north lanarkshire supplier charter

7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter

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Suppliers Chartermaking procurement accessible


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declaration of support for theNational Suppliers Charter

North Lanarkshire Council has long recognised the contribution of small

businesses and third sector organisations to our thriving local economyand we are committed to working with them and helping them grow.

This commitment is demonstrated by the new procurement procedures

we have put in place to enable local companies, small businesses

and social enterprise to tender effectively for our contracts.

By signing the National Suppliers Charter we are reaffirming our

commitment and pledging our continued support for small businessesand third sector organisations in North Lanarkshire.

Councillor Jim McCabeLeader of North Lanarkshire Council

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North Lanarkshire Council hereby declares support for the principles set out in the National Suppliers Charter.

Signed:

Councillor Jim McCabe / Leader of North Lanarkshire Council31st March 2008


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making procurement accessibleNorth Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter

introduction the nationalsuppliers charter

The Review of Public Sector Procurement in Scotland set out

a number of recommendations for the public sector to help

develop and stimulate a varied and competitive marketplace.

Review of Public Procurement in Scotland

John F McClelland CBE, May 2006

North Lanarkshire Council has committed to delivering these

recommendations locally by adopting a procurement charter

for suppliers.

Our charter goes beyond the minimum requirements of the

National Suppliers Charter and sets out a number of actions

that will help make our contracts more accessible to local

businesses, small businesses and social enterprise

building on our progress to date and reaffirming ourcommitment to suppliers.

Small businesses and the third sector play a vital role in the local

economy and we recognise the important contribution they

make to the delivery of public services.

Our charter goes beyond the minimum requirements of theNational Supplier Charter and sets out a number of actions that

will help make our contracts more accessible to local businesses,

small businesses and the third sector.

The National Suppliers Charter was developed by the Scottish

Government and the Federation of Small Businesses in

consultation with all Scottish public sector organisations.

This voluntary, non-statutory code of practice has been

designed to make it easier for small businesses and social

enterprise to do business with local authorities, to help them

to find out about tendering opportunities and ensure they are

treated equally and fairly.

By signing the National Suppliers Charter, we pledge to make

contracts more accessible to small businesses and the third

sector and to encourage a mix of suppliers to stimulate a varied

supply market.

A copy of the National Suppliers Charter can be viewed athttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/

Procurement/Selling/Supplierscharter2


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underlying principles how will the supplierscharter help us?

We will award contracts to support Best Value delivery

of local government services.

We will deliver value for money and take into account the

whole life costs in contract decisions, including quality,

longer term costs and other benefits as well as initial price.

We will make appropriate use of our legal powers

including the power to promote the economic, social

and environmental well being of our community.

Our tender processes and contract awards will comply with

EU Public Procurement Directives and the principles of

non-discrimination, equal treatment and transparency

and our duties under UK law.

As potential suppliers to the council, small businesses and the

third sector are a source of innovation, new ideas and products

and they are ideally positioned to respond quickly and flexibly

to local needs. They can offer efficiencies, improved quality and

service and provide better access to local solutions for hard to

reach groups.

Did you know?

Small businesses accounted for 99.8% of all businesses,

55.6% of employment and 52% of turnover within the UK.

58% (4130) of our suppliers are small businesses.

North Lanarkshire Council spends 79 million a year with

organisations based in North Lanarkshire.

North Lanarkshire Council spends 210 million a year

with small businesses. During 05/06 the council purchased an estimated 45.3

million of services from 651 third sector organisations.

The social economy currently capture around 11% of

council procurement spend.


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We have a fair and transparent tendering procedure

We treat all suppliers equally

We have a good payment record - 88 % of all valid

invoices are paid within 30 days

We provide feedback when a tender bid is unsuccessful

We are continually looking to improve ourtendering procedure

why do business withnorth lanarkshire council?

we will encourage a diverse and

competitive supply market, including

small firms, social enterprises,ethnic minority businesses and

third sector suppliers.


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accessing contractopportunities

1 We publish the following information on our website:

www.northlan.gov.uk

General guidance on how to do business with the council.

Annual procurement plans for individual council services,

outlining planned procurement spend, timescales and

contact details for the officers responsible.

Tender opportunities for all contracts for supplies and

services valued at over 50,000. We may also use a range

of publications and other means in order to encourage

greater diversity and competition.

Contact details for each contract, with appropriate links

to any regional site and the national public sector

opportunities portal.

Details of our prime suppliers.

2 We will give potential suppliers an opportunity to discuss the

tender in order to understand our requirements and assess

their suitability. Nothing will be done, however, which would

give a particular business or provider an unfair advantage in

competing for a specific contract.

3 We will work with prime contractors - both at tender stage

and during the life of a contract - to establish the

contribution that small firms can play in the supply chain.

4 We will assist bidders with their understanding of the

councils requirements and tender processes.

5 Where legally permissible and practical, we will balance

opportunities for disaggregating our larger contracts or

dividing them into smaller lots to give small businesses and

third sector organisations an equal chance to tender for

them, with value for money considerations.

6 We will establish a supplier directory to include details of

all social enterprise organisations with an interest in providing

goods and services to the council.


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We operate a fair tender process to ensure that all rules and

policies are fairly applied, to help minimise the cost to suppliers

and to allow equal access to relevant information throughout

the tender process.

Potential suppliers will be assessed against published pre-

qualification and tender evaluation criteria, which will be

proportionate to the risks of the individual contract process.

In particular the criteria relating to financial standing will not

be set to unreasonably exclude newer businesses.

If a pre-qualification stage is required, we will use a council-

wide pre-qualification questionnaire containing core

questions with limited bespoke additions for each contract.

We will work with regional and national partners to ensure a

consistent approach to pre-qualification.

We will examine the feasibility of introducing community

benefit clauses into council tender evaluation procedures.

We will require those tendering for council business at pre-

qualification and tender stages to provide information

about how they could make use of, and promote, supply

chains which may include small businesses and

third sector organisations.

fair tender processes feedback

We will offer meaningful feedback to suppliers following the

procurement process in order that suppliers can improve for

future tenders. We will seek feedback from suppliers,

and their respective trade associations, on our tendering

processes and address any problems that are bought to

our attention.

We will publish a complaints procedure.

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We will seek feedback from suppliers, and their respective

trade associations, on our tendering processes and address any

problems that are bought to our attention.


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We will treat suppliers openly and fairly.

We will pay suppliers on time - no more than 30 days from

receipt of a valid and undisputed invoice.

We will provide suppliers with honest and constructive

feedback on their performance of the contract.

We will give suppliers notice of any performance problems

and an opportunity, if appropriate, to put matters right.

We require our prime suppliers to pay their sub-contractors,

throughout the supply chain, within 30 days from receipt of

an undisputed invoice.

We will, where appropriate, encourage our prime contractors

to explore opportunities for them to make use of specialist

sub-contractors (which may include small businesses

and social enterprise) in the delivery of larger, longer

term contracts.

contractmanagement

key performanceindicators

We shall publish key performance indicators on our website

on an annual basis, to encourage greater competition for

contracts and to measure the effectiveness of

our procurement procedures and this action plan.

We will work with regional and national partners to ensure a

consistent approach to measuring performance.


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governance

We shall establish a council working group including

representation from the third sector, to implement and

review this action plan.

sharing best practice

We shall endeavour to secure external funding for a Scottish

pathfinder initiative to progress and document learning from

the implementation of this action plan.

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furtherinformation

Please contact us if you have

any questions or comments

about this Charter.

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

01698 403957

Write to:

The Procurement Manager

North Lanarkshire Council

Corporate Procurement

Finance and Customer ServicesDalziel House

Scott Street

Motherwell

ML1 1PL


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useful links

North Lanarkshire Council Procurementhttp://www.northlan.gov.uk/business+and+employment/tenders+and+contracts/corporate+procurement/index.html

Procurement Portalhttp://nlc.g2b.info/

Scottish Procurement Directoratehttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement

Supply to Governmenthttp://www.supply2.gov.uk

Authorities Buying Consortiumhttp://www.abc-scotland.org.uk/

Procurement Portalhttp://abc-scotland.g2b.info/

Scottish Supplier Development Programmehttp://www.sdpscotland.co.uk

Social Economy Scotlandhttp://www.socialeconomyscotland.info/


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designed and printed by creative services / nor th lanarkshire council / NLC(1455) Ver.1 / 03.2008

d d b i hi i h


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produced by

North Lanarkshire Council

Corporate Procurement

Finance and Customer Services

Dalziel Building

7 Scott Street

Motherwell

ML1 1SX

in partnership with

Lanarkshire Social Economy Partnership

north lanarkshire supplier charter

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