How to do business with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council www.npt.gov.uk/business 2 How to do business with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Contents Introduction 3 About us 3 What we buy 4 How we buy 4 Partnership with the Welsh Purchasing 4 Consortium (WPC) Procurement procedures and regulations 6 How to find out about contract opportunities 7 Approved contractor select lists 7 The tendering process 8 The ‘Invitation to Tender’ 8 Technium Sustainable Technologies How we evaluate quotations and tenders 9 Business development advice and 9 information Council contacts 10 Useful websites 11 Top tips for tendering 12 Jargon Buster - commonly used terms 13 r t h e n s h a i r e r m a C Lower Brynamman A Cwmllynfell m Ystradowen Tai’rgwaith m Cwm twrch Uchaf o u n t y a C 3 y s n P o w Rhiwfawr Cwm twrch Isaf Onllwyn A4221 Cwmgors Gurnos V Dyffryn Cellwen Seven Sisters a Ystradgynlais Banwen l Ystalyfera y R l C y e h e i e l o t y l n y A4067 l Godre’r graig l a d a Glynneath a d n V d A4109 Pont Walby a Ynysmeudwy CilmaengwynV A474 C a s Blaengwrach C o Rhyd y fro e i A465 y u s Crynant Cwmgwrach n n a o t n Gellinudd l y Pontardawe a h n o Rhos u t w T f a S Abergarwed a D e S Alltwen Resolven f w Introduction N f a Melin Court C n f s o o e Cilfrew Clyne u a A465 n A4067 Bryncoch e Aberdulais l t a Glyncorrwg y J45 Cadoxton V This guide has been produced by the Tonna B M Neath Abbey 4 o Llantwit r Skewen o Council’s Business Services Team and Neath y u J44 l e Blaengwynfi g Tonmawr l A4107 h Llansamlet Melin- Cimla a Cymer AbercreganV Corporate Procurement Unit to help explain crythan Neath n Abergwynfi J43 Efail Fach a B4287 f Llandarcy Briton Duffryn Ferry A Croeserw how the council buys supplies, services and Swansea Cynonville Jersey Marine J42 Pontrhydyfen h g A483 Baglan works and how you can become a supplier. Cwmafan u o Baglan Brynbryddan Bryn B4282 r o B We are committed to delivering high quality J41 Maesteg Sandfields y Aberafan Goytre t services and to continually developing our Port Talbot n J40 Taibach u o procurement procedures so that they are Port Talbot C J39 d efficient, flexible and responsive. If you Margam n e J38 g A48 d have any suggestions on how we can i M4 r B improve then please contact the Corporate Procurement Unit Pyle on 01639 763034. About Us Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council came into being on 1 April 1996 following local government re-organisation in Wales. With a population of 137,100 (2006), Neath Port Talbot is the 9th largest unitary authority in Wales. The County is a mix Award winning Neath Civic Centre of urban and rural areas. Towns include Neath, Port Talbot and Pontardawe, while inland there are the Afan, Neath, Dulais, Upper Swansea and Amman valley communities. The Council is a large local employer with almost 7,000 permanent staff. www.npt.gov.uk/business 4 How to do business with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council What we buy The Council is a major buyer, spending How We Buy Supplies, Services around £100 million a year on a wide and Works range of supplies, services and works. Each of the Council’s service areas are Given the diverse nature of our services, responsible for the procurement of requirements are varied ranging from low the supplies and services they need. value, high volume purchases such as Our Corporate Procurement Unit help stationery and office supplies, through manage these activities by providing a to high value capital works and other central co-ordinating and advisory role. complex projects. For example, although local schools make Increasingly, we are looking to deliver and their own procurement decisions, they are improve our services through collaboration encouraged to follow the Council’s with other public sector bodies and by procurement procedures and to use forging partnerships with private and corporate contracts. voluntary sector suppliers. Our Procurement and Supplies Partnership with the Welsh Purchasing Consortium (WPC) Since 1996 we have worked with eleven other councils in South Wales establishing a wide range of contracts for all councils to use. The contracts provide for many of our common use supplies and services such as energy, building and highway maintenance materials. We also work closely with the Welsh Assembly Government’s Value Wales team on a number of strategic procurement projects including “All Wales” public sector arrangements for goods such as stationery, food & drink, IT supplies and educational & curriculum aids. 5 What we buy - Corporate and Service Specific Contracts include: Advertising Services Vehicles and Related Products Car Leasing Agency Staff Petroleum Hire of Vehicles Tyres & Servicing Highways & Building Maintenance Vehicle Purchasing Energy Solid Fuel (Coal) Stationery & Office Supplies Natural Gas Electricity – 100 Kw Sites Office Furniture Electricity + 100 Kw Sites Street Lighting Electricity Food and Provisions Milk ICT & Office Equipment Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Photocopiers Meat PCS Frozen Foods and Fish Printers, Servers & Peripherals Bread Mobile Telecommunications Dry Goods and Provisions Landline Telecommunications Beers, Wines and Spirits Facilities For further information on how to tender Security for the above contracts please contact the Window Cleaning Council’s Corporate Procurement Unit Roller Towels on 01639 763034. Swimming Pool Chemicals Sanitary Disposal We also use a range of other national Laundry Services purchasing arrangements for specialist requirements, such as ‘Catalist’ – the government’s catalogue of Telecommunications, IT and professional services. www.npt.gov.uk/business 6 How to do business with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Our Procurement Procedures and Regulations As a public sector organisation we have a duty to operate in a fair and transparent way by allowing the market freedom of opportunity to trade with us. Our procedures for purchasing are known as “Contract Procedure Rules”. These are important as they help to: ■ Give a legal and auditable framework to our procurement activities ■ Obtain value for money services for the public ■ Ensure we comply with the law governing procurement process must be conducted for the spending of public money contracts over certain specified thresholds. ■ Protect our staff and members from As at October 2007 these thresholds stood undue criticism or allegation of at £139,893 for services and supplies and wrongdoing £3,497,313 for works contracts. Here is a summary of our main The regulations are based on the following procurement procedures: principles: ■ For purchases under £5,000, at least one ■ Contracts that exceed the thresholds must quotation must be obtained (unless the be advertised in the Official Journal of purchase is through one of our corporate the European Union (OJEU) so that all contracts) interested parties in member states have ■ For purchase over £5,000, a minimum an equal opportunity to submit tenders of three written quotations/ tenders must ■ All enquiries must receive equal be sought treatment in order to eliminate ■ For purchases over £50,000, three written discrimination on the grounds of tenders must be sought using a formal nationality of the contractor or the origin invitation to tender document of the supplies, services or works ■ We also have a legal requirement to comply All supplier selection, tendering and with EU Procurement Directives. These are award procedures must involve the enforced in UK law through The Public Supply, application of objective and transparent Works and Services Regulations. This governs criteria the way in which the public sector 7 How do I find out about contract Approved contractors - opportunities select lists For purchases over £50,000 we advertise We maintain approved lists to support in the following ways: – construction, highways, property maintenance and Housing Renewal ■ On the national procurement website Adaptation operations. (www.sell2wales.co.uk) ■ On the Council’s website (www.npt.gov.uk) Our select lists contain the names of potential suppliers who meet our minimum ■ Where appropriate, in one or more standards of health & safety, environmental, specialist trade or professional journals, quality, financial standing and technical or the local press, e.g. Western Mail, competence. Acceptance onto the approved South Wales Evening Post lists enables quotations or tenders to be ■ If European Procurement thresholds are sought without any further pre- exceeded, in the Official Journal of the qualification. European Union (OJEU) www.tedeuropa.eu The Council’s “tender notice” will normally specify: ■ The nature, purpose and duration of the contract ■ Whether expressions of interest or tenders are invited ■ The closing date and time for expressions of interest or tenders Neath Town Centre Regeneration Project www.npt.gov.uk/business 8 How to do business with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Understanding the The tendering process ‘Invitation to Tender’ Tenders are normally invited under either If you are successful in your application an “open” or a “restricted” tendering for inclusion on an invitation to tender procedure. list, we will send you a set of tender documents. These documents will usually Open tendering procedure – any include the following: organisation expressing an interest in an Invitation letter – informs you of when advertised requirement is invited to tender and where tenders should be submitted and is issued with invitation to tender and any other relevant information. documents. We will only select this Instructions to tender – provides important procedure where the expected number of guidance for completing the invitation applications is likely to be manageable. documentation.