NB: these pages are subject to review due to the (delayed) change in procurment law (Public Contract Regulations 2015 will be replaced by the Procurement Act 2023 and secondary regulation in February 2025)

This guide is designed to assist current and potential suppliers to the Council and provides guidance on how the Council procures goods, services and works.

The Council adopts a fair and transparent approach in its procurement activities and will ensure all potential suppliers are treated equally when competing for business.

When procuring contracts the Council follows all current UK and European legislation and regulation relating to public procurement. The Council also has its own Contracts and Financial Procedure Rules, which are available to view on the Council’s website here However, it must be noted that following the UK's exit from the EU and the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, a Government review of legislation governing public procurement began in 2021 and changes are expected to come into effect during 2024 following the passing of the Procurement Act 2023. The Council will adapt its processes accordingly in line with emerging guidance

Procurement at the Council follows four main principles; 1.Value; 2. Compliance; 3. Fairness; 4. Social & Environmental. The aim is to seek a seek a balance between obtaining best commercial value, operating within the law, acting transparently, reducing impacts on the environment and improving the community and services provided to our residents.

There are three main monetary value thresholds which direct  how the Council procures:

Up to £99,999 - Officers seek issue requests for quotations (RFQ)

From £100,000 to £250,000 not subject to UK Public Contract Regulations 2015 - Officers will advertise formal open tenders on the Council's tender portal. Please note these procedures may change and is subject to ongoing view following the the UK's withdrawal from the EU and announcement of Procurement Act 2023 expected to be implemented in February 2025..

Supplies and Services over £214,904 (incl VAT) and Works over £5,372,609 (incl VAT) will be advertised as detailed here 2 here and the following section. 

Where it is possible, the Council publishes invitations to tender and contracts with an estimated value of over £100,000 via an electronic tendering tool (Complete Tender Management system or CTM) to manage some procurements, details of current opportunities and registration can be found on this link: https://uk.eu-supply.com/login.asp?B=WCC

Tenders that fall under the control of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (and subsquent legislation coming in to force during 2025) are currently advertised through the above portal and via the UK Find a Tender service.

Details on public sector contract opportunities can be viewed on Contracts Finder, the UK government site and contracts awarded by Winchester City Council can be found on this link (Contract Register).

The Council has implemented an electronic tendering tool through EU Supply (Complete Tender Management system or CTM) to manage some procurements and communicate with Tenderers. Please register for free on the CTM portal to ensure that you are kept up-to-date with any developments in your areas of interest. To register on CTM, follow the instructions and link below

Tenders that fall under the control of the UK Public Contract Regulations 2015 (and subsquent legislation to be implemented) are currently advertised through the above portal and via the UK Find a Tender service. 

NB: subject to review in line with the Procurement Act 2023) where a Central Digital Platform will be introduced

CTM Registration:

https://uk.eu-supply.com/login.asp?B=WCC

1. Click on “New supplier registration”
2. Complete the Supplier Registration form.

**IMPORTANT NOTE:  To prevent duplication, before registering on CTM, please check if your company is already registered by simply e-mailing your company name to uksupport@eu-supply.com.

The first registered person will automatically become the "administrator” of the company, who then will have the opportunity to create further company users, including users with administrator privileges

Company Contact Information: This is the primary contact information Authorities will use to contact a company. It is recommended that you provide the company general contact details e.g. sales@abc.com.

Administrator information: These are the details of the Administrator. If the user details are the same as the Company contact information then click on the “Copy from above” button. Otherwise enter information manually. It is important that the email address is correct as this will be the address used by the system to send alerts and messages.

If you need any further assistance with registration or have any queries about using CTM, please contact EU Supply as follows:

E-mail: uksupport@eu-supply.com

Telephone: 0800 840 2050 during office hours ONLY (08.00 to 17.00)

The council will work in collaboration with appointed supplier(s) to maximise all opportunities to strive for continuous improvement in service delivery and efficiencies. A contract management framework is in place which sets out minimum best practice activities and frequency that these should occur, as well as who should be involved, depending on the risk of the contract. All contracts are risk assessed and the level of risk i.e low, medium or high risk will be set out in any procurement and contract documentation. Please see the "documents" section on the right hand side of this page to access the framework.

[NB: these processes, rules and teminolgy will change with the implementation of PA 23 in February 2025]

The Council does not always advertise its requirements as a direct tender or quote. In accordance with best practice and the Council's Contract Procedure Rules, the Council may identify a suitable framework, with existing suppliers. In this scenario, the Council will be obliged to conduct an exercise with those party to the framework only and this will not be an open tender. Alternatively, a DPS can be used, which is designed to allow new participants to join subject to assessment and subject to how the DPS has been set up.

The type of procurement procedure conducted by the Council is driven by the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and UK legislation for public procurement. Primarily, the total value and category (goods, works, services, utilities) of the procurement determines the procurement route. Details of thresholds for each is detailed [here] but in brief, the approaches fall into to three main categories:

1. Request For Quotation (RFQ)

2. Open Tenders – below ‘UK Threshold’

3. Above UK Threshold – requires a procedure in accordance with The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (subject to review following the expected implementation of the Procurement Act 2023)

RFQs

The Council will issue a request to selected companies, the minimum number of which is determined by value.

Open Tenders

A formal open competitive tender, will most likely be published online via the Council’s tender portal and advertised as a tender opportunity via Contracts Finder. The Tender will be open to anyone who registers unless the exercise is undertaken using a framework or DPS where only those attached to these facilities can apply

Tenders subject to advertisement via Find a Tender / The Public Contract Regulations 2015 (NB: subject to review in line with the Procurement Act 2023)

An appropriate UK procurement procedure will be undertaken and advertised in strict accordance with the regulations. The tender will be open to anyone who applies and in line with the adopted process. The Council typically uses Open and Restricted Procedures for tenders that require advertisement in Find a Tender. Below is a brief overview of the procedures the Council has used, other types are available, these are the most commonly used:

• Open procedure - where any business may tender in response to the advertised contract. There is only one step.
• Restricted procedure - where only selected bidders are invited to submit a full tender after initial application. There are two steps.
• Competitive Dialogue procedure - where the public authority opens a dialogue with potential bidders on larger contracts, a negotiation stage is optional. There are two to three steps.

For most of the procedures shown above there will be a mandatory pass or fail element to the evaluation, which will be detailed in the documentation. For tenders and above threshold tenders, this will be in the form of a Selection Questionnaire (SQ), based on the Cabinet Office standard SQ. An example of this can be found in the section below (Winchester City Council Selection Questionnaire) and will be completed on line with the Council’s tender portal. For RFQs, these may be just short questions in the document.

Where possible and appropriate, the Council will actively seek to engage with suppliers before a live tender process begins. Pre Covid-19, an example of this has consisted of an open invitation via a PIN (Prior Information Notice) to inform would be bidders of an open forum. These events were open to all who responded and a consisted of a presentation of the Council’s intended process and aims along with open questions and answers. These Q&A were shared in writing with the attendees and were also made available in any resulting tender process. The idea of these events is to allow open dialogue before the formalities of any tender process begins and allows the process to be shaped for a better outcome for all concerned. With the pandemic, the Council has had to adapt how these are conducted but key principles to these types of events are equality and transparency; they will be open to all and any detail on the discussions (open questions and clarifications) will be made available to all publicly. Please review any public notices for details of forthcoming events and how to register.

There are usually two elements to any competitive procedure, large or small and will vary in complexity dependent on the value and process used.

 

1. The Council will state Selection Criteria, which is usually pass or fail and more often than not be based on mandatory standards that are required to perform the contact and will around economic and technical aspects. In some procedures, these questions are based on standard formats developed the Cabinet Office.

   Details of these can be found here

    

2. The Council will state Award Criteria that will be used determine an outcome and these will be stated in the documents. The Council will always look for Best Value during contracts and procurement procedures. In the majority of exercises, the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) evaluation model will be chosen by the department officers [soon to MAT under PA23]. This model assesses ‘qualitative’ and ‘quantitative’ aspects, ie not just the (lowest) price. The Council’s agreed price vs quality ratio is 60:40 in favour of price but in some circumstances, this may be varied or a price only model may be approved and justified as appropriate.

    

Where a selection questionnaire is used, it will based on the version included in this section and will be completed on line for your Convenience . The majority of questions are pass / fail and based on a standard format developed for use across all public sector procurements. The essence of this questionnaire is to reduce the administrative burden and duplication.Standard SQ - example ^{(pdf, 226kb)}

NB: subject to review in line with the Procurement Act 2023) 

See detail here https://www.winchester.gov.uk/business/opportunities-to-work-with-the-council/how-we-buy-a-supplier-s-guide/payment-insurance

On other matters https://www.winchester.gov.uk/business/covid-19-support

Please see this page for the Council's general terms and conditions for goods and services and also for guidance on the types of contract form the Council uses

The Council is committed to promoting delivery Social Value through its supply chain to support the community. Social Value in this context means; skills training, apprenticeship opportunities and graduate programmes, community support, improved environmental outcomes and generating benefits to the local economy. To assist with this, Environmental and Social Value will be included in any evaluation criteria where the 'Most Economically Advantageous Tender' (MEAT) model is used. The Council will be looking to see where potential suppliers are actively contributing to solutions that offer a measurable impact on the environment and community. Where relevant, the evaluation criteria will link directly to these aims and cover areas such as:

• Environmental: single use plastic, carbon emissions, recycling, alternative fuels and power
• Social: apprenticeship opportunities, training, employing local people, paying the Living Wage, activities around people related legislation (Modern Slavery Act 2015, Equality Act 2010)

You can read more about sustainable procurement in the council's Guide to Sustainable Procurement, which has been prepared for officers procuring on behalf of the council.