Selling to the Council

About the Procurement & Contracts Service

The Procurement & Contracts service is provided by our external service provider, Public Sector Partnership Services Limited. Working together, we are dedicated to sourcing high quality contracts which offer good value for money for the Council.

The goods and services that we procure are hugely varied. They can range from basic office supplies, to a specialist consultancy requirement, or a large construction works contract. The pages listed below will give you an overview of our processes and information on how your business can get involved.

Where a purchase value is below £40,000 (except when it is part of a larger purchase or is one of a series of similar purchases), the individual department requiring the goods/services will usually seek informal quotation. This will be without involvement from the Procurement & Contracts team. The financial thresholds that the Council must follow can be viewed below. 

Procurement Act 2023

The rules governing public procurement are changing, the new Procurement Act seeks to transform Public Procurement to create a simpler and more flexible commercial system whilst remaining compliant with international obligations. It is expected that the new regime will come into force on 24th February 2025.

The Government Commercial Function have made 'Knowledge Drops' available for suppliers wanting to know more about the changes to public procurement and we would encourage every supplier to familiarise themselves with these high-level overviews of the changes.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Procurement & Contracts team at procurement@pspsl.co.uk

Our Approach to Procurement

Procurement is the process by which the council purchases the third party supplies, works and services to help us provide all our key services to the public. Procurement is governed by our Constitution's Contract Procedure Rules and wider UK legislation.

We want to deliver the best quality and value services to the public and there is a great opportunity to do this through local businesses. The Council is dedicated to making its procurement processes more accessible to SME's and we reflect this within our Procurement Strategy.

The Council have approved a Procurement Strategy for 2023 - 2026 which is appended as a link within related content. 

Contract Opportunities

We are always looking for innovative suppliers and contractors to tender for our contract opportunities. To find these opportunities, you can register on our e-Tendering Portal. By using the portal, you'll be able to:  

• Register as a supplier (free of charge)
• View all contract opportunities
• Express interest in open tenders
• Submit tenders
• Ask questions quickly and securely

Additionally, there are other websites where Public Sector contract opportunities, such as ours, can be found:

• Contracts Finder Most Public Sector Organisations are required to advertise their open tenders on Contracts Finder. You can register free of charge and set up 'keywords' and 'locations' to receive email alerts whenever a tender matching your criteria is advertised.
• Find a Tender If the value is above the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 thresholds, the contract will be published on Find a Tender.

Tendering Tips

Regardless of the procurement procedure we use, it's important to read the information supplied carefully. Please ensure that you submit all the requested documentation by the specified return date and time. The success of your bid is determined by the quality and accuracy of your responses to our questions.

If there is anything in the documentation that you don't understand, please submit correspondence through our  e-Tendering Portal. Respond to the quality questions in as much detail as possible. Remember, we evaluate tenders based on the answers provided in the documentation, not on what you perceive we should know about you.

Ensure that all requested information is submitted on the  e-Tendering Portal  by the stated deadline. We suggest that bidders submit their tenders as soon as they are ready, rather than waiting until the last minute, to avoid any technical difficulties that could cause you to miss the deadline.

Terms and Conditions

The Council's standard Terms and Conditions are appended as a link within the related content.