Tenders and contract opportunities

Procurement information

The effective procurement of goods, works and services is vital to local government, and to the communities we serve. We are committed to ensuring the best value in all of our transactions. We are also committed to using our procurement activity to support the councils priorities and the councils wider regeneration and social goals.

Selling to the council and contract opportunities

We advertise high value tendering opportunities on the Supplying the South West Procurement portal that helps councils and suppliers work together.

This regional portal gives you a one-stop shop window on contract opportunities from a growing number of councils in the South West. Even without registering, you can use the portal to look for information about new opportunities.

If you register (free of charge), you can:

  • post a profile of your company, indicating what sorts of opportunity you are interested in
  • receive email notifications whenever opportunities matching your profile become available
  • register an expression of interest in a published opportunity and request contract documentation to be sent to you

Advertised procurement projects that exceed the relevant Public Contract Regulations Thresholds, will also be published via 'Find a Tender', the UK’s e-notification service.

We may also use this portal for low value contracts where this is appropriate.

If you're thinking about bidding for a council contract, read the Invitation to Tender and Request for Quotation documents issued by the council carefully.

Social value and community wealth building 

A key priority for the council is to ‘Build a Better Swindon’ which includes promoting Swindon’s Economy, supporting Swindon’s businesses to help them grow and promoting the benefits of social value and community wealth building. 

We recognise that our procurement activities have a significant part to play, alongside other Social Value mechanisms, to support community wealth building and Carbon Reduction initiatives.

Therefore, through the proportionate application of social value criteria in our procurement activities, we will enable what is being procured to be evaluated for how it will also improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the Swindon area.

The response to Social Value questions is a supplier’s opportunity to demonstrate how they will tangibly support the our priorities should they be awarded the contract.

Whilst supporting our priorities, under a community wealth building approach, there is still a requirement for local contractors to show that they can credibly compete on price, performance and quality to be awarded a public contract.

Rules and regulations

As a local authority, we have a duty under Best Value legislation (April 2000), to review our services and make arrangements to ensure continuous improvement on economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

All public sector contracts must comply with the relevant Public Contract Regulations.

The regulations require councils to follow detailed procedures for all procurements above the relevant financial thresholds. At levels below these thresholds, we have our own contract procedure rules governing the procurement of goods, services and works.

Procurement Act 2023 

The rules governing public procurement are changing, the new Procurement Act seeks to transform Public Procurement to create a simpler and more flexible commercial system whilst remaining compliant with international obligations.

The Procurement Act will replace the Public Contract Regulations for how Public Procurement activities are regulated in the UK and is effective from the 24 February 2025.

In addition to the prescribed procedures within the new Act, Public Authorities must have regard to the importance of the following objectives when carrying out a procurement covered by the Act:

  • delivering value for money
  • maximising public benefit
  • sharing information for the purpose of allowing suppliers and others to understand the authority’s procurement policies and decisions
  • acting, and being seen to act, with integrity

The Government Commercial Function have prepared a range of webinars for suppliers to get ready for the new act:

For more information, an open letter to all suppliers explaining the changes is available:

Performance and contract management

Suppliers and contractors are monitored to assess their compliance against the pre-determined performance criteria set out in the contract documentation. We work continually to improve our performance and expect our contractors to do the same.

We have dedicated Contract Management Officers to provide support services. They are responsible for:

  • contract monitoring and performance reporting
  • operating the terms and conditions of contract in the event of service breach
  • supporting audit inspections

Transparency code

The Transparency Code 2015 was issued by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to issue a code of recommended practice as to the publication of information by local government about the discharge of their functions and other matters.

Information required by the Transparency code can be found on the Open Data and Transparency pages of this website.

Electronic trading

E-procurement (electronic procurement) allows us to buy goods, services and works online.

Visa purchasing cards are used for low-value (less than £500 per transaction), high-volume items. As a Visa Purchasing Card merchant, approved suppliers will receive a cash settlement directly from their acquiring bank within four days of processing the transaction.

Existing suppliers ‘may’ be approached by the council to join the Visa Purchasing Card programme. Your business will need to be able to accept and process VISA Purchasing Card transactions at level 2 or 3.

Further information

For further information, contact:

Corporate Procurement Team
Swindon Borough Council
Wat Tyler West (2nd Floor)
Beckhampton Street
Swindon
SN1 2JG

Email: procurement@swindon.gov.uk

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