Application for approved list status
Leeds City Council spends in excess of £500 million a year on the procurement of goods, works and services from the private sector. The vast majority of this expenditure is covered by formal contractual arrangements for which invitations to tender are publicly advertised.
If you want to find out more about current and forthcoming tender opportunities or wish to apply for approved list status please visit the Council’s supplier and contract management system (SCMS) website by logging on to scms.alito.co.uk (without www).
For further details please download the SCMS promotional leaflet.
SCMS case studies
The SCMS is now in to its fourth year after going live in June 2006. A series of case studies have been produced by suppliers which detail their experiences of using the system which you may find useful.
Guide to tendering
The prospect of tendering with an organisation like Leeds City Council can be daunting for companies who are new to the process. This Guide to Tendering explains what is involved in an easy to understand way.
Purchasing cards
Purchasing Cards are now the Council’s preferred method of payment. It is the Council’s policy that all suppliers with an annual turnover of over £100k are Purchasing Card enabled to Level 3 Line Item Detail (LID3).
Suppliers with a turnover greater than £100K who are unwilling to accept Purchasing Cards will be excluded from the tender process. Only under exceptional circumstances will the Council agree other methods of payment.
If you would like further information regarding Purchasing Cards please contact Maurice Sibai on Tel:0113 247 6635, mobile: 0754 560 4276, or email:maurice.sibai@leeds.gov.uk
Equality in procurement - a guide for contractors
This document includes general information on race relations, disability discrimination, sexual discrimination and the relevant legislation. It also gives examples of good equality practice on site and gives details of the council's own equality policies. It is designed to give contractors an overview of equality issues and what the council will expect them to demonstrate when working for Leeds City Council.
Examples of questions that might be asked and questionnaires that might be used are also published.
Passport to safety
This passport contains some general information on Health and Safety and safe working practices. It also provides information on the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS).
EU thresholds
The EU thresholds from the 1st January 2010 will be as follows:
Works £3,927,260 (was £3,497,313 for period up to 31/12/2009)
Supplies £156,442 (was £139,893 for period up to 31/12/2009)
Services £156,442 (was £139,893 for period up to 31/12/2009)
The thresholds are set by the European Commission and change every two years.
Alcatel
A 10 day mandatory standstill period
For all public sector procurements covered by the full procedural requirements of the EU procurement Directives, a minimum ten (10) calendar days mandatory standstill period is required between communicating the award decision by email, fax or post to all tenderers and entering into a contractually binding agreement.
The notice of the contracting authority’s award decision concerns those contractors who not only submitted a tender (valid or invalid), but also those that expressed an interest in that tender. The notice must contain the following:
• the award criteria;
• where appropriate, the score the tenderer obtained against those award criteria;
• where appropriate, the score the winning tenderer obtained; and
• the name of the winning tenderer.
New debriefing requirements within the standstill period
The contracting authority must provide additional debriefing within the mandatory standstill period where an unsuccessful tenderer requests it by the end of the second working day of the standstill.
Contracting authorities must allow for three full working days between the dispatch of this additional debriefing and the end of the standstill period. Contracting authorities may accordingly need to extend the standstill around public holiday periods.
Where a request arrives within the standstill period but after the two working days deadline, contracting authorities are not bound to provide further debriefing within the standstill but still need to provide it within 15 days of receiving a written request, as per the normal rules.
The existing contract award information rules remain unchanged in the event that tenderers do not take up the opportunity for an “accelerated” debrief within the standstill period.
For further information please contact Dean Backhouse, Procurement Compliance and Regulations Manager, Procurement Unit, 4th Floor West, Civic Hall, Leeds, LS1 1UR, tel:0113 2243702.
Freedom of Information 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 received Royal Assent on 30th of November 2000. The Act gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, sets out exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations on public authorities.
It places a number of obligations on public authorities about the way in which they provide information. Subject to the exemptions, anyone making a request must be informed whether the council holds the information and, if so, be supplied with it - generally within 20 working days.
It creates a duty to provide advice or assistance to anyone seeking information (for example in order to explain what is readily available or to clarify what is wanted).
In terms of the procurement process the two major issues of concern surround confidentiality and commercial interests.
For further information please contact Dean Backhouse, Procurement Compliance and Regulations Manager, Procurement Unit, 4th Floor West, Civic Hall, Leeds, LS1 1UR, tel: 0113 2243702.
Electronic contracts
Leeds City Council is encouraging firms to do business with the council electronically. Doing business electronically has benefits for all parties in terms of efficiency and realises savings through the reduction of paper usage, postage and transportation costs. Benefits for the environment are also an important incentive to use an electronic process.
For further details on awarding contracts electronically please download the attached document 'a guide to electronic contracts'.