OPEN INVITATION TO TENDER NO. AO/A/KNE/Eurostat-in-VET/015/06 Evaluation of Eurostat data sources in relation to education, training and skills Tendering specifications 4

5 ABOUT CEDEFOP Table of content 1. OBJECT OF THE CONTRACT Description of the contract Subject of the contract Site or location of works, place of delivery or performance Division into lots Variants Total quantity or scope Duration of the contract LEGAL, ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION Conditions relating to the contract Main term of financing and payment Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers Subcontracting Condition for participation Conflict of interest Legal position means of proof required Exclusion of Tenderers Grounds for exclusion Means of proof required Selection criteria Economic and financial capacity means of proof required Technical and professional capacity Evidence of technical and professional capacity Evaluation of tenders

6 Other documents to be provided AWARD OF THE CONTRACT Awarding procedure/method Award criteria Quality evaluation of the tender Quality criteria Evidence to be provided Financial evaluation of the tender Evidence to be provided Information concerning price OBJECTIVES AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Context and general objective Specific objectives and tasks of the Contractor First Objective Second objective Third objective Deliverables, indicative timetable and budget Deliverables Indicative timetable Budget...19 ANNEXES: Annex I: Contract Notice Annex II: Draft contract Annex III: Legal entity form Annex IV: Financial Identification Form Annex V: Declaration on exclusion criteria Annex VI: Check list of mandatory documents 6

7 ABOUT CEDEFOP General introduction The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) ( 1 ) is an agency of the European Union. Created in 1975 with a tripartite Governing Board, it provides services for the European Commission, the European Union Member States and the social partners as well as for the associated countries of Norway and Iceland. The candidate countries are also associated with its activities. As the European Union s reference centre for vocational education and training, Cedefop provides policymakers, researchers and practitioners with information to promote a clearer understanding of developments and so enable them to take informed decisions on future action. Cedefop assists the European Commission in encouraging, at Community level, the promotion and development of vocational education and training. The main tasks of Cedefop as defined in its founding Regulation ( 2 ) are to: Compile selected documentation and analysis of data; Contribute to the development and coordination of research; Exploit and disseminate useful information; Encourage and support a concerted approach to vocational training development issues; Provide a forum for a wide and diverse audience. Cedefop s Medium-term priorities (MTP) for 2006 to concentrate on the priorities set out in the Maastricht communiqué, which has been agreed by 32 European countries, the European Commission and the European social partners: (a) Promoting the image and attractiveness of the vocational route for employers and individuals to increase participation in VET; (b) Achieving high levels of quality and innovation in VET systems to benefit all learners and make European VET globally competitive; (c) Linking VET with the knowledge economy s requirements for a highly skilled workforce and especially, because of the strong impact of demographic change, the upgrading and competence development of older workers; ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) 7

8 (d) Addressing the needs of the low-skilled (about 75 million people aged between 25 and 64 in the EU) and disadvantaged groups so as to achieve social cohesion and increase labour market participation. Cedefop will also contribute in cooperation with statistical providers to evidencebased policy-making by improving the scope, precision, reliability and comparability of data, statistics and indicators for VET. 1. OBJECT OF THE CONTRACT 1.1. Description of the contract Subject of the contract The subject of this contract is the review and assessment of Eurostat data sources in relation to education and training, in particular vocational education and training, lifelong learning and skills, and the development of a practical concept of a harmonised modular system of statistics and indicators on vocational education and training (VET) Site or location of works, place of delivery or performance Contractor s premises Division into lots The contract will not be divided into lots Variants Variants will not be accepted Total quantity or scope Maximum budget available: EUR 1.2. Duration of the contract The contract shall enter into force on the date of signature of the last contracting party, i.e. Cedefop, and shall be valid for a period of 12 months. 8

9 2. LEGAL, ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION 2.1. Conditions relating to the contract Main term of financing and payment Payments will be made 30 days after submission of invoices and at the conditions set out in the draft contract and in the technical specifications Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers Groupings of suppliers (or consortia), irrespective of their legal form, may submit a tender on condition that it complies with the rules of competition. Such grouping (or consortia) must specify the company or person heading the project and must also submit a copy of the document authorising this company or person to submit a bid. If awarded, the contract will be signed by the company or the person heading the project who will be vis-à-vis Cedefop, the only contracting party responsible for the performance of this contract. Tenders from consortia of firms or group of service providers, Contractors or suppliers, must specify the role, qualifications and experience of each member or group. Subcontracting All subcontracting must be approved by the Cedefop, either by accepting the Contractor s offer, or, if proposed by the Contractor after contract signature, by an exchange of letters. The sub-contracting will be accepted only if it is judged by Cedefop to be necessary to complete the project, and does not lead to distortion of competition. If awarded, the contract will be signed by the Tenderer who will be the only contracting party responsible for the performance of the contract. The Tenderer must indicate clearly in their methodology, which parts of the work will be sub-contracted, and the identity of all subcontractors undertaking more than 10% of the work by value. Full details of the technical and professional capacity of such subcontractors must also be given, in accordance with point and below. Where no subcontractor is given, the work will be assumed to be carried out directly by the tenderer Condition for participation Conflict of interest The Contractor shall take all necessary measures to prevent any situation that could compromise the impartial and objective performance of the Contract. Such conflict of interests could arise in particular as a result of economic interest, political or national affinity, family or emotional ties, or any other relevant connection or shared interest. Any conflict of interests which could arise during performance of the Contract must be notified to Cedefop in writing without delay. In the event of such conflict, the Contractor shall immediately take all necessary steps to resolve it. 9

10 Legal position means of proof required Tenderers must indicate in which State they have their headquarters or domicile and present the supporting evidence normally acceptable of that country law. In addition, they should provide evidence of their inscription in the professional/trade register, if applicable. Tenderers are therefore requested to complete the Legal entity form in annex III and provide the requested documents Exclusion of Tenderers Grounds for exclusion To be eligible for participating in this contract award procedure, Tenderers must certify that they are not in one of the situations listed below: a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations; b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgement which has the force of res judicata; c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which Cedefop can justify; d) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country of Cedefop or those of the country where the contract is to be performed; e) they have been the subject of a judgement which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organization or any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities financial interests; f) Following another procurement procedure or grant award procedure financed by the Community budget, they have been declared to be in a serious breach of contract for failure to comply with their contractual obligations. Contracts may not be awarded to Tenderers who, during the procurement procedure: are subject to a conflict of interest; Are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by Cedefop as a condition of participation in the contract procedure or fail to supply this information. 10

11 Means of proof required Cedefop will accept, as satisfactory evidence that the Tenderer is not in one of the situations described in , a declaration on its honour (please complete and sign the Declaration on Exclusion Criteria in Annex V). Selection criteria Tenderers are required to prove that they have sufficient economic, financial, technical and professional capacity to perform the contract Economic and financial capacity means of proof required Proof of economic and financial capacity may be provided by one or more of the following documents: a) Appropriate statements from the banks or evidence of professional risk indemnity insurance; b) Balance sheets or extracts from balance sheets for at least the last two years for which accounts have been closed where publication of the balance sheet is required under the company law of the country in which the economic operator is established; c) A statement of overall turnover and turnover concerning the services covered by the contract during the last three financial years. In case the Tenderer is unable to submit such documents, he is required to provide justification Technical and professional capacity The Tenderer must comply in terms of technical and professional capacity with the following criteria: a) Educational and professional qualifications, knowledge and skills of those person(s) who will perform the tasks described in 4.2.; b) Those person(s) who will be responsible for the overall management of the contract must have professional experiences in statistical surveys/data collections related to population and/or social conditions at national and/or international level; c) Those person(s) who will perform the tasks described in 4.2. must have at least two years of practical professional experiences in statistical surveys and/or data collections related to population and/or social conditions, preferably education, training and skills, at national and/or international level; 11

12 d) Those person(s) who will perform the tasks described in 4.2. must have the know-how to access and to process Eurostat data, and to evaluate Eurostat data sources; e) The Tenderer must have the technical capacity to access and to process Eurostat data, and to evaluate Eurostat data sources; f) Linguistic ability (good capacity to speak and write in English) Evidence of technical and professional capacity The Tenderer must provide the following documents and information as proof of its technical and professional capacity in compliance with : a) CVs of those person(s) who will be responsible for the overall management of the contract and of those person(s) who will perform the tasks described in 4.2., b) List(s) of work results of those person(s) who will perform the tasks described in 4.2., related to relevant statistical surveys/data collections at national and/or international level; c) A list of major contracts/studies carried out by the Tenderer in the past three years with sums, dates and recipients; d) A description of the Tenderer s work and research facilities, including technical equipment and tools, to be used for the work to be carried out under this contract; e) Description of planned measures to ensure the overall quality of the results; Evaluation of tenders Only the tenders meeting the exclusion and selection criteria in 2.2., will have their offers evaluated in terms of quality and price Other documents to be provided Individual(s) entitled to sign the contract Tenderers should submit a statement containing the name and position of the individual(s) entitled to sign the contract. Financial identification form The financial identification form in annex IV must be sent, duly completed and signed, with the tender. 12

13 3. AWARD OF THE CONTRACT 3.1. Awarding procedure/method The offers which are eligible and meet the exclusion and selection criteria will be assessed in terms of quality and price. The contract shall be awarded to the Tenderer submitting the offer with the best value for money (best quality-price ratio). A quality-price ratio will be calculated for each tender by dividing the total of quality points by the total price of the offer (see point below), thus indicating which tender represents the best value for money. Tenders scoring less than 60 quality points (of maximum 100 points), will not be considered acceptable Award criteria Quality evaluation of the tender Quality criteria The quality of the tender will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria and weighting: a) Demonstration of in-depth understanding of the context and of the general objective of the contract, described in 4.1. (15 points); b) Demonstration of in-depth understanding of the specific objectives to be achieved and of the purpose of the different tasks, described in 4.2. (25 points); c) Adequacy of the overall approach proposed with regard to the purpose and objective of the contract, described in 4.1. (15 points); d) Relevance of the different activities and specific work steps proposed with regard to the specific results to be achieved and the purpose of the different tasks, described in 4.2. (30 points); e) Appropriateness of the work plan, and of the organisation and coordination of the different activities and work steps, with regard to the time table of the contract (10 points); f) Relevance of the preliminary assessment of likely difficulties in carrying out the work and proposed actions (5 points) Evidence to be provided The Tenderer must provide the following documents and information in compliance with : 13

14 a) Brief discussion of the state of the art regarding the availability and quality of statistics and indicators on education, training and skills at EU level, including a list of key references; b) Description of the methodological approach, including criteria to assess the quality of statistics and indicators; c) Description of the different activities and specific work steps; d) Indicative list of Eurostat data sources to be evaluated; e) Indicative list of possible Eurostat microdata to be evaluated, including a short justification for using microdata; f) Detailed work plan including a time schedule, and a description of the organisation and coordination of the different activities and work steps; g) Preliminary assessment of likely difficulties in carrying out the work and proposed actions Financial evaluation of the tender Evidence to be provided The financial offer will be assessed on the basis of the total price of the tender. The Tenderer must provide a breakdown of the total price including the number of person-days, the price per person-day, and expenses that may occur in accessing statistics and data (see ) Information concerning price a) The price quoted must be fixed and not revisable. b) Prices must be quoted in Euro and include all expenses. c) Under article 3 and 4 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities, Cedefop is exempt from all charges, taxes and dues, including value added tax (VAT). Such charges may not therefore be included in the calculation of the price quoted. The VAT amount must be indicated separately. d) Travel expenses for any meeting organised by Cedefop should not be included in the financial offer (see point 4.3.3) e) All costs incurred in preparing and submitting tenders are borne by the Tenderer and cannot be reimbursed. 14

15 4. OBJECTIVES AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 4.1. Context and general objective Monitoring the implementation of common policies and strategies in education and training and of new methods of policy coordination at European level requires structured and continuous support in the form of adequate statistical indicators and benchmarks. Therefore, closing the knowledge gap in comparable statistics has become a priority for the European Union. Internationally comparable data on education, training and skills have acquired particular importance with the continuing integration of European countries and the Education and Training 2010 work programme ( 4 ). The Maastricht Study (Leney et al., 2004) ( 5 ) has analysed, in a differentiated way, existing data and their limitations for assessing the progress made by Member States in achieving the Copenhagen objectives for vocational education and training (VET) ( 6 ). Statistics and indicators on education, training and skills still suffer some drawbacks: a considerable amount of key statistics and indicators is not available, not reliable or not comparable (e.g. expenditure on and investment in VET; entrants/enrolments/graduates in initial vocational training (IVT); transitions of VET graduates to the labour market, post-secondary or higher education; geographical and occupational mobility of VET graduates; VET teachers, trainers, tutors and other staff involved in training; outcomes of VET and lifelong learning; efficiency and effectiveness of VET systems, programmes and measures; individual characteristics (age, gender, skills, earnings, status) of VET/lifelong learning participants and unemployed); many available data sources have not yet been fully exploited; many limitations exist in comparing data across countries and over time. Available statistics and indicators provide a fragmented view of education and in particular of VET. They allow analysis of only single aspects because information across sources is difficult to combine; in many instances results from different sources provide different pictures of the same issue. This is because of a number of methodological reasons, e.g.: sources focus on different main subjects (e.g. labour force characteristics in the case of Labour Force Survey -LFS-, provision of training to employees by enterprises for the Continuing Vocational Training Survey -CVTS-); ( 4 ) ( 5 ) ( 6 ) 15

16 sources use different definitions of education, training or skills, and different classifications; sources refer to different statistical units (e.g. education programmes in the UNESCO/OECD/Eurostat data collection UOE-, enterprises in CVTS, households in LFS); sources have a different periodicity and coverage. There are also limitations in obtaining time series due to changes in concepts and definitions or interpreting results due to small sample sizes. Accordingly, the Maastricht Communiqué (2004) ( 7 ) identified the improvement of the scope, precision and reliability of VET statistics as a priority, arguing that adequate data and indicators are the key to understanding what is happening in VET and what additional interventions and decision-making are required by all parties involved. At EU level, over the coming years the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) will improve the availability and quality of data through several new surveys/data collections, or new rounds of surveys/data collections, and/or further development of existing surveys/data collections, e.g.: the third CVTS (2006) will allow comparisons between data gathered for 1994 and 1999 and the identification of trends in training in enterprises; the Adult Education Survey (AES, ) will provide comparable European data on participation in various forms of learning as well as on obstacles to and attitudes towards learning; the multi-annual approach of the UOE data collection will improve the quality and availability of data on VET, including VET finance data; the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC, 2004 onwards) is a longitudinal survey including variables related to income, poverty, social exclusion, living conditions, employment, health and education and training; the Household Budget Survey (HBS, 2006), including education consumption expenditure, should provide further insights into households and individual spending on education and training. The work to be carried out under this contract will reveal the potential of existing and future Eurostat surveys and data collections to improve the availability and quality of statistics and indicators on education and training, in particular VET, lifelong learning (LLL) and skills. ( 7 ) 16

17 4.2. Specific objectives and tasks of the Contractor First objective: Evaluation of existing data sources The first objective is to provide a detailed overview of all Eurostat data sources that contain in one way or another variables related to education and training, in particular VET, LLL and skills ( VET/LLL variables ). Tasks: to review in detail all aspects of every Eurostat data source that contains VET/LLL variables; to describe the rationale of each data source and of the VET/LLL variables, and assess the status of these variables within the data source and their link to the other variables of the data source; to give a comprehensive overview of the statistical methodology of each data source (e.g. type of survey, subject, definitions, classifications, data collection modes and guidelines); to give a comprehensive overview of the currently published statistics and indicators on VET/LLL (mainly within the Eurostat on-line database) that result from each data source, and assess their quality; to draw conclusions and develop recommendations on additional VET/LLL statistics and indicators that might result from each data source, and assess their quality; to describe and explain how the different data sources are mutually exclusive, complementary, and/or contradictory in terms of VET/LLL variables and, in this context, to assess the impact of the statistical methodology Second objective: Evaluation of new developments The second objective is to provide a detailed overview of methodological developments in existing data sources and of new data sources that contain VET/LLL variables. Tasks: to investigate and describe in detail the methodological or other developments in existing and/or new data sources; to investigate and describe in detail how new developments and/or new data sources might complement existing data sources; 17

18 to assess and illustrate how these developments might improve the availability and quality of VET/LLL statistics and indicators Third objective: Concept for a harmonised modular system of VET statistics and indicators The third objective is to develop a concept for a harmonised modular system of statistics and indicators on vocational education and training (VET). Tasks: to develop a practical concept for a harmonised modular system of statistics and indicators on VET that covers the various aspects of the VET process; to describe the advantages and added value of the proposed harmonised modular system compared with present common statistics and indicators, but also to identify current gaps and probable restrictions; to explain which variables of existing and/or future data sources would be appropriate as the basis of the harmonised modular system of statistics and indicators on VET, and how those variables would complement one another; to illustrate the proposed harmonised modular system of statistics and indicators on the basis of the most recent data (as far as available); to recommend further developments and/or improvements in data sources (variables, methodologies, etc.), to establish and/or to complete the proposed system, and to close current gaps Deliverables, indicative timetable and budget Deliverables The Contractor is required to submit an interim report that should include: a) the structure of the final report; b) a description of the methodological approach; c) interim results and indicative conclusions for the three specific objectives; d) information on problems encountered, solutions found or proposed, and impact on further work. The Contractor is required to deliver a draft final report and a final report which should include: a) a summary and key findings; 18

19 b) a detailed description of the methodological approach; c) a detailed presentation of results for the three specific objectives; d) general conclusions and recommendations; e) a possible annex with a bibliography, list of statistical sources evaluated, including microdata, tables and other additional relevant information, e.g. methodological details. Cedefop will provide comments on both the interim report and the draft final report. The Contractor must take account of those comments, liaising closely with Cedefop. Payment of the balance is conditional on Cedefop s acceptance of a revised final report. The Contractor is required to submit the reports in English, in hard copy and in electronic form (Word/Excel). The electronic files must correspond fully to the hard-copy versions. Tables and graphs (including the data) created in Word/Excel (as appropriate) should be provided in separate files Indicative timetable The Contractor is required to submit: the interim report within 3 months of the date on which the contract is signed by the last contracting party, i.e. Cedefop; the draft final report within 7 months of the date on which the contract is signed by the last contracting party, i.e. Cedefop; the final report within 9 months of the date on which the contact is signed by the last contracting party, i.e. Cedefop. Cedefop will invite the Contractor to a kick-off meeting that will preferably take place in Thessaloniki within two weeks of the signing of the contract by the last contracting party, i.e. Cedefop. Further meetings might be required during the performance of the contract. Budget Travel expenses for meetings at the request of Cedefop will be reimbursed by Cedefop separately, according to the applicable rules (see Annex II to the draft contract). Expenses that may be incurred in accessing Eurostat statistics and/or data, including microdata, must be included in the financial offer (see ). 19