Selling to the Council

Advertising Tenders

Argyll and Bute Council advertise all tenders on the Scottish Government’s National tender advertising website Public Contracts Scotland.  All companies who wish to seek business opportunities with the Council are urged to register on the Public Contracts Scotland Portal as soon as possible.  Registration on the Public Contracts Scotland Portal is free. 

Argyll and Bute Council Profile

Suppliers can choose from a list of  categories, which generates email alerts when Notices are placed on the Portal for these categories.  Suppliers can search all live Tender Notices, formally express interest online and download electronic PQQs and Tender documents.  The Portal also contains Contract Award Notices that allow companies to identify successful tenderers and seek potential sub-contracting opportunities.

Argyll and Bute Council also collaborate in procurement forums such as Scotland Excel and Procurement Scotland.  Scotland Excel is the centre responsible for developing and implementing procurement strategies for the local authority Category B categories.  These are categories that are common to all local authorities and Scotland Excel is using the buying power of all local authorities to drive costs down whilst improving efficiency.  All joining authorities pay an annual fee dependent upon the population, which covers the operating costs of Scotland Excel.  Procurement Scotland is the centre responsible for developing and implementing procurement strategies for national Category A categories.  These are categories that are common to all public sector bodies and Procurement Scotland is using the buying power of all bodies to drive costs down.

Tender Documents

All tender documents, apart from exceptional circumstances, are now electronic and provided on the Public Contracts Scotland Portal for each tender.  These documents are either in Word or Excel format, and are in a standard format across the Council, with only slight variations to suit specific contract types, i.e. Works Contracts.

Tender Evaluation Criteria

The tender evaluation criteria used by the Council are established before tenders are invited and are stated in the documentation.  The Council mainly uses Most Economically Advantageous Tender criteria, however Lowest Price criteria is still used for some tenders.

Payment

The Council has prompt payment targets.  This means that we are committed to paying all invoices within 30 days of receipt, irrespective of invoice value or payee.

EU and Scottish Legislation

All purchasing by the public sector in the UK and the rest of Europe must follow the rules of the EU Treaty.  This is designed to ensure the free movement of goods and services in the European Union market.  There are special European rules for public contracts above certain values, see below, which aim to make sure that the contracts are awarded in an open, transparent and non-discriminatory way.  The European Directives are implemented in this country by the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, which set down the procedures that local authorities must follow when selecting Tenderers and awarding contracts.

The EU procurement thresholds for local authorities are:

• Service and Supply Contracts over £156,442
• Works Contracts over £3,927,260

Where the contract value is anticipated to exceed the EU procurement threshold, a Notice is placed in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in addition to being advertised on the Public Contracts Scotland Portal.

Please note that Argyll and Bute Council is required to comply with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.  Further, Argyll and Bute Council may share any information contained in a Tender with the Office of Fair Trading or any other relevant government regulators.

Guidance

The Argyll and Bute Council Procurement Manual has been designed as a “how to” guide to effective procurement across the Council.

Contact

Email:   procurement@argyll-bute.gov.uk