BT ends appeal over contract award but pursues £20m damages claim

BT today ruled out an appeal after a Scottish judge lifted an automatic suspension and allowed the award of a £110m contract for an IT platform for public bodies.

But the communications giant said it would continue with its £20m damages claim against NHS National Services Scotland (NSS), claiming that the judge, Lord Malcolm had found that the procurement regulations had been breached.

BT had sought to have the procurement exercise for the Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN) re-run. The programme is intended to provide a single public services network in Scotland for use by a range of public bodies, including local authorities.

The Court of Session in Edinburgh was due to hear the company's application for permission to appeal today, but BT chose not to proceed.

A spokeswoman for the company said: “We are pleased that Lord Malcolm, following the hearing in January, found in our favour with respect to the primary argument and agreed that the procurement regulations had been breached by NHS NSS.

“Though BT’s primary aim was always to seek a re-run of the procurement process, the case will now proceed as a damages claim, Lord Malcolm having found damages to be an appropriate remedy for BT to seek for that breach.”

The spokeswoman added: “We believe that it will now be unclear whether the most economically advantageous tender will be awarded. We believe our proposal offered excellent value and minimal risk to Scottish tax payers. Our bid was more than £10m below the price for which maximum points could be awarded under the NSS scoring process.”

A spokesman for NSS said it was pleased that it was able to proceed with the contract award and implement SWAN.

He added: “This is great news for the Scottish taxpayer, and anyone who uses public services, whether in schools, councils, hospitals or elsewhere. The SWAN project is a major step forward in Scottish public sector infrastructure which will create savings and deliver an excellent service.”