I attended a great event this morning hosted by Leigh Hunt regarding how to find and respond to contracts published by Warwickshire County Council (and lots of the principles will probably apply to other local authorities too. I will look into this and report back).
OK so first of all what are the financial limits the Council has to adhere to when procuring goods and services?
Financial Limits
<£2000 – 1 quote required
£2-10,000 - 2 written quotes
£10-30,000 – 3 written quotes
>£30,000 – open tender
>£156,442 – open European tender.
The above values relate to complete contract values and are not annual amounts. Please be aware that figures may vary between Councils.
Process
Sometimes when authorities are issuing technical contracts they may have open dialogue with suppliers and possibly invite them to an open day before issuing work notices. The procurer’s cannot be experts in every subject therefore they use these open days to identify what technological options are currently available to assist them in producing their contract documentation. It is also a useful opportunity for suppliers to understand requirements in more depth. Therefore building relationships with the procurer’s responsible for your area of business can be extremely beneficial. Contact names and details can be found on the Councils website (see links to local opportunities below).
How they judge submissions
Read the requirements carefully because different area’s will be weighted differently to reflect the importance to the contract. Submissions are not judged on price alone, the procurer’s are looking for the most economically advantageous solution. For example, a company may come in at the lowest price but if they havent factored in maintenance, consumables etc then the overall cost could end up being much higher than other bids. Procurer’s are therefore looking for evidence of a well thought out, complete end-to-end, all-encompassing solution.
Requirements
Local authorities require their suppliers to have high levels of professional indemnity insurance and also relevant policies in place for example health and safety, environmental, equal opportunities etc. This doesn’t mean that you must have all of these things in place when you tender for the work, more that you provide a commitment to putting these things in place should you be successful. It is worth noting that you will need policies etc that are relevant to your business so think twice before going on the Internet and copying existing policies. Always ensure they are appropriate to the size and nature of your business.
Quality Standards
The Public Sector is not able to specify that a supplier has one quality standard over another as this would be seen as unfair. It can however state that a company holding a recognised quality standard will carry higher weighing than one that doesn’t. Therefore all of you out there that are Accredit UK certified should ensure you make this clear on your submissions.
Feedback
Whether you win the business or not you should always ask for feedback. This will ensure that you learn from any mistakes and can strengthen your position moving forward.
Opportunity Websites
Examples of websites that publish contract/tender opportunities are:
In-tend ESPO Supply2Gov
Please note the above advertise contracts across all sectors, not just ICT. You can pre-qualify on some of these sites but you will be charged a fee. I have it on good authority however that local authorities do not give preference to any pre-qualified companies as they’re not allowed to. I therefore suggest that this excercise would be a waste of time and money.
Local Opportunities
A good source of local information is the procurement section of Warwickshire County Council’s website. This publishes current opportunities, recent wins (providing companies with the opportunity to contact contract winner’s and establish if there are any sub-contracting opportunities available) and also contracts that are due to end soon and will therefore be up for renewal.
The contracts listed are not all ICT specific but this is a central location where all of Warwickshire Council’s requirements are listed. You should revisit this site every 2 weeks to check for updates. There is the facility to link this site to your website via an RSS feed should you wish to do so.
Training
There are training courses available that will take you through the steps required in order to contract with the Public Sector. There are many different courses available at a range of different prices. Please research your course carefully before paying any money as there are lots of providers out there and you will need to be sure that any course booked is appropriate for your needs.
Further Information
The event I attended this morning was accompanied by a set of slides. As soon as they are available on Warwickshire County Councils website I will upload a link to them here.
I hope this information is useful and wish you all the best of luck.
Leanne
