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How to do business with Council

www.npt.gov.uk/business 2 How to do business with 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 A m Ystradowen Tai’rgwaith m Cwm twrch Uchaf o u n t y a C 3 y s n P o w Cwm twrch Isaf A4221 Gurnos V Dyffryn Cellwen

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a y J45 Cadoxton V This guide has been produced by the Tonna B M Neath Abbey 4 o Llantwit r o Council’s Business Services Team and Neath y u J44 l e Blaengwynfi g Tonmawr l A4107 h Llansamlet Melin- a Cymer AbercreganV Corporate Procurement Unit to help explain crythan Neath n Abergwynfi J43 Efail Fach a B4287 f Briton Duffryn Ferry A how the council buys supplies, services and Cynonville J42 h g A483 works and how you can become a supplier. u o Baglan Brynbryddan Bryn B4282 r

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B We are committed to delivering high quality J41 Sandfields y Aberafan t services and to continually developing our Port Talbot n J40

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o procurement procedures so that they are Port Talbot C

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J38 g A48 d have any suggestions on how we can i M4 r B improve then please contact the Corporate Procurement Unit on 01639 763034. About Us Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council came into being on 1 April 1996 following local government re-organisation in . 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 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 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. Restricted tendering procedure – we use Specification – sets out specific details of this procedure if we expect a high level contract (normally specifies performance of interest in a specific requirement. standards and the outcomes we require). This procedure requires organisations who Pricing schedule – document where your express an interest in tendering to undergo prices should be entered. an initial pre-qualification assessment to Terms & conditions – sets out the basis of appraise their financial standing and their the relationship between the Council and technical ability for undertaking the work. successful tenderers. Normally applicants are sent a pre- Appendices – will include any supporting qualification questionnaire which must be information such as plans, drawings, etc. completed fully and returned by a specified Tender documents can be quite detailed but date and time. A panel of officers evaluate this should not deter you from tendering for responses against pre-set criteria and the the business. If you have any queries, please most suitable applicants are then invited contact the person named in the tender to tender. documents for advice and guidance. Tenders will need to be completed by a given time and returned in the tender envelope provided. Make sure that you do not mark the tender envelope with a company postmark or any other information that identifies you. Tender documents are all opened at the same time after the return date. If you fail to return your tender documents by the specified deadline the tender will be excluded from the evaluation process. 9

Construction of the new £4m state of the art school in Abergwynfi

How we evaluate Business development quotations and tenders advice and opportunities

We assess tenders and quotations on a Our Business Services Team provide a “Most Economically Advantageous” basis. range of services to support local This is used so that quality and other businesses including: important factors can be considered in ■ Developing and managing projects for addition to cost. Such factors might include new start-up businesses, existing relevant experience, delivery lead-time, companies and new investors in the area technical merit or conformity to specific quality standards. We are working towards ■ Providing practical help and guidance for publishing a summary of the criteria we companies who want to increase their will use to evaluate offers in all of our tendering activity invitation to tender documents. ■ Producing the Neath Port Talbot Business Tenders are normally evaluated against pre- Directory and a Business Bulletin determined criteria, usually by a panel of publication officers. The evaluation focuses on how ■ Working in partnership with local, tenderers propose to deliver the quality regional and national business support required and how this relates to the price agencies to help support Neath Port offered. Tenderers may be invited to attend Talbot based businesses for interview, submit samples and/or provide a demonstration or a presentation Our Business Directory contains details of as part of the evaluation process. over 700 local companies providing an ideal tool to source local suppliers and Whether successful or not, tenderers will customers. To get a FREE listing, contact the be informed by letter. Business Services Team on 01639 686068 Within the limits of commercial confidentiality, unsuccessful tenderers can request feedback to find out why a bid has failed. This should help you with future bids as it will provide the following information: ■ Rank order of your tender (details of your assessment score) ■ Any areas where the tender did not reach required standards ■ Broad guidance on the strengths of the successful tenderer ■ The name of the successful tenderer

www.npt.gov.uk/business 10 How to do business with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

Council contacts for further information and advice

If you need any further information or Councils Approved List for Housing Renewal advice the following list should help you & Adaptation Contracts identify who you need to contact. Mike Howard Corporate Procurement Unit Grants Agency & Support Manager Robert Type Civic Centre Corporate Procurement Manager Port Talbot SA13 1PJ Civic Centre Tel: 01792 763154 Port Talbot SA13 1PJ e-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01639 763034 Operational/Works Unit – deals with e-mail: [email protected] supplies and services for building and Pamela Milford highways contracts. Principal Procurement Officer Richard Clark Tel: 01639 763432 Principal Procurement Officer e-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01639 765009 Paul Smith e-mail: [email protected] Social Care Contracting Manager Economic Development Unit - Business Tel: 01639 763035 Services Team e-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01639 686835 Councils Approved List for Works Contracts Julie Davies Geraint Davies Business Services Officer Senior Business Support Officer e-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01639 686911 Sarah Fowler e-mail: [email protected] Business Support Officer Construction work at The Quays, e-mail: [email protected] Louise King Assistant Business Services Officer e-mail: [email protected] 11

Demolition of the Beach Hill Demolition of the derelict Somerfield overbridge at Victoria Road store at Ynysderw

Useful websites

Welsh Assembly Government Official Journal of the European FREE online service that advertises contracts Union (OJEU) from the Welsh Assembly Government, Provides information to purchasers who local authorities, the NHS, colleges and wish to publish tender notices in the Official universities. Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and www.sell2wales.co.uk suppliers who wish to search for business Value Wales provides advice and support on opportunities. smarter purchasing and procurement to the All types of OJEU contracts are published Welsh Assembly Government and the wider from major construction and I.T. contracts public sector. to supply contracts for everyday items. In www.wales.gov.uk addition to tenders from within the UK, European contracts are also published – Flexible Support for Business tenders can be filtered by country or Fast, simple and straightforward access to geographical region. Cost £750 per annum information, advice and support for existing www.ojec.com and prospective businesses. Call your local Online version of the OJEU and contains all office on 01792 326960 or visit the website contract notices above the EU thresholds. www.business-support-wales.gov.uk www.ted.europe.eu Contract Shop Neath Port Talbot CBC - Business Services Team FREE service that identifies UK and local tendering information and notifies Help and advice on local procurement companies of work opportunities. Also opportunities. provides a detailed directory of over 7900 www.npt.gov.uk/business companies throughout Wales, an opportunity to post contracts, a search Workboost Wales facility of local suppliers and can assist in Workplace Health Connect is a government preparing tenders for the public and private funded service providing confidential, sector. practical and free advice to small businesses www.contractshop.co.uk on workplace health and safety, management of sickness absence and return to work issues. www.workboostwales.org.uk

www.npt.gov.uk/business 12 How to do business with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

Top tips for tendering

Do: Don't make obvious mistakes or errors as 1. Read the advertisement carefully and this will lead to your tender being submit a request as required by the disqualified or not accepted. The following dates shown. are the most common: 2. Read all documentation carefully and 1. Identification mark on the tender direct any queries to the relevant envelope. contact officer. 2. Tender documents received after the 3. Make sure you provide all the closing date for the receipt of tenders - information requested and answer all tender documents should be returned questions accurately. no later than the time indicated on the closing date for the return of tender 4. If you do not understand any part of the documents. If the deadline is missed, specification, contact the Council Officer tenders will not be considered. named in the tender documentation by the stipulated date and request further 3. Tender documents sent to the wrong information. address - must be sent to the stated return address. 5. Return the tender as specified by the closing date and time in the manner 4. Tender form not signed. prescribed. 5. Not quoting a price for the specified 6. Return the tender documentation to the product and/or service. specified address – make sure it goes to 6. Not quoting a price for the specified the correct Council building. fixed price period. 7. Respond promptly to any requests for 7. Not completing the tender documents further information. in full - incomplete tenders. 8. Not supplying samples of products when requested. 9. Not supplying samples of management information, if requested. 10. Unsatisfactory references (performance) or financial history. 13

Jargon buster – commonly used terms

CPRs (Contract Procedure Rules) – the understand how you intend to provide Council’s internal rules for the procurement the goods or services of goods, services and works OJEU (Official Journal of the European CPU – Corporate Procurement Unit Union) – publication in which all public e-Auction – on-line auction in which sector contracts valued over a certain suppliers compete against each other with threshold must be published open bids for the right to provide goods and PQQ (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire) - services to the buyer issued to companies interested in a e-Procurement – business to business particular tender. It assesses suitability and purchase or sale of supplies and services capability prior to the issue of a tender online including electronic tendering and document e-Auctions Procurement - the act of obtaining goods EOI (Expression of Interest) - advertisement and/or services by purchase, lease or rental or letter requesting responses from suitably Purchasing Cards – a payment card that qualified firms or individuals by a set date may be used to purchase goods and/or EU Legislation – European Union Public services up to an agreed value from certain Procurement Directives are rules and suppliers regulations that public sector organisations RFQ (Request for Quotation) - written must adhere to when buying goods and quotation or bid from an approved or services qualified supplier ITT (Invitation to Tender) – official Select List – approved list of companies document which provides background to interested in working as a sub contractor your requirement, specification, terms and to the Council conditions of the contract Sell2Wales – Welsh Assembly Government’s MEAT - Most Economically Advantageous website that advertises public sector Tender contracts Method Statement - document used in a tender process which sets out questions for the suppliers to answer which help

www.npt.gov.uk/business 14 How to do business with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

SME – small or medium sized company VFM (Value for Money) – the principle Standing Orders – the Council’s own underpinning all public sector purchasing internal procedures for procurement and activity contracting Welsh Purchasing Consortium (WPC) T’s & C’s (Terms & Conditions) – outlines the – joint buying arrangement for twelve local legal standing of a contract and covers areas authorities in the South Wales region such as breach of contract and early Value Wales - provides advice and support termination on smarter purchasing and procurement to Tender - the process of inviting and the Welsh Assembly Government and the evaluating bids from suppliers to provide wider Welsh public sector goods or services 15

£110m Peripheral Distributor Road Project

The Award winning Baglan Energy Park

www.npt.gov.uk/business How to do business with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

For further information, please contact: Business Services Team Economic Development Unit Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council The Quays, Brunel Way, Baglan Energy Park, Neath SA11 2GG Tel: 01639 686835 E-mail: [email protected]