Sölvesborg made mistakes when purchasing social worker services

During 2017, Sölvesborg Municipality entered 12 different agreements with four different suppliers of staffing services for social investigation work (social workers). The total value of the agreements amounted to just over SEK 3.5 million, which exceeds the limit for when direct procurement is permitted.

The Public Procurement Act stipulates that the purchase of goods or services of the same kind must be added together when assessing whether they reach the limit for when a procurement must be advertised. The Swedish Competition Authority has found that this was not the case in Sölvesborg.

”It is not permitted to divide a contract and conduct several smaller procurements, each of which is within the limit stipulated for direct procurement. Procurements of the same kind must be added together and when they exceed the limit, they must be advertised,” says Rikard Jermsten, Director-General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

The Swedish Competition Authority will now turn to the Administrative Court in Växjö with the demand that Sölvesborg Municipality must pay SEK 250 000 as a procurement fine.

Read the application, dnr 665/2018 (in Swedish)