Doing Business with the Council

This procurement strategy defines the role of procurement in the delivery of the individual councils' strategic objectives and is supported by the individual councils' procurement policies as well as it joining up deliverables where possible. The partnership vision is core to the Devon Districts Procurement strategy:

"By working together to deliver customer focused quality services that provide benefit to the community at a lower cost"

The strategy forms part of the arrangements the councils have made for Best Value under the Local Government Act 1999 (revised March 2015) and compliance with it is mandatory.

The full strategy can be found in the downloads section on the right hand side of this page together with the Responsible Procurement Strategy and Responsible Procurement Supplier Guide.

Procurement at Torridge

Torridge District Council spent approximately £10.7 million (2018/2019) on a wide range of goods and services. In order to obtain best value for this spending, a significant proportion is under contract. Details of all contracts can be found in the Contracts Register, under the Performance & Information part of the website . The register provides details of past and current contracts.

The majority of goods and services contracts that are competitively tendered by us are governed by the following financial thresholds:

• Below £7,500 - a minimum of one quotation but good practice to seek most favourable prices and terms
• Between £7,501 and £50,000 - a minimum of 3 written quotations
• Between £50,001 and EU threshold (Goods & Services - £181,302 Works - £4,551,413) - invitation to tender by advertisement or select list, or use framework/consortium.
• Above EU threshold (Goods & Services - £181,302 Works - £4,551,413) - European Union (EU) tender process or where this does not apply, invitation to tender by advertisement

Our formal UK tenders are advertised in the local and national press, Supplying the South West Procurement Portal, trade journals and, at EU level, the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

For further information, please refer to the Devon Districts Procurement Strategy [131kb].

We are continually looking to improve commercial flexibility within our procurement practices and to achieve best value for the Council whilst working within statutory and EU requirements. Local suppliers are encouraged to tender for our business wherever possible.

Members of the Procurement Team are bound by the Code of Ethics of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)

eTendering with Torridge District Council

Torridge District Council uses ProContract Electronic Tendering through the Supplying the South West Procurement Portal at www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk when procuring selected services, goods and works.

Contractors and suppliers are strongly encouraged to register online with Supplying the South West which is free. 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 existing contracts and new opportunities.

If you register (free of charge) by completing the supplier registration form, 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.

We believe that e-procurement will result in improved efficiency and a reduction in costs for us and those who do business with us.

The Devon & Cornwall Procurement Partnership (DCPP)

The main aim of this partnership collaboration between procurement representatives from Devon's and Cornwall's Public Sector organisations (particularly Local Authorities) with a view to maximising the benefits of Devon's and Cornwall's spend with external suppliers.

The Devon & Cornwall Procurement Partnership (DCPP) has a number of complementary strategic objectives based around sustainability, local economic development and continuous improvement.  The majority of Local Authorities within Devon and Cornwall are currently represented on the partnership together with Devon & Cornwall Police, Devon Fire, Rescue and Dartmoor National Park.

Paying our Suppliers