Letting of contracts

Procurement rules and regulations

In common with all local authorities, we have to take into consideration regulations relating to purchasing and procurement at a European, national and local level.

European rules

All public sector contracts are governed by European Procurement Directives, which are designed to prevent discrimination against firms on the grounds of nationality. These directives require local authorities to follow detailed and lengthy procedures for all procurements above financial threshold limits, which are reviewed every two years.

The current thresholds for the period 1st January 2008 until 31st December 2009 are:

  • £139,893 for both supplies and services

  • £3,497,313 for public works contracts

The legislation sets out basic principles that we must follow for any contract with an aggregated value over the respective threshold. These are as follows:

A specific Contract Notice must be placed in the supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), in order to give all suppliers in the EU an equal opportunity to tender. You can view all notices at:

Website: Tenders Electronic Daily

Tenders must be invited in accordance with one of the prescribed procedures: open, restricted or negotiated. Urgency procedures are also available. Each procedure imposes minimum time-scales covering the tender activities, to ensure that reasonable time is given to interested parties to respond. While the time-scales vary according to the procedure, the following can be used as a guide:

  • the open procedure requires a period of not less than 52 days between the date of despatch of the invitation to tender notice and the closing date for the receipt of tenders.

  • the restricted procedure is made up of two stages. A minimum of 37 days is required for firms to submit an expression of interest, following the despatch of an invitation to tender notice, followed by a period of 40 days for the actual tendering process.  This adds up to a total of 77 days, excluding the time needed to evaluate the expressions of interest and to determine a list of firms to be included in the actual tender process.

Further information about the EC Procurement Directives can be viewed on the eProcurement website.

Website: EC Procurement Directives

National rules

We also have to recognise national legislation, in particular that which prohibits non-commercial considerations being taken into account when awarding contracts.

Local rules

Further guidance on the purchasing and procurement of supplies, services and public works is set out in our own contract procedure rules: the Financial Regulations and Standing Orders Relating to Contracts. The Standing Orders Relating to Contracts are made according to Section 81 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and apply, unless otherwise stated, to all contracts made by us or on our behalf.

The Standing Orders Relating to Contracts determine how we manage any tendering exercises, from the invitation stage through to the award. The Standing Orders also detail the internal monetary thresholds which apply and the procedures which should be followed.

However, these Orders are subject to any over-riding requirements of EU Directives and relative UK legislation on public procurement. Procurement of works, goods and services are governed by the EU public procurement regime, irrespective of whether they are exempt from the provisions of our Standing Orders.

These various regulations obviously impact on how we structure our procurement practices. To ensure the process is transparent, you can find details of all tendering opportunities and award notices on the procurement portal.

Website: Procurement Portal

Contact

Further information on the rules and regulations relating to the procurement of supplies, services and works may be obtained, if required, from any member of the Corporate Procurement Section.

Email: