Procurement

Economic sustainability

Chichester District Council acknowledges the value of a diverse and competitive supply market. In its procurement, the council will encourage the potential of the local business community that employ local labour and that maintain our employment levels. We note that the council is constrained by both national and European rules in how it procures. However local businesses will be encouraged to develop and build their capacity and potential to enable them to submit competitive tenders.

Environmental management

In its purchasing and procurement Chichester District Council will look to minimise the effect that purchasing and procurement has on the environment.

Details may be asked about action taken by the company to:

Ensure materials used are from sustainable managed sources, e.g. timber from sustainable managed forest
Ensure that materials and products used have been processed in a way which causes minimum damage to the environment
Increase the proportion of products used which have been made from recycled materials
Ensure any surplus of waste material is disposed of in a way that causes the least possible adverse impact on the environment
Reduce waste production and increase the proportion of materials re-used and recycled
Discourage car use and eliminate unnecessary motor vehicle trips
Reduce fuel consumption through, for example, increasing fuel efficiency, driver training, good vehicle maintenance and route planning
Reduce the use of energy for other purposes through, for example, promoting energy saving behaviour, use of energy efficient equipment and good design practices
Increase the proportion of energy used which is from renewable sources
Reduce water use and increase the proportion of water re-used
Protect natural resources and green spaces and increasing biodiversity
Reduce air and water pollution and prevent land contamination
Reduce noise and light pollution
Provide details of Environmental Management Systems and/or Environmental Standards achieved.

Equalities Act 2010

The Act imposes particular duties on local authorities to promote respect for every individual and recognition that no employee, potential employee or service user will be unfairly discriminated against irrespective of their race, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership, gender assignment, sex, sexual orientation, disability and age. All tenderers should be aware of these provisions.

Health & safety

All organisations are required to comply with the duties imposed upon them by the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and subordinate legislation, the risk assessment requirement of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Occupiers Liability Acts.

Chichester District Council is a member of the Contractor Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS) which is a national system for pre contract checks. Assessments are standardised and undertaken by competent assessors from the member organisations.

Insurance

The council's Contract Manager must be supplied with copies of the necessary documents to prove that the contractors have the necessary insurance cover, including public liability, employers liability and where appropriate professional indemnity.

Permit to work

The Contractor will also require, in most cases, a Permit to Work Form (PTW). These are for contractors working on Chichester District Council sites (East Pallant House, Westgate Leisure Centre etc.) where activities could present significant risks to staff, the public, property or systems. The PTW is used to manage day to day work on or in the property and to ensure one contractors activities will not affect another.

Technical assessments - reference sites & referees

A technical assessment will be undertaken to assess the performance, experience and ability of the contractor in providing the works, goods and services.

Tendering procedures

Up to £10,000 - Two written quotes to be obtained. One of which should normally be from a local contractor, if possible.
£10,001 to £49,999 - Suitable approved framework available to be used if there is one. If not two written quotes to be obtained. One of which should normally be from a local contractor, if possible.
£50,001 - UK Threshold - Suitable approved framework available then that should be used, but if not one of the following methodologies should be used:
- A framework agreement;
- A DPS;
- An Open Competitive Procedure;
- At least four written quotations against a written request for quotation under the Restricted Competitive Procedure
- "Constructionline" as detailed under CSO 5.1
Above UK Threshold - Procedures set out in UK legislation must be followed. In most cases, the open procedure, restricted procedure or competitive procedure with negotiation will be used. In certain specialist cases, negotiated procedure without prior publication, competitive dialogue procedure or innovation partnership procedure shall apply.

Council current and future tender opportunities

If you are interested in working with the council and bidding for future tendering opportunities, please register on our our shared e-Tendering portal (opens new window).

The attached documents detail current contracts, invitations to tender and prior information notices at Chichester District Council.

Chichester District Council current and future tender opportunities (Excel doc) [12KB]

Local Government Ombudsman

Unlike private companies, local government is answerable to the Commission for Local Administration (the Ombudsman). The Commission investigates complaints by the public about alleged misadministration by Local Authorities e.g. unreasonable delays, bias and failure to follow proper procedures. In cases where the mal administration has caused injustice, the Commission may recommend the Local Authority pay compensation to the complainant.

The Commission has reminded Local Authorities that the Commission is entitled to investigate not only the actions of Local Authorities but also those by contractors performing works or services for the Local Authority.

The Commission suggests that potential contractors be informed of the following:

The contractor could be subject to investigation by the Ombudsman if a complaint was made about their action when undertaking work on behalf of the Authority.
The Ombudsman would expect the contractor to co-operate in any investigation in exactly the same way as Local authorities do. If however there were to be any difficulty , the Ombudsman has the same powers as the High Court to compel witnesses to attend for interview and to require the production of documents.
Local Authorities could include in contracts a provision to enable the Authority to recover from the contractor any payments made by the Authority to the complainant following a finding of mal administration which caused injustice. The provision would also need to cover payments made under the terms of an early settlements of a complaint made to the Ombudsman without a formal investigation and report.

Canvassing

If the tenderer directly or indirectly:

Canvasses any member or employee of the council concerning the submission of its tender or the award of such contract, or;
Obtains , or attempts to obtain, information from any such person concerning any other tender, the tenderer shall be disqualified.

Freedom of Information Act

This Act came into operation on 1 January 2005. From this date anyone has a presumed right of access to all recorded information held by the council subject to some exceptions. This means that some details of a tender or a tendering company may be subject to a request for information and disclosure. One of the exemptions to disclosure is where the information is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person (which may include a company). The council will ordinarily notify any tenderer or its contracting partner of a receipt of an application to ascertain their views. However, the final decision must rest with the council after applying the public interest test i.e. whether the public interest in withholding the information is greater than the public interest in disclosing it. It is probable that the tender figure will normally be released.

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