Our aim is to seek value for money on all goods, works and services bought by the council.
We continuously improve the procurement process so as to obtain best value from the contracts we enter into and to minimise the administration costs of buying. We offer guidance, advice and support on all aspects of procurement to all council departments and we administer the council’s Approved List of Contractors.
The unit ensures that all procurement complies with the council’s rules and national and European Law. We control and monitor all major contracts for the procurement of goods, works and services – the council currently spends in excess of £500 million on all contracts – and we promote buying from organisations which provide local employment.
Small business friendly concordat
The council has signed up to the small business friendly concordat (see attachment at the right of this page).
The Concordat is a commitment from Local Government to encourage competition and foster innovation, particularly from those businesses/suppliers who may find it difficult to break into this market. These include small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which themselves could include local businesses, ethnic and minority owned businesses (EMBs), women-owned businesses, social enterprises and voluntary and community organisations (VCOs). These are all sectors of the business community that can find themselves under-represented in local Government procurement.
You can contact us using the contact details in the top right hand side of this page.