About this guide
Advertising our contracts
Three Year Forward Procurement Plan
How to tender
Applying for inclusion on the standing list
Procurement Support Packages
Terms and conditions
Electronic trading
Council policies
Contact us
As a council, we spend approximately £884 million each year. £467 million of this is third party spend relating to goods, services and works. £31.7 million of this is currently procured collaboratively through the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO).
This guide will help you to determine whether you wish to apply for any of our forthcoming contracts, and provide you with clear and concise instructions of how to do business with us.
When letting contracts, we are obliged to follow our own set of procedures as well as European and National legislation. This determines how contracts will be advertised.
Where legislation dictates that contracts must be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), we will ensure that this is done promptly and in line with the legislation.
To search for such contracts, please visit the Tenders Electronic Daily (www.ted.europa.eu) web site which is maintained by the European Commission. This site shows all of our contracts which are currently being advertised in the OJEU. Please note that we may also advertise these contracts in the local press.
To find our contracts simply put the following in the search fields:-
Select language (EN)
Select 'extended search'
Search scope = last five editions (drop down box)
Country = UK (drop down box)
Type of Authority = Regional or Local Authority (drop down box)
Authority name = Newcastle (input)
Contracts which do not have to be advertised in the OJEU will be advertised either in local press or specialist trade publications.
Contracts can be viewed by visiting our electronic tendering web site (www.nepoportal.org). This link will take you directly to the North East Purchasing Organisation Portal where all 12 local authorities in the North East advertise procurement opportunities.
This website is used to call for competition on the majority of procurements over the value of £5,000 and includes EU related contracts. You can register on this website by entering the ‘Suppliers Area’ and following the registration instructions. This web site is also used by other local authorities so you will also be able to see other procurements that are taking place in the region.
There some contracts such as Social Care and Building works that are not presently being advertised via the electronic tendering web site. If you are interested in these contracts please look in the local press or relevant specialist trade publications.
You may also find it useful to visit the Office of Government Commerce website (www.ogc.gov.uk) which acts as central purchasing bodies for local authorities, and the One North East website (www.onenortheast.co.uk) to see procurement opportunities in the North East region.
The links below will take you to Newcastle City Council’s forward plan for Procurement Opportunities over the next 3 years (2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15). The forward plan is based on our current Corporate Contracts Register which is updated on a quarterly basis.
2012-2013 (csv, 919Kb)
2013-2014 (csv, 897Kb)
2014-2015 (csv, 894Kb)
To be considered for a contract, you need to express an interest which can be done via our electronic tendering website in the majority of cases or by responding in accordance with instructions given in a particular advert that appears in the appropriate publication. All of our calls for competition will include instructions on how to do this.
Our electronic tendering website and the list of contracts currently being advertised is updated on a regular basis.
Once you have submitted an expression of interest, you will either be sent tender documentation in hard copy or it will be made available for download on our electronic tendering website. It is very important that you follow the instructions given. If you don’t, it may lead to your submission not being evaluated.
The tender documentation is likely to include information such as:
If you are not on our standing list of contractors you may also be asked to complete a questionnaire which will determine whether you meet our minimum corporate requirements.
The questionnaire will assess your competency for performing the contract in the following areas:
We maintain a standing list of approved contractors for the provision of building and civil engineering works that are not undertaken in house. Contractors applying to be included on the approved list must complete an application form. The questions on the form are designed to give us sufficient information to make an assessment as to the suitability of a contractor for inclusion on the list. We also wish to ensure that the company carries out its responsibilities in respect of issues including health and safety and equality.
Our standing list is held in a data base. Tender lists are created by selecting a number of contractors from this list at random, who are then asked to tender.
Contractors should not sub-contact any work or any part of it without our prior written consent.
Contractors should note that if they are successful in being placed on our list we reserve the right to suspend or remove any contractor from it where there has been repeated unsatisfactory technical performance for example.
Our application process is currently being revised. If you require any further details about the application process please contact:
Louise Challoner
Phone: 0191 278 3199
Email: louise.challoner@newcastle.gov.uk
Procurement Support Packages
Newcastle City Council Procurement Support Packages
Enterprising Newcastle provides support to city-based businesses to help them to identify and secure public sector contract opportunities. If you would like to find out more about the Council’s support packages and check eligibility, please either contact paul.clark@business-enterprise.net or visit the Enterprising Newcastle website.
Business Generator is a new European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), supply chain development programme, designed to increase the capacity of Small to Medium Enterprises (SME’s) in the North East to identify and win publically and privately procured business opportunities. Delivered in partnership with the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO), Business Generator supports eligible businesses through awareness raising, workshops, 1:1 support and facilitated introductions to buyers, giving SME’s in the region the skills and practical knowledge they need to be able to identify, bid for and win new business contracts.
To register your interest in Business Generator, or to find an event in your area, phone 0191 426 6333 or visit www.bizgenerator.co.uk
When suppliers receive orders for the provision of goods and services there are terms and conditions which must be followed. See the full list (pdf, 21.8kb).
Any special terms of contract that are appropriate to particular procurements such as goods, services and works will be sent out in our tender information.
As part of our Corporate Procurement Strategy, we are committed to increasing the levels of electronic business. This includes electronic tendering, ordering, processing invoices and direct payment.
Our aim is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of letting contracts whilst maintaining a robust and competitive procurement.
SMEs
We want to make sure that small and medium enterprises are given the same opportunities as more-established companies when tendering for work. We recognise that SMEs can enhance competition and provide responsive, innovative solutions. Therefore we aim to let contracts in such a way that encourages SMEs to tender.
Equality
We strongly support equal opportunities and expect high standards of the firms which we contract. We aim to ensure that organisations who provide services on our behalf comply with equality legislation and promote equality of opportunity. This will be reflected in our contractual terms and any post-contract monitoring.
Read more about equality in procurement.
Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable procurement makes sure that the acquisition of goods and services has little adverse impact, or indeed has a beneficial impact, on people and the environment.
We expect our contractors to help us in meeting our objectives and this will be reflected in our specification and contractual terms.
Page last updated: 10 May, 2012
