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

 Procurement Act 2023

The laws that govern public sector procurement and contract management are changing.

The Transforming Public Procurement programme (which is being led by the Cabinet Office) will change how public procurement is regulated and carried out to:

• create a simpler and more flexible, commercial system that better meets our country's needs while remaining compliant with our international obligations
• open up public procurement to new entrants such as small businesses and social enterprises so that they can compete for and win more public contracts
• embed transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle so that the spending of taxpayers' money can be properly scrutinised

On 24 February 2025, the Procurement Act 2023 and associated regulations will replace the current Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015.

The regulations had previously been due to go-live on 28 October 2024, however, in September 2024 the Government announced a delay to when the new regulations will come into force. There will be a transition period between the old and new regulations, during which the two regimes will run in parallel for a period of time.

Further detail on key changes and benefits for suppliers can be found on The Procurement Act 2023: Short guides page.

This is a long-term change so although benefits may not be visible on day one, the Cabinet Office are confident that the new regime will help break down barriers to entry into procurement.

New central digital platform

There will be a new central digital platform used by public sector bodies to publish details of new procurement opportunities.

Suppliers will need to register and upload key business information to the platform, with the aim of reducing duplication and resources used when tendering.

The platform will be used by public sector bodies to publish a range of notices required by the Act relating to a tender/contract. Torridge District Council will continue to use our current e-tendering system to advertise opportunities, receive bids from suppliers and manage our procurement activities.

The Cabinet Office has advised that the platform will launch when the new regulations go-live, and it is intended that this will be accessed via the "Find a Tender" website on GOV.UK, with additional system functionality being introduced by the Cabinet Office over a period of time.

A Central Digital Platform Factsheet for suppliers has been published by the Cabinet Office.

Procurements started and contracts awarded under existing regulations

Existing legislation will apply to any procurements started under the old rules. All new procurements started on 24 February 2025 onwards will fall under the new legislation. The existing public procurement rules will continue to apply for contracts that are already in progress and for procurements started under the current regime.

Further information

The Cabinet Office are providing regular updates and will continue working with leading business groups and trade associations to make sure information is available for suppliers. They have developed a number of knowledge drops specifically for suppliers, and small and medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community or social enterprise organisations: The Official Transforming Public Procurement Knowledge Drops (GOV.UK)

Additional links to Government guidance:

• Transforming Public Procurement (GOV.UK)
• Animations and videos (GOV.UK)
• The Procurement Bill - Benefits for prospective suppliers to the public Sector (publishing.service.GOV.UK)

If you have questions on any aspect of the new regulations, please contact the dedicated Transforming Public Procurement helpdesk at procurement.reform@cabinetoffice.gov.uk or procurement@torridge.gov.uk