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Contracts For Goods And Services

What we buy

Goods

 Services

Works

How we buy

How we buy is governed by various sets of rules both internally and externally. We have a governing constitution to which it must comply, a part of which is its contract standing orders and financial regulations. All orders over £10,000 are subject to competitive quotation procedures and orders over £25,000 to competitive tendering.

The European Union imposes certain rules on Local Government as to the procedures it must adopt in letting a contract.

Contracts for Goods and Services over £144,371 and works over £3,611,319 are subject to these EU rules. Further information is available about the rules on advertising these tenders in Europe. There are three procedures permitted under the Directives:

• Open Procedure - Anyone expressing an interest will receive a tender document and all submitted tenders will be considered. Tenders must be advertised for a minimum of 52 days.
• Restricted Procedure - we advertise for expressions of interest and those who respond will be sent a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). The council then assesses the PQQ responses and decides against pre-set criteria to whom it will issue tenders. The number or range having already been specified in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) advert. Request for expressions of interest must be advertised for a minimum of 37 days. There must be a minimum of 40 days between the issue and return of tenders.
• Negotiated Procedure - Only used in certain limited and exceptional circumstances e.g. where the nature of the service/supplies is such that the specification cannot be established. The Council negotiates with one or more organisations of its choice. There is a minimum period of 37 days for applicants to register their interest.

Once we have assessed the tenders there is a mandatory standstill period of at least 10 days between the completion of this process and the award of contract.

The standstill period gives unsuccessful tenderers a reasonable opportunity to object to the award decision. If successful, the objection could lead to the award decision being overturned.

We have a duty under Best Value to deliver our services to clear standards of cost and quality by the most economic efficient and effective means available. Best Value applies to all functions we provide which must show continuous improvement and secure value for money through the procurement process as well as ensuring that business dealings are open, fair, transparent and auditable.

In order to make our services more accessible to the public we are electronically enabling many  functions including procurement activities. Along with all other Local and Central Government, we will progressively be introducing electronic procurement as its normal way of doing business. As a part of this we are already rolling out the use of Purchasing Cards. These have considerable advantages for suppliers as they are specifically intended for low value/regular purchases and the supplier is guaranteed payment within seven days by the card provider.

For works contracts we also makes use of an electronic system of pre-qualified tenderers called Constructionline . This is a register of local and national construction and construction-related contractors and consultants, pre-qualified to work within the public sector.