Suppliers Charter making procurement accessible

declaration of support for the National Suppliers Charter

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

Councillor Jim McCabe / Leader of North Lanarkshire Council

31st March 2008

North Lanarkshire Council has long recognised the contribution of small businesses and third sector organisations to our thriving local economy and 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 reafrming our commitment and pledging our continued support for small businesses and third sector organisations in North Lanarkshire.
Councillor Jim McCabe
Leader of North Lanarkshire Council

introduction

the national suppliers charter

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 nd 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 at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/ Procurement/Selling/Supplierscharter2

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.
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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 reafrming our commitment 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 the National 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.
North Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter making procurement accessible

underlying principles

how will the suppliers charter help us?

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 exibly to local needs. They can offer efciencies, 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.

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 benets 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.

why do business with north lanarkshire council?

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 our tendering procedure

we will encourage a diverse and competitive supply market, including small rms, social enterprises, ethnic minority businesses and third sector suppliers.

North Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter

making procurement accessible

our commitment

1 Procurement Strategy We will publish a corporate procurement strategy which will outline: The role procurement plays in delivering the councils objectives and its contribution to diversity, equality and sustainability. How we will encourage a diverse and competitive supply market, including small rms, social enterprises, ethnic minority businesses and third sector suppliers. Our commitment to ensuring that our approach to individual contracts, including large contracts and framework agreements, is supported by a sound business case and options appraisal. A commitment to consider the role of small businesses and third sector specialist suppliers in delivering elements of larger contracts and framework agreements. A commitment to use all of our powers, wherever we can, to do anything we consider will promote or improve the wellbeing of our area. Where appropriate we may include conditions on targeted employment or training measures or other community benets in the performance conditions of our contracts.

2 Support Available As part of the Lanarkshire Social Economy Partnership support protocol, we will introduce a single named contact to manage enquires from social enterprise. We will support and participate in training programmes that help small businesses and third sector organisations better understand how to do business with us. Our procurement ofcers will participate in training programmes to help them better understand how to do business with small businesses and third sector organisations. We will organise a series of targeted events linked to identied procurement growth sectors and market opportunities. We will undertake a campaign to raise awareness within the local third sector of the contract culture and purchaser expectations. We will produce a series of publications to raise local awareness of our procurement policy, practice and opportunities. We will commission a further in-depth analysis of our procurement process, expenditure and opportunities. We will consult further with the business community to identify and further reduce barriers to doing business with us. We will conduct, on request, a contract readiness assessment of interested third sector organisations based on our tender pre-qualication pro forma. We will provide information and business support for social enterprise. We will provide ongoing tendering and contract management support.

accessing contract opportunities

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 ofcers 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 specic 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 rms 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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North Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter

making procurement accessible

fair tender processes

feedback

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 prequalication and tender evaluation criteria, which will be proportionate to the risks of the individual contract process. In particular the criteria relating to nancial standing will not be set to unreasonably exclude newer businesses. If a pre-qualication stage is required, we will use a councilwide pre-qualication 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-qualication. We will examine the feasibility of introducing community benet clauses into council tender evaluation procedures. We will require those tendering for council business at prequalication 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.

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.

contract management
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.

key performance indicators

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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North Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter

making procurement accessible

governance

sharing best practice

We shall establish a council working group including representation from the third sector, to implement and review this action plan.

We shall endeavour to secure external funding for a Scottish pathnder initiative to progress and document learning from the implementation of this action plan.

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further information
Please contact us if you have any questions or comments about this Charter.
Email: proudfootg@northlan.gov.uk Phone: 01698 403957
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Write to: The Procurement Manager North Lanarkshire Council Corporate Procurement Finance and Customer Services Dalziel House Scott Street Motherwell ML1 1PL

North Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter

making procurement accessible

useful links

North Lanarkshire Council Procurement

http://www.northlan.gov.uk/business+and+employment/tenders+and+contracts/corporate+procurement/index.html

Procurement Portal
http://nlc.g2b.info/

Scottish Procurement Directorate

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement

Supply to Government
http://www.supply2.gov.uk

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Authorities Buying Consortium

http://www.abc-scotland.org.uk/

Procurement Portal
http://abc-scotland.g2b.info/

Scottish Supplier Development Programme

http://www.sdpscotland.co.uk

Social Economy Scotland

http://www.socialeconomyscotland.info/

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North Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter

making procurement accessible

designed and printed by creative services / north lanarkshire council / NLC(1455) Ver.1 / 03.2008

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