Tendering process

In the advert there will be detailed information as to how the tendering process will work. It may be that you will be required to firstly submit a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) and based on your response you may be invited to tender. Alternatively, you may be invited to tender straightaway. The Invitation to Tender (ITT) will set out clearly the information you must supply, such as accounts and insurances if relevant, any questions you must answer, and the tender submission arrangements.

Please ensure you submit you tender by the stated time in the manner prescribed as no exceptions can be made for late submissions.

Declaration of interests

The Council has strict rules regarding the probity of its members, officers, and suppliers. If, as a potential tenderer, you have a connection with an officer or a member this must be declared as part of the tendering process so that it can be evaluated. If such a link were to come to light at a later stage, then the contract may be deemed to be invalid. Similarly, suppliers should not give hospitality or gifts to officers or members without discussing the matter with the Council's Monitoring Officer first.

Tender evaluation

Tenders will be evaluated on price and quality. The evaluation criteria will be set out in the Invitation to Tender documentation.

Collaboration and partnerships

Where there is a key financial or public benefit, Surrey Heath is keen to work with other local authorities and public service organisations to maximise economies of scale to deliver cost and service efficiencies. To facilitate this, Surrey Heath is a member of the "Surrey Procurement Network", this is a group consisting of all Surrey districts and the County Council. It is looking to achieve best value by exploiting opportunities to combine regional buying power through joint working and partnerships. Recent examples include a joint stationery buying agreement and another one for cash collection services.

The Council also takes advantage of framework agreements tendered by Government buying consortia such as the Government Procurement Service (GPS) which negotiates contracts on behalf of central and local government and can thus obtain substantial savings. Such contracts are fully compliant with Public Procurement Regulations and using them not only demonstrates best value but also significantly reduces the costs of procurement.

Framework agreements

Central and Local Government Organisations procure goods and services collectively through framework agreements. Frameworks are pre-tendered contracts for supply of goods of services and are available for local authorities to use if they so wish. As they have already been tendered there is no need to go through the Council's full tendering and contracts process.

Contract award

Once the tender evaluation is complete, a report recommending acceptance of the 'Most Economically Advantageous Tender' is submitted to the relevant Director or Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chairman of the Executive / relevant Portfolio Holder. Larger contracts may be submitted to the full Executive for approval.

Following acceptance of the recommendation report, the Council's Legal Services will complete the contract documentation with the supplier. Generally, either the Council's Standard Terms and Conditions, or industry standard Contract Terms (for example NEC3 or JCT) are applied to the Contract. This is to ensure that there is no ambiguity over terms and conditions, and so that the Contract can be implemented quickly.

Publication of documents

Surrey Heath Borough Council is covered by the Freedom of Information Act. It is a condition of all tenders that all contracts may become public. If this is not acceptable to a tenderer, then this must be made clear at the tender stage.