Article: Procurement contracts lists Article Body The council's contracts register shows details of current contracts. This information is being made available to help your organisation know what we buy, how much we spend and with who. It also includes a contact name should you wish to find out more details about any specific contracts. The register may also be of benefit to local companies in identifying business opportunities either as a main contractor or as a supplier / sub contractor within the supply chain. The register will become more comprehensive as the use of the supplier contract management system (SCMS) is rolled out across the council. Shown below is a list of contracts that are currently available for tender through SCMS. (Please note that at present not all tenders are advertised through this system). By clicking on the links below you will be directed to the SCMS website. To access any tender documentation you must register your organisation on the site and then register against the appropriate procurement exercise. After viewing the tender notice, click the link to the welcome page, in the top left hand corner, to register or log in. Please note that once the closing date for expressions of interest has passed, no more applications can be considered Contract Description Closing date for expressions of interest F328: Tenders for the Provision of Treasury Management Advice 16/05/2012 Approved lists The council operates approved lists for certain categories of work, further information is available from the approved lists page of this site. The tender process Should your company decide to respond to an advertisement and express an interest in bidding for council work, here are some brief tips which you should bear in mind. The tender process may take the form of an 'open' process whereby tender documents are sent to all applicants, or a 'restricted' (2-stage) process, where only short-listed tenderers are invited to submit tenders. The shortlist is compiled by assessing tenderers against a set of pre-determined criteria, based on evidence of economic and financial standing, technical capacity and ability, equal opportunities, environmental and health and safety policies, previous experience and references. Tenders are then issued to suppliers on the shortlist. Finance The council will check your organisation's financial suitability for a contract by requesting copies of accounts for the previous three years. If you cannot provide the information because you are a newly formed company or a small business you will be asked to provide a statement of the organisation's cash flow forecast for the current year and a bank letter outlining the current cash flow and credit facility position Insurance The council's normal requirement is for the contractor to be covered by employer's liability insurance to the value of £10 million and public liability insurance to the value of £5 million. Changes to these limits or additional insurance requirements such as professional indemnity insurance will be specified at the time of the tender. References You will be asked to provide the names of up to three referees, specific to the type of tender being applied for, following which references will be sought checking your organisation's experience and views of the standard of service provided. Equal opportunities The council is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all people irrespective of sex, age, race or disability. The council is keen to ensure that its suppliers abide by the law and are working to best practice in this area. All suppliers, as part of the tender process, will therefore be required to provide evidence that they have equal opportunities policies in place and are committed to them. Environmental policies The council is committed to using the resources entrusted to it to ensure best value for money at the least possible cost to the environment. As part of this commitment to the environment, the council's procurement policy will, wherever practicable, focus on: Specifying less environmentally damaging products Promoting greater use of renewable sources Encouraging suppliers to use environmentally friendly practices throughout the production process When applying for certain council contracts, you may be requested to supply evidence to your practices and procedures as they relate to the environment Health and safety It is essential on many contracts that contractors are certified under the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS). If you do not have certification or fail to obtain it during the tender process, then your company will not be awarded the contract with the council. The scheme has over 100 members including a variety of local authorities and public organisations and some private sector bodies from all over the country. Once a contractor has gained accreditation they can use it to apply for contracts with other bodies that are also part of the scheme without submitting any further health and safety documentation while their accreditation is valid. Further information can be obtained from the CHAS website Contract award The council aims to usually award contracts to the contractor/supplier who offers the most economically advantageous tender based on a combination of price and quality. The contract award criteria will be stated in the tender documents. Tips for success Be on time Make sure information is provided by the deadline dates. If the information does not arrive promptly, the council will be unable to consider it. The council must be seen to be acting fairly and transparently and by giving everyone the same chance. Understand what is required The initial advert is your chance to decide whether or not your business can undertake the contract. Every advert will contain a council contact person from whom further information can be obtained. If you have questions that need answering before you can decide whether or not to bid, take this opportunity to seek clarification. Provide information for pre-qualification There may be a number of pre-qualification stages to go through before being invited to tender. If you have expressed interest in a contract, you will generally be asked to submit information on your economic and financial standing, technical capacity and ability, equal opportunities, environmental and health and safety policies, previous experience and references. You must provide all the information requested, as this will be evaluated against that provided by other applicants and will dictate whether or not you reach the next stage. Provide evaluation information requested in the invitation to tender If you receive an invitation to tender you are being invited to make an offer, which the council may accept. You must ensure you comply with all requirements at this stage because the decision on who is chosen will ultimately be based on criteria listed in the contract notice or invitation to tender. Make sure you provide all relevant information requested in respect of the price and quality criteria. If you are unsure, ask. As well as the quality criteria, make sure your offer is also competitive and offers value for money. Winning the contract Launched on the 25 January 2010 the government on-line procurement course Winning the Contract is a free resource to help businesses (and in particular SME's) learn about public procurement and how to bid for public sector contracts. The course can be accessed via the Business Link website