Government of Québec s Electronic Call for Tenders System

Transcription

1 CHAPTER Government of Québec s Electronic Call for Tenders System 7 Audited Entities: Commission scolaire de Montréal Groupe d approvisionnement en commun de l Ouest du Québec Ministère de l Immigration, de la Diversité et de l Inclusion Ministère du Travail, de l Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor (SCT)

2 Why Did We Perform this Audit? In , more than 22,000 contracts were awarded by public organizations for a value of nearly $11B (contracts of $25,000 or more). Public organizations and enterprises that are interested in doing business with the State use the electronic call for tenders system (SEAO). The SCT uses the data contained in the system to produce statistics as well as annual reports on the contractual activities of public organizations. Ch. 7, Par. 1, 4, Table 1 2

3 What Did We Verify? Our work was articulated around two axes the completeness and accuracy of the information published in the SEAO and the business model used by the SCT for implementing and managing the SEAO. Ch. 7, Par. 12, 14 3

4 Published Information Contracts are not entered in the SEAO. 20 contracts awarded by the audited entities with a value of $4.4M are absent from the SEAO. Out of the 73 contracts entered in the SEAO and analyzed Missing information: 47% of cases Non-compliance with publication deadlines: 62% of cases Ch. 7, Par. 23, 24, 27, Tables 3, 4 4

5 Published Information (cont.) The control and monitoring mechanisms related to the information published by the audited entities in the SEAO are sometimes incomplete or missing. The SCT has put in place different procedures for verifying and validating the quality of information published in the SEAO. These procedures need to be strengthened or better targeted. The current situation does not foster the quality of the information being published. Ch. 7, Par. 33, 36 5

6 Business Model Sharing of responsibilities since 2002 System ownership Data ownership Data hosting Funding and pricing Contract monitoring with the firm Private firm SCT Public organizations X X X X X Ch. 7, Par. 6, 43 6

7 Business Model With the exception of the component related to the electronic transmission of tenders, no business cases, including an analysis of risks and costs, were found for the business model chosen for the calls for tenders launched in 2002 and The completion of a business case makes it possible to ensure that the different options have been analyzed: project advantages and disadvantages, costs, benefits, timelines and risks. Ch. 7, Par. 45, 46 7

8 Business Model (cont.) Little monitoring and few controls have been carried out by the SCT with the firm with regard to risks concerning authorized or unauthorized accesses, as the case may be, to lists of suppliers having ordered call for tender documents. This information is hosted on the firm s servers. Up until December 2015, it was impossible to identify any direct access to the database, which includes information from these lists, among other things. Ch. 7, Par. 60, 68 8

9 Business Model (cont.) Electronic tender functionality Delay of nearly three years in the delivery of the functionality Initial delivery planned for June 2013 Reason for the delay: changes to the initial specifications of the 2011 public call for tenders The SCT s new requirements made additional investments necessary. The costs will be covered either by the SCT or the firm, or through a price increase (this price is established for the duration of the contract). The renegotiation of the pricing, schedule and content of this functionality, while the contract has already been signed, does not make it possible to fully achieve the objective of ensuring fairness towards the other tenderers. Ch. 7, Par

10 Business Model (cont.) The business model favoured by the SCT increases the risk of dependency on the firm. The technological infrastructure and the application that were in place in 2011, which were not the government s property, represented an initial base. We are wondering about the possibility for all tenderers to be competitive. This situation will be heightened at the end of the contract in 2019 (in 2022 if the renewal options are exercised), because the electronic tender functionality will be integrated into the SEAO. Ch. 7, Par

11 Audited Entities Comments The audited entities accepted all our recommendations. Ch. 7, P