How to Become a Supplier for the Council

The Council's procurement and contracting arrangements are designed to ensure that we achieve best value for the public purse. In order to achieve this the Council will ascertain the right route to award a contract based on a requirement to requirement basis or where a need for a product or service has been identified.

Process summary

  • How the Council Tenders - The processes explained.
  • How the Council Advertises.
  • How to access the Councils eSourcing Portal.

How the Council Tenders

As a public sector organisation the Council has various routes to a procurement process whether that is through an established Framework, DPS, Open Market competition or the Light Touch Regime. Where a requirement requires the Council to go through a procurement process the route will be decided based a contract per contract basis.

Access to Frameworks

Using Commercial Agreements often referred to as framework agreements are prearranged by Procurement Organisations (PO) and regulated by the Public Contract Regulations 2015. A framework agreement (for services, supplies and works) is set up by a PO through a procurement process in line with the procurement principles. They comprise a list of suppliers and standardised contract terms. Agreements are divided into lots by product or service type. A framework allows public sector bodies to access the services, supplies and works by either a call off competition or a direct award. To supply through a framework agreement, catalogue or portal you can respond directly to the PO Contract Notices on the Governments find a Tender Service.

Frameworks are a scope of requirements with preapproved suppliers and terms established by a Public Purchasing Organisation (PPO)

A PPO will award a public framework following a fair, transparent and compliant public procurement process. All suppliers have the chance to apply to be on a framework when a Contract Notice is released. Once the procurement process is complete the PPO will released the framework online for Public Sector Organisations (i.e. councils, NHS, Fire service) to access. The Council may call off the requirements by either a mini competition or a direct award without the need to advertise a notice.

Here’s how to become a supplier for a PPO CCS, ESPO, YPO. PPOs will advertise their opportunities on the same portals as the Council (please see below – Advertisement of Opportunities).

Procurement Organisations include but not limited to CCS, YPO, ESPO, NEPO, CPC, Scape, gCloud and NHS.

Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)

A Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) is a procedure available for contracts for works, services and goods commonly available on the market. As a procurement tool, it facilitates a list of approved suppliers who have committed to a specification, quality standards and terms and conditions for the scope of works, services or goods required. A DPS has some aspects that are similar to a framework agreement, the difference is that new suppliers can join at any time. Each DPS is set up as an individual opportunity and divided into categories of products, works or services called LOTS. Where a DPS is established the Council will call for competition through a specific LOT list of approved suppliers. All suppliers have the opportunity to respond to the opportunity and the bid submission will be evaluated by the Council before award of contract. 

The DPS is a two-stage process. In the initial set-up stage, the Council will release a Contract Notice and a Selection Questionnaire (SQ). Suppliers will apply to be on the DPS by completing and submitting the SQ the Council will evaluate all the information and notify suppliers whether they have met the criteria or not. All suppliers who meet the selection criteria on the SQ and are not rejected* are admitted to the DPS. There are no limits on the number of suppliers that may join and suppliers can apply to join at any point during its lifetime. At this stage the supplier sits on the DPS LOT as an approved supplier with no guarantee of work. In stage two, the Council invites all suppliers on the DPS (or the relevant category within the DPS) to bid for the specific contract. Individual opportunities are released for competition, evaluated and a contract is awarded to a successful supplier.

* Where a supplier has been excluded, a rejection notification will be sent by the Council to the supplier. On receipt of the notification the supplier can remedy the area of rejection on the original selection questionnaire and resubmit for evaluation again. This can repeat itself until the selection criteria has been met.

Open Market Tenders

There are a few ways the Council will award an open market tender; 

  • Low Value - Direct contact requesting quotes from suppliers and awarding based on best value.
  • Above £10k - Advertise a Contract Notice and release a Request for Quote, Terms and Conditions on the Councils eSourcing portal.
  • Above UK Threshold - Formal public procurement procedure with a Contract Notice on the Councils eSourcing portal.

Formal public procurement procedures include open, restricted, competitive with negotiation and innovation partnership. The most common procedures are open and restricted. Open procedure is a one stage process where the supplier submits a single response. A restricted procedure is a two stage process. A supplier responds to a SQ and if successful is taken through to the Tender stage. A contract Notice would be published for anyone of these procedures notifying the market of the opportunity.

Additional processes to those listed may be applied when using the Grant funded schemes, Light Touch Regime and the Council's standing orders.

How the Council Advertises

Where the Council has no legal requirement to publish a contract notice there may be a low value opportunity brief on the Councils website to generate interest in the market.

Where the Council has used a process that requires an advert the Council will publish a Contract Notice which invites suppliers to participate in applicable contracts above £10k.

Contract Notices are posted on the UK Governments advertising portals for public Contracts Contracts Finder (for opportunities below UK Thresholds) or Find a Tender (Contracts above UK Thresholds). The Council's Contract Notice will have a link to the eSourcing portal to access the Tender documents where suppliers can respond to an opportunity.

Contract Notices have CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) code(s). It's a classification system used to standardise subject matter of the opportunity in public procurement. They are a sequence of numeric numbers assigned to any type of service goods or works which gives suppliers the chance to view relevant Contract Notices only. There is a function available for suppliers to sign up to CPV code(s) notification, (this may have a cost involved) but it will notify you of any public sector opportunities across the UK.

Contract Notice’s will contain information on how to respond to an opportunity and the deadline date and time to respond. It's important to submit a bid within the timetable as bids cannot be accepted where the deadline has elapsed.

We also use Twitter to promote our Tender Opportunities and if you wish to be a follower, our user ID is @TelfordWrekin.

Access to the Councils eSourcing Portal

The Council uses the In-tend eSourcing portal. 

Suppliers can register for free. It's a one-time registration as long as the email address used is accessible. There is different functionalities within the eSourcing portal, document exchange or online responses. Each tender will advise which functionality is being used. When you have identified a tender that you wish to tender for.

Visit and Log into the In-tend website

Go to ‘Supplier Guidance’ Tab and either view or download the ‘supplier portal Guide’ which covers all the required aspects of the portal, managing your details, tender management etc.

Contact with the Council Regarding the Opportunity

When an Opportunity has been released, all communication regarding an opportunity between Suppliers and the Council has to be through the Council's eSourcing Portal.

Emails (correspondence) action button is within the tender box. All communication will be responded to by the buyer and distributed (if appropriate) to all suppliers.

Suppliers will receive a notification communication directly into the registered email address. This facilitates communication between the supplier and the buyer without having to check the eSourcing portal each day. If the supplier requires further clarification, it has to be responded to through the eSourcing portal.

Other Information

The Tenders response box shows the opening and closing time and date. After a tender box closes, no further documents can be uploaded, however, the communication box will continue to be open between the buyer and supplier until the box is archived. Post tender all communication and notifications will continue through the eSourcing portal.

Experiencing Difficulties

If you experience any technical difficulties, please contact the In-tend eSourcing Helpdesk on: 0843 8498404 or email support@in-tend.co.uk.

The above is additional information, if you are experiencing any difficulties, please speak to In-tend.

Last updated : 18 June 2025

Suppliers Guide to Transforming Public Procurement 2024

In March 2024 the Procurement Regulations were laid in Parliament to replace the Public Contract Regulations 2015 following the exit of the EU. The new public procurement legislation will ‘go live’ on 24 February 2025. Whilst we’re in this transitional period the Council will follow the PCR 2015. All projects after the go live date will follow the new legislation, so here’s some guidance to assist.

Overview

The Government aims to improve the way public procurement is regulated to promote a simpler more flexible, transparent and compliant route to contract that is open to all suppliers. A short guide on the changes can we viewed online.

The transition period between April 2024 and the go live date, the public sector and suppliers will be assisted by the Government through knowledge drops, animations, webinars and online guidance.

What are the Key Changes?

The Procurement Act objectives are to deliver value for money, maximise public benefit, share information and act with integrity. To deliver this the key changes are;

  • Transparency has been enhanced throughout the commercial lifecycle of the contract, from pre-procurement pipelines, procurement notices, through the contract amendments to payments.
  • Procurement Procedures have been streamlined to three processes, the open procedure, the competitive flexible procedure and direct award, making it easier to bid and communicate with the Public Sector.
  • Frameworks, open frameworks and Dynamic Markets will support approved suppliers for goods, services and works with more flexible processes and timescales.
  • Enhance Contract Finder for contract notices, contract management notices and payment notices for all values.
  • A Central Digital Platform for a one stop shop for suppliers to add their basic company information, reducing the need to submit it for every bid.
  • Most Advantageous Tender Award criteria emphasizing optimum price and quality ratio.
  • KPI’s will be included on contracts above £2m.
  • Conflicts of interest assessments to be introduced to all procurements.
  • Enhanced duties of the Public Review Service.
  • Procurement Review Service will have enhanced duties to take action when Suppliers under perform.

Benefits to Prospective Suppliers

The Government document sets out how the new regime will deliver benefits to suppliers. The new regime will remove historical barriers and make it easier for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community, and social Enterprises (VCSEs) to bid for public sector opportunities. 

As a contracting authority we will have regard to;

  • Being proportionate with the requirements
  • Realistic timescales to bid
  • Transparency of notices to reach a wide range of suppliers to ensure a diverse representation of businesses for the opportunity
  • The Council will try to be as inclusive as it can to all categories of suppliers during the procurement process.
  • Strengthened the prompt payments with suppliers and their supply chain to 30 days.

To read the full benefits the Procurement Act lends itself to prospective Suppliers.

What to do to prepare

The Government have launched the official learning and development Knowledge Drops and animations to introduce the Act and support Suppliers. These are a high level overview of the changes to the procurement regulations and are aimed to supplier including SME’s and VCSE’s.

We encourage you to receive regular Government updates when new guidance is released.

There are also factsheets (.pdf Size: 360Kb)  which outline the key benefits, the new Procurement Act and the next steps. 

Keep up to date with what we buy with the Council’s Contracts Register (.pdf Size: 1250Kb) . 

Get yourself registered on the Find a Tender Service. This is where all UK tender notices are published. 

The Governments next phase (Launch date TBC) of the Procurement Act is to deliver a Central Digital Platform (CPD). This will be a new supplier information system where suppliers can register and submit the basic company information. The CPD will be a single place where Supplier information can be accessed by Public Sector organisations to support bids. This will reduce the burden of Suppliers completing the same basic company information in every bid.

News and information

Keep yourselves up to date with the Governments news feed on the Transforming Public Procurement. 

Central Digital Platform 

The Procurement Act has also introduced the Central Digital Platform (CDP). The CDP is the new platform to facilitate publication of notices and store Supplier data making it easier for Suppliers to see Public Sector opportunities and reduce the burden of supplying the same information in multiple bids. 

Suppliers will need to register to the CDP to bid for opportunities after 24 February. TTP have put together guidance for the CDP on how to register, how to add your company information and how to use the system.  Please read through the guidance and this will answer a lot of your questions as well as who the information will be visible too. You’ll need to update your information in the CDP when natural changes happen to ensure the Public Sector evaluates your bids accurately. The easy read TPP guides are attached below but they are also available online:

On a DPS?

If you’re an approved Supplier on a DPS nothing will change until the natural end date of the DPS. However, all DPS’s must automatically come to an end by 23 February 2029. The Council will be transitioning all the current DPS’s to a new Dynamic Markets in line with the new Procurement Act. Further details will be posted through the individual DPS.

Download the Procurement Act 2023 – a short guide for suppliers (.pdf Size: 360Kb) .

Download the supplementary information: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises definition (.pdf Size: 629Kb) .

Last updated : 18 June 2025