Our buying arrangements are in the main conducted on an
individual portfolio (departmental) basis. We have a centrally
positioned strategic procurement function, whose job is to
co-ordinate contracts for commonly bought goods and services with a
view to reducing costs and delivering savings.
Our five portfolios are:
- Children and Young People
- Environment and Regeneration
- Community Services
- Adult and Consumer Care
- Resources
All contracts tendered and awarded must comply with UK law and
our financial and contract procedure rules which govern our
contracting activities and lay down procedures for obtaining
quotations, tenders and the awarding of contracts.
We must let contracts for the supply of goods, works and
services in accordance with the EU Procurement Directives. These
directives have been incorporated into UK law.
The directives apply to all contracts exceeding certain
financial thresholds (£139,893 in respect of contracts for goods
and services; £3.4m for works contracts).
Where contracts exceed these values we are required to follow
strict tendering procedures. These involve an initial tender notice
in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
OJEU is available in electronic form either on CD Rom or via the
Internet. Further information can be obtained using the OJEU link
on the right hand side of the page.
In addition magazines exist (e.g. Contrax Weekly) which list EU
Contract Notices by type.
We generally use a restricted procedure for these tenders,
involving a pre-qualification phase, with tenders being invited
only from those applicants who meet certain predetermined criteria.
This will include amongst other thing:-
- Financial stability
- Quality criteria
- Experience
- Environmental factors
Suitable suppliers who meet the pre-qualification criteria will
be sent tender documents. The ultimate decision of who wins Council
contracts will be based on a robust analysis of the tender
submissions. This will be based predominantly on, but not limited
to:-
- Total cost of ownerships (life cycle costing)
- Quality
- Sustainability
- Maintenance and support
Dependent on the type of goods or services being bought and the
complexity of any subsequent contracts, any number of other
deciding factors may be used.
Any criteria used for selecting successful suppliers will be
fair and transparent.
Where contract values fall outside of the financial limits of
the EU tendering process the selection criteria used will be of a
similar nature, in line with the Council's Financial and Contracts
Procedure
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