Can a new company join the Panel for SI&EPs?
DSE do not plan to add any companies to the Panel at the moment as the Panel has had little time to settle into operation. DSE may run a refresh process in the future, if the need arises, and it is likely this process would coincide with the annual review of the Panel. The Panel was set up by an open public tender in 2008. The period of the contract is from July 1 2008 to June 30 2010, with options of 2 x 1 yearly extensions meaning the contracts with the current panel suppliers could run until June 30, 2012. If a refresh process were to be conducted it would be by public tender, with qualifying conditions similar to those of the original tender. Reasons that could initiate a refresh of the Panel are noted in the answer to the question above.
