About this guide
Advertising our contracts
Three Year Forward Procurement Plan
How to tender
Applying for inclusion on the standing list
Community Right to Challenge
Procurement Support Packages
Terms and conditions
Electronic trading
Council policies
Contact us
As a council, we spend approximately £682 million each year. £339 million of this is third party spend relating to goods, services and works. £36.5 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 Procurement 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 are some of the Social Care contracts 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 Government Procurement Service website http://gps.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ which acts as central purchasing bodies for local authorities.
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 (Excel, 104Kb)
2013-2014 (Excel, 98Kb)
2014-2015 (Excel, 92Kb)
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, documents 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:
You may 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 previously maintained a standing list of approved contractors for the provision of building and civil engineering works that are not undertaken in house.
Procurement Committee in July 2012 approved a recommendation to incrementally close the Council's Standing List of Contractors and direct work that cannot be undertaken by our in house works organisation to either one of our existing contracts or advertise the opportunity on our electronic tendering web site www.nepoportal.org.
From now, we will not be accepting new applications for our Standing List of Contractors. Any contractor currently registered on our list will receive a letter explaining the details of the four phased approach and how to do business with the Council in future.
If you have any queries in relation to the closure, please contact one of the following officers:
Rhonda Eagle, Procurement Team Manager for the policy decision - 0191 2114949
Jill Black, Senior Procurement Category Specialist - 0191 2115869
The Localism Act 2011 gives communities the right to 'challenge' the way the Council runs local authority services. View full details on how to express an interest under the Community Right to Challenge Guidance Page.
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.
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 Commissioning and Procurement Plan, 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: 29 April, 2013
