1. No category

Guide on How to do Business with
Durham County Council
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Contents:
1. Introduction
Pg
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2. Rules and Regulations
o Local Rules
o EU Rules
o Financial Thresholds
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11
3.
4.
5.
6.
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18
22
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Registering your organisation on the NEPO portal
Registering interest for contract opportunities
Viewing your contract opportunities
Sub-contracting Opportunities
7. Completing and Submitting a Tender
o Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)
o Invitation To Tender (ITT)
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8. Procurement Contact Points
9. Alternative Formats
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Appendices
o Appendix 1: Glossary of Terms
o Appendix 2: Links
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36
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1. Introduction
Durham County Council Corporate Procurement Vision:
“To ensure that all procurement decisions made by the Council help to
deliver the corporate plan objectives by demonstrating value for money
and the effective use of resources, as well as ensuring that the
procurement spend is used strategically to achieve sustainable community
benefits and continuous improvement in service delivery”
About this Guide
This guide is designed to assist organisations who wish to supply Durham
County Council with goods, materials, services or works. The guide helps in the
following ways:
It explains how organisations can be alerted to the opportunities which are
available to supply the Council.
It explains how to bid for council work and also what information will be
required. It highlights contact points which will provide assistance to
suppliers on issues covered within the guide.
The guide outlines the rules and regulations that the Council must follow in
procuring goods, services and works.
Durham County Council encourages competition and welcomes bids from new
and established suppliers, especially from local small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs). Durham County Council encourages applications from all
sections of the community.
What are the benefits of working with the Council?
The Council is:
Fair
Non-discriminatory
Professional
A long established organisation
Prompt to pay
Organisations will appreciate that there is a great deal of competition for Durham
County Council contracts, and this guide cannot assure individual organisations
success. It should however, provide sufficient information to give the opportunity
to give a quotation or tender for Council work.
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Who are Durham County Council?
Durham County Council is the fourth largest council in the UK. It is made up of an
elected assembly of 126 councillors accountable to almost 500,000 people in
County Durham. The Council is responsible for the efficient and effective
provision of a wide range of public services to the people of the County.
As an authority, Durham County Council spends approximately £600 million per
annum on the provision of goods, services and works. The Council‟s
procurement activities enable services to be provided in an efficient, costeffective and sustainable way and assist the Council to meet its corporate
objectives, which are:
Promoting strong, healthy and safe communities
Building a strong economy
Looking after the environment
Developing lifelong learning
What is procurement?
Procurement is the process of acquiring goods, works and services, covering
both acquisitions from third parties and from in-house providers. The process
spans the whole cycle, from identification of needs through to the end of a
services contract or the end of the useful life of an asset.
Procurement requires local authorities to ensure sustainability and to secure
continuous positive outcomes for the economy, while using its resources
effectively and efficiently in order to achieve value for money.
Commissioning is a whole-service approach to the design, management,
delivery and monitoring of a specialist service. It is an ongoing, cyclical process
to secure the strategic development of services provided from public, private or
voluntary organisations and involves planning, designing, and implementing a
range of services that are required. It is facilitated by procurement activity.
Grants are payments the Council may give from time to time to certain
organisations for certain purposes (e.g. to help a voluntary group provide holiday
activities for disabled children, or to help a local cricket club repair its changing
room etc) as the Council agrees with the recipient. Recipients will usually be notfor-profit groups (e.g. charities, voluntary groups, local sporting clubs, artistic
groups etc). It is extremely unlikely that grants would be provided for commercial
or political purposes.
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Grants are not subject to the Council‟s internal contract procedure rules or to EU
public tendering rules in the same way procurements are. Therefore, grant
recipients will not be subject to competitive tendering exercises (or requirements
to get three quotes, depending on the size of the expenditure) that would
otherwise apply if the Council were procuring a service. However, the Council
may sometimes choose (but is not legally required) to add an element of
competition when inviting applications for grants from the public.
Also, whilst a recipient of a grant will usually be subject to some form of contract
(usually commensurate in size and complexity with the amount of the grant), it
will usually be less onerous than a contract for services (which will look just like a
normal commercial contract).
The Council cannot simply choose to treat a payment as a grant to avoid
conducting a proper tendering process. There are rules on the subject. In
summary:
If the Council specifically wants (and actively seeks from the market) a
service of a particular type to start on a particular date, it will be a service that
needs to be procured.
If a provider from the market approaches the Council to offer a service of a
specific type to start on a particular date, and is for the benefit of the Council
or is otherwise to help the Council meet a specific statutory obligation, it will
also be a service that needs to be procured.
If the requirement of the Council is vague, and the recipient is likely to
conduct the activity anyway, and there is no direct benefit to the Council, then
payment can be made as a grant. For example, the Council may have a
vague requirement to provide more exercise for children in Easington. It may
be approached by a local club to provide (say) swimming lessons. The
Council may provide a grant in this situation: the Council has not had a
specific requirement, the service is not for the benefit of the Council (but for
local children), the Council has no statutory obligation to provide swimming
lessons and the provider would provide the swimming lessons anyway (it just
needs financial help in doing so). However, if the Council approached the
market requesting swimming lessons in Easington for 200 children
commencing on 1st April, then it is probably procuring a service.
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Basic Procurement Cycle
Durham
County
Council
Commissioning Strategy
Procurement
and
The aims of this strategy are to:
i) Support commissioning and procurement activities across the authority to
ensure corporate-wide consistency, efficiency and innovation in line with
corporate strategic objectives.
ii) Provide clear, strategic guidance from the corporate centre to enable and
empower staff engaged in commissioning and procurement in service areas to
make decisions and take actions in the most strategically informed, effective and
professional ways possible.
iii) To maximise opportunities to realise efficiencies and achieve value for money
through commissioning and procurement activities, in line with the Council‟s
Value for Money Strategy.
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iv) To embed an understanding of, and commitment to, building sustainability into
all commissioning and procurement activities in order to meet wider social,
economic and environmental outcomes for the County and beyond, in line with
the Council‟s Sustainable Communities Strategy.
The strategy will be available via the Council‟s website.
Durham County Council does not operate in isolation and has a strong regional
presence via the North East Regional Improvement & Efficiency Partnership
(NERIEP) and the North Eastern Purchasing Organisation (NEPO), as well as
working in collaboration with other Local Authorities in the region.
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2. Rules and Regulations
Local Authority procurement is governed by procurement regulations at a
European, National and Local level.
Local Rules
Durham County Council has Contract Procedure Rules which officers comply
with, as well as the Council‟s Constitution and with all UK and European Union
legal requirements. Officers will ensure that any agents, consultants and
contractual partners acting on their behalf also comply with the requirements.
Contract Procedure Rules:
The basic principles of the Contract Procedure Rules are that all procurement
procedures must:
Meet Best Value by achieving the optimum combination of whole life
costs, quality and benefits to meet the customer‟s requirement.
Be consistent with the highest standards of integrity.
Operate in a transparent manner.
Ensure fairness in allocating public contracts.
Comply with all legal requirements.
Support the Council‟s corporate and service aims and policies.
Comply with the Council‟s corporate Procurement and Commissioning
Strategy and Procurement Code of Practice or documented and approved
sourcing strategy.
What does the Council buy?
The procurement functions of Durham County Council are carried out in 8 service
areas. The principle areas of procurement are in:
Corporate Procurement
Property Services
Neighbourhoods
Direct Services
Adult and Community Services
Children and Young People‟s Services
Transport
Regeneration and Economic Development
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By signing up to the NEPO Portal (see section 3) you will be notified, by email, of
advertised Durham County Council contract opportunities, related to the
categories you select when registering.
European Rules
All public sector contracts, irrespective of their value within the European Union
(EU), are covered by a treaty which incorporates the free movement of goods
and services and which prevents discrimination against firms on the grounds of
nationality.
The treaty principles are:
Equal treatment (non-discrimination fairness)
• Treat all tenders in the same way without favour or prejudice
• Avoid brand names when specifying and accept equivalence
Transparency (openness)
• Advertising appropriate to the size of the contract
• Be open and upfront about selection (PQQ) or award criteria (Tender)
Proportionality
• Requirements must be relevant to the contract and necessary
Mutual recognition
• Qualifications or certificates from other member states
Confidentiality
• Must respect confidentiality of information received during tender process
The principles of the treaty are supported by a series of EU Procurement
Directives. The directives and regulations require the Council to follow detailed
procedures for all procurements above certain financial thresholds for „works‟ and
„goods & services‟ (see p11 for current thresholds). The thresholds are reviewed
every two years to check changes to the thresholds visit:
http://www.ogc.gov.uk/procurement_policy_and_application_of_eu_rules_eu_pro
curement_thresholds_.asp
To comply with these directives, the Council must follow some basic principles:
A specific Tender Notice must be placed in the supplement to the
European Journal (OJEU) to give all suppliers in the EU an equal
opportunity to tender.
Tenders must be invited in accordance with one of the prescribed
procedures (open, restricted, negotiated or competitive dialogue - there
are also two separate urgency procedures). Each procedure imposes
minimum time-scales covering the tender activities to ensure that
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reasonable time to respond to adverts and prepare submissions is given
to interested parties.
A notice of contract award must be placed in OJEU.
Unsuccessful suppliers must be debriefed
There is a mandatory "Alcatel" standstill period, which means you must
allow 10 days between the notification of contract award and the contract
signature.
EU level services have 2 categories:
Part A:
• Requires full tender process. Main requirements:
• Europe wide advertising
• Standstill period between „award‟ and signing contract
• Specific list of types of services (e.g. accounting, consultancy,
engineering, business, IT, financial, transport, maintenance).
• Generally services where cross-border bidders might be interested
Part B:
• All other services not listed in the Part A
• Generally services of a local nature unlikely to attract cross-border interest
• Much fewer requirements apply (technical specifications, obligation to
publish award notices)
• Still must follow our internal rules, principles of equal treatment,
transparency etc
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Financial Thresholds
The flow charts below details the financial thresholds and the relevant
procurement approach against those thresholds.
Goods and Services:
Works:
In order to help Small and Medium Enterprises to do business with the council
we have recently raised the threshold for three quotes from £2,001 to £5,001, in
line with a regional approach.
Also, a decision has been made that all quotations will be electronic by Jan 1st
2011, providing that the supplier is on the ProContract system (subject to
agreement by council).
In order to bid for DCC business you must be registered on the Pro-contract
System via the NEPO portal.
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3. Registering your organisation on the NEPO portal
Durham County Council uses the ProContract electronic-Tendering System for
all tenders and quotations. This is a shared facility managed on our behalf by the
North Eastern Purchasing Organisation (NEPO). To be able to express your
interest for a particular Tender you must register your organisation with the
ProContract e-Tendering System.
Stage 1:
Visit the NEPO portal website using the following link:
https://www.qtegov.com/procontract/supplier.nsf/frm_home?openForm
(Hold down your „CTRL‟ button and click on the link, or alternatively copy and
paste the website address into the address bar of your internet browser)
Stage 2:
Click on the „Register Free‟ link.
Register
Free link
The following page will open:
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Stage 3: Supplier Registration
From here the „Supplier Registration wizard‟ will guide you through the
registration process. Select „Next‟ when you have read/completed each page.
3.1 Contact information and Security (Step 1 of 5)
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3.2 Company Details (Step 2 of 5)
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3.3 Category Selection (Step 3 of 5)
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3.4 Organisation Selection (Step 4 of 5)
3.5 Conditions and Privacy (Step 5 of 5)
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Stage 4:
Once you have registered, your user name and password will be emailed to you.
Please ensure that you keep your user name and password confidential.
The following section will provide you with guidance on how to access and use
the ProContract eTendering System.
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4. Registering interest for contract opportunities
To register your interest for a DCC contract opportunity you will need to follow
the steps outlined below through the ProContract e-Tendering system:
Stage 1:
Go to the NEPO website:
https://www.qtegov.com/procontract/supplier.nsf/frm_home?openForm
Login
Stage 2:
Login by selecting the „login‟ icon, located at the top right hand corner of the
screen (see above).
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Stage 3:
Enter your user name and password (sent to you via e-mail after registering) and
click „sign in‟.
Stage 4:
To view the latest opportunities click on the „binoculars‟ icon:
Search for
Latest
Opportunities
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Stage 5:
In the „organisation‟ drop down box select „Durham County Council‟:
You can further refine your search by selecting a category from the drop down
list. You can search for a specific key word in contract opportunities in the
„Contains‟ box. You can also choose how you would like the results to be
displayed by using the „Order by‟ drop down menu.
When you have completed your search criteria select „Search‟ and you will be
presented with a list of Opportunities.
Stage 6:
Once you have located a contract you would like to express an interest in you
need to click on the title of the contract which will take you to a screen where you
can „Register‟.
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Register
interest
Stage 7:
Once your interest has been notified to the Procurement Officer, your registration
will be accepted. You will receive an email from the ProContract e-Tendering
system within 3 workings days once this has been completed.
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5. Viewing your contract opportunities
Again, visit the NEPO portal website using the following link:
https://www.qtegov.com/procontract/supplier.nsf/frm_home?openForm
Login by clicking on the „login‟ icon which is located in the top right hand corner
of the screen. Enter your user name and password and click „sign in‟.
Select the „My Opportunities‟ link highlighted in blue, located on the right hand
side of the page under the „Opportunities‟ heading.
My
Opportunities
This will take you to the Opportunities Portal where you can view any PQQ‟s,
RFQ and ITT‟s of which your interest has been accepted.
To view the contract detail click on the „Contract ID‟ link highlighted in blue:
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To open the Tender Information click on the „View‟ icon located in the right hand
corner of the Tender Summary screen.
The Tender information page will open:
Towards the bottom of the screen under „Current Attachments‟ will be all the
relevant information related to the Tender. Click on each attachment to view and
save to your own personal computer:
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Once you have reviewed the information and decided whether you intend to
submit or opt out of the Tender you can advise Durham County Council by
selecting „Opt Out‟ or „Register Intent‟ on the previous Tender Summary screen:
For further guidance notes see the „Supplier User Guides‟ located in the bottom
right hand corner of the screen.
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6. Sub-contracting Opportunities:
The Pro-Contract system now offers the „ProSubcontract‟ module for suppliers.
1. From the home page select the „Subcontracting Opportunities‟ icon at the
bottom of the page.
Subcontracting
Opportunities
2. This will direct you to the following page. Here you can search for
opportunities by category and location. The suppliers details will be
displayed to the subcontractor to allow direct contact.
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This space allows registered suppliers to advertise their organisations
subcontracting opportunities. To do this select the „New Document‟ tab at the top
of the page and complete the required information:
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7. Completing and Submitting a Tender
Tendering Procedures:
Open - all interested parties are invited to tender
• Full contract documents are issued to tenderers at the invitation to
tender stage.
• No short listing process is used
• Usually used if the tender is simple or expecting a low response
Restricted - only persons selected by the contracting authority may tender
• 2 stages
• Initial screening (Pre Qualification Questionnaire) – a limited
number go through to full tender stage
• Used for more complex tenders, or where large interest anticipated
Negotiated Procedure – only persons selected by the contracting authority may
tender.
• Initial screening (Pre-Qualification stage) – a limited number go
through to full tender stage
• Invitation to negotiation then initiate the negotiation phase
Competitive Dialogue (rarely used) – only persons selected by the contracting
authority may tender.
• Initial screening (Pre-Qualification stage) – a limited number go
through to full tender stage
• Those suppliers can then participate in a dialogue to discuss the
project and develop solutions.
• Suppliers then submit bids
As a public body, Durham County Council is required to provide a much higher
level of transparency than private sector companies. This is particularly relevant
when advertising in Europe via the Official Journal of the European Union
(OJEU). Tender processes advertised in the OJEU may be conducted via the
„restricted‟, „negotiated‟ or „open‟ procedures. Further information regarding these
procedures can be viewed on the following website:
www.simap.europa.eu/index_en.htm
Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)
Before submitting your full tender submission (or „bid‟), you may first be required
to complete a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) stage, depending on the
complexity and the time scale of the tender you are applying for, and whether or
not it is via the OJEU procedures outlined above. In a PQQ, it is important that
you provide all the information requested. The information which you provide at
this stage will form the basis of deciding whether you will be shortlisted for the
next stage i.e. Invitation to Tender.
You may be required to supply supporting evidence where applicable. If you are
in any doubt regarding what is needed, please ask Corporate Procurement.
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Invitation to Tender (ITT)
Following the PQQ stage, tenderers selected to proceed will receive an Invitation
to Tender (ITT). If the process does not involve a PQQ stage (e.g. the „open‟
procedure outlined above) then on application, only the ITT document will be
dispatched. This pack normally consists of:
Letter of Invitation
Instructions to Tenderers
Form of Tender
Specification
Schedule of Rates/Pricing Document
Terms and Conditions of Contract
Quality Requirements/Method Statement Questions
Tender Evaluation Criteria
Any Relevant Supporting Information
If the process does not involve a PQQ stage, the ITT will also include a Business
Questionnaire in which basic information about your organisation must be
provided.
Information required from tenderers (what is expected)
The general information requested provides basic details about an organisation,
verifies that it can be identified as a legitimate discrete trading organisation, that
it has acceptable level of economic and financial standing and that it promotes
good practices in areas of equal opportunities/diversity, environmental protection,
social responsibility, and health and safety.
The areas which are assessed can be summarised into the following sections:
Financial Information
In order to understand a prospective supplier's financial situation, Durham
County Council will carry out a financial assessment which may involve the use
of a credit reference agency in order to arrive at a decision as to whether or not it
is prepared to enter into a contract with a potential supplier. We will want to be
sure that the firm has the financial resources and stability to carry out the
required work, and that they are likely to complete the contract satisfactorily.
Durham County Council‟s decision in this regard will be final and it will not enter
into detailed discussion regarding how it has arrived at the decision.
Equal Opportunities and Diversity
Durham County Council takes its obligations very seriously with regard to
equalities and diversity both in terms employment and service delivery. The
County Council will work with all suppliers and contractors to ensure that those
who provide services on their behalf are familiar with their responsibilities and
subscribe to the County Council‟s equality and diversity policies. As this is a top
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priority for us and we will make appropriate monitoring arrangements to ensure
that suppliers and contractors share this positive approach.
For further information regarding equality and diversity please visit Durham
County Council‟s web site:
http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.aspx?ServiceId=861
Environmental and Social Responsibility in Procurement (Sustainable
Procurement)
Durham County Council has adopted a Sustainable Procurement Policy which
outlines the Council‟s commitment to responsible procurement which delivers
environmental, social and economic benefits. For Durham County Council to
achieve „value for money‟, environmental and social factors must be considered
as part of the Whole Life Value of a product or service. The Council may
therefore, where appropriate to do so, use environmental and ethical product
performance information when evaluating tenders during the selection process.
For further information regarding Durham County Council‟s Sustainable
Procurement Policy, please visit the Council‟s web site:
http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.aspx?ServiceId=829
Durham County Council has also adopted a Sustainable Timber Procurement
Policy; outlining the Council‟s commitment to ensuring that all timber and woodbased product purchased by the council are from legal and sustainable sources.
To download a copy of the policy visit the above link.
Health and Safety
Depending upon the nature of the goods or services, organisations may be
required to submit a written Health and Safety policy signed by a senior person.
This will be the case if you provide a service and employ five or more people
(Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 Section 2 [3]). In addition if you provide a
service you may be required to provide specific risk assessments and method
statements relating to individual projects.
Experience and Technical Ability
Durham County Council may request further information to assess whether a
company has the relevant experience and technical ability to carry out the
categories of work or to provide the type and quality of service required.
Insurance
Contract Documents will outline Contractors obligations regarding this area.
Further Information
If an application relates to a specific contract, it will be necessary to provide
references. Some further questions may also be asked which are tailored to the
needs of the individual contract and the responses and supporting evidence will
be used to assess whether a company has the required levels of skills and
abilities to tender.
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How does the Council decide?
Tenders which are returned within the stated deadline are evaluated against predetermined criteria.
The decision to choose a supplier/provider is based on criteria, which is listed in
the Invitation to Tender and is ranked according to importance. The decision to
award will be made in line with Best Value principles including quality and whole
life value issues as well as price.
Following the evaluation process, a letter will be sent informing you of whether or
not you have been successful in your bid/offer.
If you are unsuccessful you may ask for feedback to help you understand why
you have been unsuccessful. Being unsuccessful in one contract does not mean
that you will not be successful in the future.
Successful tenderers may also wish to request feedback – even if you were the
winning bidder, there may still be lessons to be learned.
Why suppliers fail to obtain Durham County Council
Business
There are many reasons why suppliers are unsuccessful in tendering we have
listed below some of the more common reasons:
Failure to comply with closing dates and times for submissions (we cannot
legally accept any tenders submitted after the closing dates/times!)
Failure to comply with „Instructions to Tenderers‟
Failure to complete the necessary documentation.
Failure to match specifications
Evidence a history of poor quality performance
Failure to demonstrate the necessary financial stability
Failure to demonstrate sufficient resources
Failure to provide samples, when requested
Failure to submit the most cost-effective, value for money offer/bid
Evidence of insufficient experience in relation to the goods or services
required
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Tendering Tips
The tender document will specify the Council‟s requirements and in general will
request additional supporting documentation on submission of a bid. If you do not
submit all the information requested this may, depending on what you have
overlooked, be an immediate „show stopper‟ and your bid set aside.
Durham County Council will always offer unsuccessful tenderers feedback to find
out why their bid has failed. This information can be helpful in completing any
future tenders. Being unsuccessful in one contract does not mean that you will be
unsuccessful in the future.
If you do not understand the specification or other requirements, ask for
clarification through the e-tendering portal. It may be that the procurement officer
will clarify the point to all tenderers electronically so everyone can benefit from
the query. N.B. If an organisation has a query which is specific to their bid, and
could not be seen to offer any advantage then the procurement officer may not
be required to submit the response to all tenderers.
You must respond in the required format, follow the layout requested, answer all
the questions and be concise; it is the quality of the information submitted, not
the quantity.
Once you have completed the required documentation, you must ensure that the
offer/bid is returned electronically, within the date and time specified, failure to do
so may exclude you from the evaluation process.
Tenders are opened simultaneously via the portal by Durham County Council
Legal Services. Quotations are opened simultaneously by Durham County
Council Corporate Procurement.
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8. Procurement Contact Points
Service Area
Asset Management
Number
0191 3835715
Construction
Contact Point
Corporate
Procurement
Keith Marley
Neighbourhoods
Karen Ellison
0191 3725101
Adults,
Health
and Louise Lyons
Wellbeing
Children & Young People‟s Riana Nelson
Services
0191 3833330
Transport / Fleet
Norman Ramsey
0191 3725159
Passenger Transport
Richard Startup
0191 3725384
Customer Services
Keith Hollins
0191 3708603
0191 3833246
0191 3834398
(See appendix 2 for more information about procurement functions)
Please Note: All Educational Supplies / Goods are purchased through one of
the above service areas.
9. Alternative Formats
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Appendix 1: Glossary of Terms
Asset Management – is the service within the Corporate Resources Service
Grouping responsible for management of estates, property and corporate
procurement.
Benchmarking – standard or set of standards used as a point of reference
for evaluating performance of level of quality. Benchmarks may be drawn from
an organisation‟s own experience, from the experience of other organisations
in the sector or from groups of organisations who collaborate in such
information.
Category Management/Strategic Sourcing – a holistic approach to
commissioning and procurement that considers the what, why and how of
procurement and not just from whom. A category management approach will
ensure a cross-Council (and, where appropriate, regional) view of major
spend areas in order to maximise value for money and realise benefits in
practical terms.
Commissioning - is a whole service approach to the design, management,
delivery and monitoring of a specialist service. It is an ongoing, cyclical
process to secure the strategic development of services provided from public,
private or voluntary organisations and involves planning, designing, and
implementing a range of services that are required (and it is facilitated by
Procurement activity).
Contracts register – is a central store of data compiled by services and
managed by Corporate Procurement which identified all contractual
arrangements held by the Council. The register is a „live‟ document which will
be used to support strategic commissioning and procurement decision
making.
Electronic tendering – is a system which allows the tendering process to be
carried out on-line. This process is the default option for commissioning and
procurement in the Council.
Equality & Diversity - making sure that everyone is treated fairly and with
respect, giving everyone equal opportunities to learn, work and access the
services they need. Equality and Diversity considerations recognise that,
although equal, each individual has different needs and requirements.
Evaluation criteria – the benchmark, standard or yardstick against which
achievement, compliance, performance and sustainability of a tendered option
is considered.
Framework agreements – an agreement or other arrangement between one
or more contracting authorities and one or more economic operators which
establishes the terms (in particular, the price and, where appropriate, volume)
under which the economic operator will enter into one or more contracts with
the authority in the period during which the framework agreement applies.
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Gateway Review – a gateway review is an evaluation carried out at key
decision points by a team of experienced people who are independent of the
project team. The gateway review process provides assurance to the project
owner that their project can progress successfully to the next stage. Gateways
have been designed to support projects that procure services, construction
and property projects, and IT business change projects. The gateway review
project in local government is managed by Local Partnerships.
Local Area Agreements – is an agreement between local partners and the
government that sets out the most pressing priorities for the country over a
three year period. All partners will work together to achieve the agreed
priorities.
Local Partnerships – is a joint venture between the Local Government
Association and Partnerships UK, incorporating 4ps. It provides best practice
advice, peer and delivery support on all aspects of large project and
programme management and delivery.
Make or Buy – the act of making a strategic choice between producing a
product or service in-house (via internal resource) or buying externally (from
suppliers outside of the contracting organisation). The „buy‟ options may also
be referred to as outsourcing.
Mixed economy – the use of all sources of supply, including in-house, public
public partnerships, public private partnerships, private sector supply and
VCS supply.
North East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (NEIEP) – is one of
nine Regional Improvement & Efficiency Partnerships in England. It is made
up of all 12 North East councils and 4 Fire & Rescue authorities. It was
launched in April 2008, and builds upon the expertise of the former
Improvement Partnership, the North East Centre of Excellence and North
East Connects (see RIEP definition).
North East Purchasing Organisation - is a purchasing and contracting
consortium consisting of 12 full member local authorities and 9 associate
member local authorities. Established in 1976, NEPO aims to aggregate
contracts and pool purchasing knowledge and expertise. It has expanded its
membership and services and now covers an area from the Scottish border
through to Tyneside, Wearside, County Durham and Teesside. Police,
Probation and Fire Services also participate in many joint procurement
arrangements.
Procurement - is the process of acquiring goods, works and services,
covering both acquisitions from third parties and from in-house providers. The
process spans the whole cycle from identification of needs through to the end
of a services contract or the end of the useful life of an asset. Procurement
requires local authorities to ensure sustainability and to secure continuous
improvement in the economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the exercising of
its functions in order to demonstrate value for money.
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Purchasing consortia – are organisations established for and on behalf of
local authorities to carry out procurement of goods and services where
improved value for money can be achieved through aggregated spend.
Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership – centrally led
partnerships of local authorities working together at a regional level on shared
improvement and efficiency priorities. Formed in 2008, they use local
knowledge and networks to help councils, fire and rescue services and their
partners to improve services and become more efficient. There is a RIEP in
each region of the country, the RIEP associated with Durham being the North
East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (NEIEP).
SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) – organisations that employ
no more than 250 permanent members of staff.
Stakeholders – the person(s), group(s) or organisation(s) that have a direct
or indirect stake (interest) in an organisation, project or activity because they
can affect or be affected by its policies, strategies, objectives and/or activities.
Key stakeholders in a business organisation include creditors, customers,
directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (partners or
shareholders), suppliers, buyers, unions, and the community from which the
business draws its resources.
Supply chain – the entire network of companies and/or other organisations
that are directly or indirectly linked and interdependent in serving the same
customer or client.
Sustainable procurement – the approach through which organisations meet
their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves
social, economic and environmental benefits.
Unitary Authority – the single authority resulting from the brining together of
the former County and the seven district councils, effective from 1st April 2009.
Value For Money - within a procurement context is defined as the optimum
combination of whole life costs and benefits to meet social, economic and
environmental requirements.
Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) – also known as non-for-profit or
third sector organisations, VCS is the sphere of social activity undertaken by
organisations that are non-profit and non-governmental.
Whole life cost – is the capital cost of an asset over the duration of its
lifetime; from the identification of need to the end of the useful life of the asset
and its disposal.
Whole life value – extends the above definition to include the social,
economic and environmental considerations in the value assessment of a
product, service or project.
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Appendix 2: Links
Business Link:
www.businesslink.gov.uk
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?r.l1=1079068363&topicId=
1079363670&r.lc=en&r.s=tl (Business Link page on sustainable business
advice)
DCC:
www.durham.gov.uk
http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.aspx?ServiceId=861 (for further
information regarding equality and diversity at Durham County Council)
http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.aspx?ServiceId=829 (for further
information regarding Durham County Council‟s Corporate Strategy for
Commissioning and Procurement, the Sustainable Procurement Policy and
the Sustainable Timber Procurement Policy)
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/ (for environmental and sustainability information)
Health and Safety Executive:
www.hse.gov.uk
NEIEP (North East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership):
www.northeastiep.gov.uk
NEPO Portal:
www.nepoportal.org
OJEU Tenders Electronic Daily:
http://ted.europa.eu/TED/main/HomePage.do (Tenders Electronic Daily is the
online version of the 'Supplement to the Official Journal of the European
Union', dedicated to European public procurement)
SIMAP:
www.simap.europa.eu/index_en.htm (for further information about tendering
procedures)
Office of Government Commerce:
www.ogc.gov.uk (for general procurement information, including national rules
and procedures)
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