Intake — the case officer
Open a submitted case and choose Check completeness. Work down the requirement list. If anything is missing, return the case and name each deficiency against its requirement: a return that says only "incomplete" produces a second incomplete submission. Accepting the case starts the statutory clock, so accept only what is genuinely complete.
Assessment — the technical reviewer
- Compare against benchmarks puts the submitted price beside the reference prices for that category, with the difference shown as a percentage.
- A difference beyond tolerance is raised, never quietly absorbed. A price above benchmark is not automatically wrong — but it has to be explained rather than passed over.
- Request information where something is unclear. The clock pauses while the entity answers, and both question and answer stay on the case.
- Write the recommendation with reasons. The reasons are the part that is read a year later, by people who were not in the room.
Conflicts of interest
Every case file carries a Supplier and ownership panel. It lists the declared owners and directors of the intended supplier, and states plainly whether any of them matches an officer on the case — including when none does, because "no conflict found" is a result somebody needs to have seen, and a blank panel would read as "nobody looked".
- A match is not a verdict. Two people genuinely share a name, and recording that is one of the resolutions available.
- An officer named in an unresolved conflict cannot decide the case. Resolving it or reassigning the case both unblock it — the control stops the officer, not the work.
- The screen compares names, and only names. It will not see a company held by a relative, a name changed on marriage, or a deliberate misspelling. If you know of a connection the system cannot see, declare it — that route exists precisely because this one has limits.
- "Not checked against the companies register" means exactly that. It is not the same as "no match found", and it should never be read as one.
Decision — the decision officer
You will be asked for your password again before deciding. Record the outcome and the reasons. You may depart from the recommendation; if you do, the departure is recorded as a departure, which is the point. You cannot decide a case you assessed yourself.