Doing business with the Council

When the Council buys goods, services or carries out works of any kind, we have to ensure that the contracts we award are procured fairly and transparently. From the 1st January 2021, the UK were no longer bound to comply with EU Procurement Rules and Regulations and instead became a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

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

• Below £10,000 - a minimum of one quotation but good practice to seek most favourable prices and terms
• Between £10,001 and £50,000 - a minimum of 3 written quotations
• Between £50,001 and GPA threshold - invitation to tender by advertisement or select list, or use framework/consortium
• Above GPA threshold - GPA tender process or where this does not apply, invitation to tender by advertisement

Contracts Register

In seeking to make the public sector more transparent to the public, the Government introduced The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 which requires all local authorities to publish details of contracts, tenders and agreements over £5000.

Please select the link below to view the Contracts Register.  This contains a list of contracts and framework agreements for goods, services and works supplied to the Council.  After following the link, please select Torridge District Council from the drop down menu under Organisations on the narrow your results side bar Contracts register (due-north.com)

e-Tendering with Torridge District Council

Torridge District Council use the ProContract e-Tendering portal www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk when procuring selected services, goods and works.  Contractors and suppliers can register for free. This regional portal will allow you to view contract opportunities from a number of councils in the South West.  We also advertise our opportunities on Contracts Finder and Find a Tender Service (FTS) for contracts over the threshold within the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

The Council may not advertise every opportunity as there maybe a contract or framework agreement that we can use or it is under the threshold for advertising in accordance with our Contract Procedure Rules

Members of the Procurement Team are bound by the Code of Conduct of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) CIPS Code of Conduct (PDF, 187 KB)

Social Value Policy

Social Value has been defined as the additional benefit to the community from a commissioning/procurement process over and above the direct purchasing of goods, services and outcomes.The Council recognises the important role it can play in enabling Social Value through its procurement activities and have introduced a Social Value Policy that will require suppliers to deliver social benefits while they deliver the main element of their contract.  Incorporating social value into our commissioning and procurement process is not difficult and can make a tangible difference to people in the community, to service delivery and to the council's spending plans, in line with the Strategic Plan 2023 - 2028 and the Devon Districts Procurement Strategy 2023 - 2027 Devon Districts Procurement Strategy 2023 - 2027 (PDF, 27 MB).

Key Benefits

• Better Value for Money delivering more for the public pound by requiring your suppliers to do more than 'just' deliver the core services

• Increase local spend by rewarding organisations that are local or have a local supply chain, especially Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME's) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSE's)

• Increase opportunities for disadvantaged people and promotes social mobility

• Promotes a responsible supply chain by requiring businesses to compete

• Leads to a cleaner, greener environment 

• Builds stronger more resilient communities

• Leads to greater innovation and long-term thinking

Social Value Policy Social Value Policy (PDF, 4 MB)

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) is 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.