Do business with the council

The council is responsible for ensuring that funds (from tax payers or grants) are spent in the most effective way possible. We spend over £140m annually on buying multiple goods, works, services and projects. These are delivered both directly by the council and through external contractors, with a large and diverse supply chain. This includes individuals, SMEs and multinational corporations.

We have a responsibility to manage and protect public money and put it to good use in providing services. We have to ensure that we offer value for money and support wider council objectives.

Our contract register

The Contract Register is an online searchable list of current contracts valued over £5,000 and includes a brief description, value and expiry date of each one.

For more information, please view the Contract’s Register.

Tendering thresholds

We follow key legislation set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. We keep to our Contract Procedure Rules (CPR) (part of the Constitution of the Council). This ensures we are open, honest, fair and transparent in our procurement processes. It sets out our tendering procedures and thresholds, which follow UK procurement legislation.

These rules determine how we choose who to work with. It sets out how we approach suppliers and receive quotations/tenders. It also give guidance on how we then select suppliers. Below is a table which provides an overview of the procedures we expect from all staff when looking to buy goods, works, services.

Total contract value	How we will advertise	Our procedure to select a supplier
Up to £5,000	We may consider using the e-procurement portal to advertise, but this is not always required.	We will require a minimum of one formal quotation. This does not have to be a competitive process, but written quotations will be required.   We can choose to follow a compliant buying process to select a supplier through a: Framework Agreement DPS, or Approved list.
£5,001 to £125,000	We will likely use our e-procurement portal to advertise.   We can access and select suppliers from an approved List, DPS or Framework Agreement.	We will require a minimum of three formal quotations (or tenders), which will be part of a competitive process.   Tenders for this value will likely be via a Request for Quotation (RFQ)   We can choose to follow a compliant buying process to select a supplier through a: Framework Agreement DPS, or approved list
UK threshold		Find a Tender advertised lender (ITT process) Undertake a compliant call off from a framework Use an appropriate DPS

Tendering opportunities

Reading Borough Council In-tend Portal – lists all current tendering opportunities.  They can also be found on the following websites:

UK Government’s Find a Tender Service

UK Government’s Contracts Finder service

Registering with these websites will enable you to be notified immediately when relevant contracts for your organisation are advertised.

How to register

To access and knowledge of current tendering opportunities from the council, we recommend that suppliers register on to our online portal (currently In-tend) – Supplier Registration Portal.

In-tend is free for suppliers to use. It makes the bidding process easier and

There is a step-by-step guide available on request and available on In-tend. In-tend allows suppliers to maintain their company information and documentation. They can use it to return tender submissions that comply with all regulations.

If you have any questions, please contact the Procurement and Commercial team at pchub@reading.gov.uk.

Know what to expect in our Tendering Process

Stages of the tender process:

Depending on the type of procurement/project, the general process followed by RBC is:

1. Advertising the requirement
2. Invitation to Tender (ITT) or Request for Quotation (RFQ)
   • Buying process through a framework or DPS
3. Bidder submissions received
4. Bid compliance check/selection stage
5. Evaluation of the Tender Submissions
6. Standstill period (10 days)
7. Internal award sign off
8. Award of contract
9. Mobilisation and contract drafting

Below provides a bit more detail of these steps.

Advertising the requirement

We endeavour to undertake Market Engagement prior to tendering, depending on the complexity and nature of the tender. Prior Information Notices (PIN) may be issued to notify the market for upcoming opportunities within the next 12 months. All to gain knowledge of the current market, capacity and how realistic the procurement for services/supplies/works is. Market engagement can also allow RBC to work collaboratively with the market to develop key requirements to support better outcomes.

As detailed above, advertising will be carried out in accordance with our CPRs. Usually we use our e-procurement portal to advertise all opportunities, send messages to suppliers and publish tenders. The portal allows fair and easy access to all suppliers who wish to bid, allows for transparent process and audit trails.

Invitation to Tender (ITT) or Request for Quotation (RFQ)

Depending on the procedure followed the tender may be open to all suppliers (open or single-stage process) where compliance/selection and tender information are combined or only those who have successfully passed the compliance/selection stage. With lower value tenders (typically RFQ), the tender can be closed and limited to three or more bidders.

The ITT or RFQ assesses the offer and the requirements as set out in the specification.

Bidders will be asked to complete  documentation relevant to the type of tender. When a contract opportunity is published, all tender documents are made available for download on the portal and will contain all or some of the following:

• Instructions to Bidders (ITT or RFQ document), including the evaluation and scoring methodology
• Specification
• Pricing schedule
• Contract conditions – defining the relationship between the public body and the supplier/contractor
• Supporting documentation – depending on the contract requirements

Before tenders are submitted

We’ll answer any questions of clarification and share this information with all bidders. A date is set before the tenders are due to be returned, by which a bidder must have submitted any points of clarification.

Please ensure that all correspondence with RBC regarding the tender whilst is it live is made via our e-procurement portal: In-Tend. Further detail is provided within the ITT or RFQ document.

Compliance/Selection Stage

When a tender is published, there will be a compliance or selection process, generally assessing:

• Capacity
• Capability
• Experience
• Financial and economic standing

and depending on the value of the tender, will be referred to as either:

• Selection Questionnaire (SQ)
• Suitability Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ)

Supplier selection is a key stage in public procurement, where RBC must gather information on, and make assessments of, potential suppliers’ technical and professional abilities, economic and financial standing and whether any of the exclusion grounds apply.

The standard selection questions ask potential suppliers to self-declare their status against set exclusion grounds (detailed in the SQ or SAQ) and provide preliminary evidence of their economic and financial standing, and technical and professional ability.

It is important to note: The SQ/SAQ will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria set out in the procurement documentation on publication of a tender.

If bidders do not pass their SQ/SAQ, the rest of the submitted tender may not be evaluated, bidders that pass all elements of the SQ/SAQ evaluation will proceed to have their full submission evaluated and scored. This will all be detailed in the tender documentation sent out when a tender is published.

The procurement team are happy to provide more details on request. 

Evaluation of the tender submissions

Tenders are evaluated against the criteria, using the model and methods stated in the tender document. Each tender is independently evaluated and then a moderation meeting follows to agree a consensus score amongst the evaluation panel.

A panel of evaluators usually conduct this evaluation against price and quality. If RBC spot something in the bid that needs further clarification to assist the evaluation, RBC will ask.

A presentation or interview could form part of the tender process. A bidder will be provided all the relevant information if this applies to your particular tender.

Award of contract

RBC will notify all bidders of the outcome of the tender as decision letters, via the portal.

Decision letters will give details of the successful supplier/s and score achieved in the evaluation of tender.

For all public sector tenders over the Threshold, RBC are required to apply a minimum ten-day mandatory ‘Standstill Period’ before entering a contractually binding agreement.

If the tender has been published on Find a Tender (FTS), a Contract Award Notice will be published.