Stafford Borough Council aims to achieve Best Value in its procurement of goods and services. We are committed to the fair, equal and transparent treatment of all current and future providers.
Local and National Regulations for Procurement
The Council’s procurement activities are governed by EU Regulations, UK law and the Council’s own rules. These rules must be followed and are designed to promote non-discriminatory practice and provide transparency to tenderers.
Stafford Borough Council’s rules governing procurement are known as Procurement Regulations which can be found in Section 9 of the Constitution.
For contracts let in accordance with the EU Procurement Directives, the EU regulations will always take precedence where conflict arises.
The Council’s rules generally require all contracts over £50,000 to be subjected to a tendering process. Further information is provided in the Guide to Selling to the Council below.
Procurement Support
Staffordshire County Council’s Procurement Team supports Stafford Borough Council in its procurement activities and in particular administers the tendering process on our behalf.
Further information on procurement (Staffordshire County Council).
Support is also provided via the Shared Services arrangements with Cannock Chase District Council.
Guide to Selling to the Council
This guide is aimed at helping potential contractors, consultants and suppliers to tender for contracts with the Borough Council.
Whilst it cannot assure you of success in gaining work with the Council, it should provide you with sufficient information to help you understand the tendering process and to submit a tender.
The Guide is divided into a number of sections.
Advertising of Tenders
It is a legal requirement for Local Authorities that all tenders which exceed the European threshold limit of £173,934 are advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
Access to this document is only available electronically and further information is available from TED Tenders Electronic Daily (europa.eu).
The Council advertises all of its tender opportunities| on its website and Staffordshire County Council’s website.
At the discretion of the lead officer for the tender, opportunities may also be advertised in:
- Contracts Finder, the Government's national lower-value
procurement portal;· - A local or national newspaper; and / or·
- An appropriate professional or trade journal.
You can find details of tenders currently out to advert at Current Tender Opportunities and Contract Information.
E-Tendering
In most instances the Council uses an E-Tendering system to send out and receive tender packs. Staffordshire Procurement administers this on behalf of Stafford Borough Council through use of their E-Tendering System.
Use of an E-Tendering system ensures a simple, secure, efficient, transparent auditable sourcing process, whilst eliminating time and effort for both buyers and suppliers.
In order to use the E-Tendering system you will need to ensure that you are registered.
Full details on how to register (Staffordshire County Council).
How to Apply for a Tender
There are a few ways you can apply for tender documentation, these include:
- applying to the email address given on the Council’s website
- the advertisement, or
- the OJEU publication
Tender evaluation
Your tender will be evaluated against pre-determined criteria and will focus on the demands of the Client and how you propose to deliver the required specification.
Selection of suppliers is based on those whose tender, in the opinion of the Council is the most economic in terms of price, quality, functionality, and service or other factors contained in the evaluation criteria.
The evaluation criteria is detailed in the tender documents in order that tenderers are made aware of them and so can focus their bids accordingly.
You will be contacted by letter informing you whether you have been successful or unsuccessful. We will always endeavour to explain why the tender was unsuccessful and suggest improvements for future tender submissions.
For tenders falling within the remit of the EU Procurement Directives, a formal debriefing is offered to all unsuccessful tenderers on request.
Information for Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The public sector procurement process is often perceived to be very complex and leads to many small businesses either ignoring the market for government contracts or submitting poorly researched applications.
In light of this concern the Government has produced a guide - Sell goods or services to the public sector: Different ways to sell - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
This guide aims to help in three ways - it will:
- Tell you where to find opportunities within the public sector;
- Explain how you can bid for work; and
- Give you advice on further contacts that may help you.
Information about accessing lower value contracts can be found at Contracts Finder - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Contracts Finder lets you search for information about contracts worth over £10,000 with the government and its agencies.
You can use Contracts Finder to:
- search for current contract opportunities
- find out what’s coming up in the future
- look up details of previous tenders and contracts
Contracts Finder is free to use.
Contact Details
The tendering for goods and services is handled on behalf of Stafford Borough Council by Staffordshire Procurement.
Staffordshire Procurement is the central procurement function of Staffordshire County Council.
They process over 100 tenders each year for a number of clients that include Schools, Metropolitan/District Councils, Corporate Offices, Universities/Colleges, Police, Fire and Rescue Service and a large number of charitable organisations.
Contact Point for Staffordshire Procurement:
Staffordshire Place 1, Stafford, ST16 2LP
email: sp@staffordshire.gov.uk
Telephone: 01785 854657
Fax: 01785 854660
The Head of Transformation and Assurance acts as the lead officer for the procurement shared service with Stafford Borough Council for general procurement enquiries and can be contacted as follows:
Civic Centre, Beecroft Road, Cannock, WS11 1BG
Email: procurement@staffordbc.gov.uk
Tel: 01543 464411