Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

How the Council buys

The Deputy Director Contracts and Procurement (DD C&P) is the professional head of procurement, but each of the Council’s service areas is responsible for its own procurement, guided by bthe Council’s Strategy, Constitution, Standing Orders and Procedures. The DD C&P is also responsible for improving procurement capability and efficiency, key aspects of which are identified in the Action Plan which accompanies the Strategy.

As a comparatively small authority with no dedicated procurement staff the Council will continue to develop collabortive working with other authorities, groups and consortia, such as the Office of Government Commerce, the South East Centre of Excellence and the Strategic Procurement Partnership for Oxfordshire.

The legal framework

When procuring, officers must work within a strict framework of legislation and processes, which includes:

• European Union Public Procurement Directives and associated case law.
• National legislation, such as the UK Local Government Acts 1999 and 2000.
• Standing orders, which are part of the Vale of the White Horse District Council’s Constitution.

Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU)

As a public authority the Council is subject to EU legislation in relation to procurement and requirements which are valued above a certain threshold must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

The thresholds are:

Goods & services      £144,371
Works                      £3,611,319

The term 'Journal' can be misleading, as OJEU is only published electronically, and is best accessed through the OJEU website.

Procurement processes

Councils have a statutory obligation to achieve value for money. For all but small value purchases the Council will purchase competitively through obtaining a minimum of three wrtieen quotes or through more formal tendering procedures. 

Supplier selection criteria

A range of criteria will be employed to evaluate suppliers depending on the value and risk of the procurement in question, but will normally include the following:

• Technical ability and capacity to deliver the goods and services required. This is evaluated through method statements, past and current work, references etc.
• Quality - the Council must be sure that the supplier can deliver to required standards of quality. This is primarily evaluated by examination of a potential supplier’s quality management system.
• Equal Opportunities - the Council promotes equal opportunities for all diverse groups, as service users, employees and within supply chains. Suppliers are expected to demonstrate an embedded equal opportunities policy.
• Health and Safety – potential suppliers must demonstrate compliance with all relevant legislation, and demonstrate policies and processes that address all risk inherent in the goods/services/works being procured.
• Sustainability - suppliers must demonstrate, through policies and processes, how they have considered and minimised negative impacts that the procurement has on the environment.
• Financial stability - through analysis of financial accounts and credit reference agencies, the Council will evaluate potential suppliers, so that the risk of a supplier ceasing trading, with the consequent impact on service delivery, is minimised.
• Status and legitimacy - suppliers are required to demonstrate appropriate levels of insurance cover, compliance with taxation and social security legislation, Criminal Record Bureau checks and so on, as appropriate to the individual procurement.