Post on 14-Apr-2018
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
1/20
Suppliers Chartermaking procurement accessible
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
2/20
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
2
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
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
3/20
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
4/20
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
5/20
5
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
6/20
6
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
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
7/20
7
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.
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
8/20
8
making procurement accessibleNorth Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter
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.
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
9/20
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
10/20
10
making procurement accessibleNorth Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter
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.
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
11/20
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.
11
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.
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
12/20
12
making procurement accessibleNorth Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter
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.
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
13/20
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.
13
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
14/20
14
making procurement accessibleNorth Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter
furtherinformation
Please contact us if you have
any questions or comments
about this Charter.
Email:
proudfootg@northlan.gov.uk
Phone:
01698 403957
Write to:
The Procurement Manager
North Lanarkshire Council
Corporate Procurement
Finance and Customer ServicesDalziel House
Scott Street
Motherwell
ML1 1PL
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
15/20
15
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/
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
16/20
16
making procurement accessibleNorth Lanarkshire Council Suppliers Charter
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
17/20
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
18/20
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
19/20
designed and printed by creative services / nor th lanarkshire council / NLC(1455) Ver.1 / 03.2008
d d b i hi i h
7/29/2019 North Lanarkshire Supplier Charter
20/20
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