Procurement

Procurement in the public sector is the process of purchasing of goods, works and services. To a large degree it is a pre-defined and regulated process. The key principles of procurement are that contracting authorities shall treat economic operators equally and without discrimination. Moreover, they shall act in a transparent and proportionate manner.

The Council's procurement requires the delivery of several local and national priorities, such as economic, environmental and social value.

The procurement process itself has numerous activities:

• Pre-procurement understanding and engaging with the market.
• Developing a service specification and invitation to tender documents, questions and their weighting. The answers of which we use to score the bids and identify the winning bidder.
• The pricing document. Here suppliers set out their price offer which will be scored weighting attributed.
• The instruction to tenderers so it is fully understood what we are procuring.
• How and by when suppliers must respond.

The procurement page has the procurement pipeline of opportunities. This gives a clear view on procurement over the coming year and the following two years. 

You can also find all published contract opportunities on our e-Tendering system ProContract. After registering, select the London Borough of Harrow in the search option to find our current opportunities.
 

Procurement regulations fall into two camps:

• Procurement Legislation:  These cannot be breached or waived. These are: 
  • Procurement Act 2023 
  • Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCRs) and 
  • Provider Selection Regime (PSR)
• The Council's Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs): These are rules developed by the Council that sets out robust internal procurement governance that our officers must follow. They follow the legal framework for procurement, but they go further. 

A key objective of procurement is acting, and being seen to act, with integrity. Adhering to this, it is imperative that all tenders are received prior to the deadline. It is highly unlikely that any tender received after a deadline will be considered.

Tenders are assessed strictly in accordance with the Invitation to Tender and Instructions to Tender.

All bidders, successful or unsuccessful receive an assessment summary with feedback.

Supporting the local economy is a key priority of the council. The Council has performed well in supporting our local businesses with on average 25% of third party spend being with businesses in the borough.

We hold annual ‘meet the buyer’ events. We invite local businesses to attend seminars, talks and networking events that explain the Council’s opportunities and processes. 

If you are a local SME and have any further questions, please email procurement@harrow.gov.uk

We design our tender documents to be as user friendly as possible. We aim to avoid any ambiguity or misinterpretation. However, it is always possible that a supplier may be confused by something. That is why all tender processes have what is known as a period of clarification. This is an opportunity to ask any questions.

A response to a clarification sought by one tenderer is sent to all tenderers. The only caveat to that is, if the clarification is deemed commercially sensitive to the organisation asking the question. If the Council deems it to be, then a response will only be sent back to the tenderer asking the question. 

All tender clarification questions must come through the e-tendering system we deploy. Individual officers must not be contacted by email or phone.

Neither. All tender opportunities and associated documents will be issued through our e-tendering portal. Submissions must be sent back through the e-tendering portal.

The supplier setup process requires companies to submit various documents. This ensures we undertake appropriate due diligence on organisations we do business with and prevent fraud.

We require your bank account details. It can be in the form of a letter from the bank or taken from a bank statement. We require the account name, sort code and account number. This is the only information we require. We never ask suppliers for financial transaction information as part of the supplier set up process. 

Ensuring employees are paid a fair living wage is a priority of the Council. We encourage all suppliers to pay the London Living Wage as appropriate. 

No, we do not. We procure either through open competition or using a compliant framework.

The Council’s CPRs require only a quotation process for purchasing requirements of up to £29,999. Up to three quotations are required to be sought. At these quotation levels we really try to look for SMEs and local providers.

No, we always work on the basis of best value. This is a balance between an acceptable quality level of provision and the best price submitted. A supplier with an unacceptable quality level will not win a contract just because their price is low.

No. We don't give a supplier we have an existing or past relationship with preferential treatment. Each tender opportunity will be run in a fair, open, non-discriminatory way.

The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 came into force in January 2013. It makes the responsibilities of a contracting authority clear, when they procure services, subject to public procurement regulations. It necessitates consideration of the “economic, social and environmental well-being of the relevant area.”
Social Value is defined as:

• The additional benefit to the community from a commissioning or procurement process, over and above the direct purchasing of works, goods and services.
• Social Value is a key priority. We have gone beyond the Act’s requirements. We implement Social Value in all aspects of our procurement activity where it is practicable to do so.

A procurement Framework is an agreement put in place with a single supplier or multiple suppliers. It enables a contracting authority like the Council to place orders for services without running lengthy tendering exercises. It normally requires a competition process but is a faster route than traditional tendering.

Procurement Framework Agreements are Procurement Act 2023 and Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCRs) compliant. This removes the need to independently undertake a full procurement process. It will have already been done as part of setting up the Framework.

There are multiple organisations’ that offer frameworks for a variety of goods, works and services. The Crown Commercial Services, ESPO and KCS are some we frequently use.

Saving the planet must be a priority for everyone. Even a small change by everyone can make a significant positive impact. Considerations include:

• reducing carbon emissions
• reducing pollutants
• thinking about how we produce or build
• how we dispose of goods
• keeping waste to a minimum

The Council recognises it has great responsibilities when it comes to the Climate agenda. We also recognise that we have vast supply chains who we must bring on this journey with us. We have therefore developed with seven other boroughs the West London Climate Change Charter. We expect our suppliers to agree to it. 
Additionally, we have all agreed a Climate Change policy. It is used to incorporate Climate change criteria and questions in the tendering we do.

It is important that as a potential supplier to the Council, and more widely across the public sector, that your organisation can demonstrate the positive steps you are taking in to reduce your carbon footprint.

If there is a Market Engagement event, try to attend. This is a good opportunity to learn more about the contract opportunity. Use feedback received from any previous unsuccessful tenders.

• Check Conditions of Participation: If you cannot pass the pass/fail questions you will be eliminated from the procurement process.
• Read the Specification: Make sure the contract is within your capabilities, and you have the capacity to deliver it.
• Ask clarification questions: If anything is unclear in the procurement documents do not be afraid to ask questions.
• Monitoring the Tender Portal: We may ask clarifications from bidders – it is important you respond to these promptly.
• Read the instructions: Important to understand how the process will be managed and how to submit a compliant tender.
• Know what is important: Weighting of the various quality questions illustrate the importance and where you can score most.
• Answer the question: Sound obvious, but this is a common mistake – make your response as easy to evaluate as possible.
• Be compliant: Adhere to page limits / word limits / font size rules. Incomplete or noncompliant tenders risk elimination. 
• Submit on time: Submission deadlines are strict, and it is highly likely that your submission will be eliminated.
• Learn from experience: Feedback will explain why you were not successful – learn from this.
• Do not submit information that has not been requested: This will not be evaluated and is a waste of everyone’s time.
• Do not qualify your bid with caveats: Doing so could deem your tender noncompliant.
• Do not be complacent: Procurement processes are rigorous - if you are tendering invest time in preparing your bid.
• Do not over-promise: The statements and commitments you make will become enforceable and performance monitored. 
• Avoid Cross-referencing: Only should be used when it is clearly merited to do so.
• Do not use jargon: Acronyms/industry jargon – use plain English. Evaluators need to be able to understand your bid.
• Social Value: Take these questions seriously (10% weighting usually) and submit SV offers that are realistic and deliverable. 
• Do not assume the evaluation panel know you: Particularly important for incumbent suppliers