Doing Business with Cheshire East Council
This section will give you guidance on how you can become a
supplier to the Council, details of our contracts and current
tender opportunities.
The Authority has a devolved procurement structure and as such
the sourcing, tendering and purchasing, of goods and services are
decentralised. Cheshire East does not operate an approved supplier
list; however some services do operate select lists.
The Authority has to follow its Financial procedure rules, which regulate how
it conducts its business. In addition as a public sector body we
are bound by the EU Procurement Directives for those contracts
exceeding the thresholds above which we are obliged to
publicly advertise our contracts throughout the European Union.
Tendering Process
Depending on the price of the purchase the council's procurement
procedure varies:
Purchases below £10,000
The Council will require at least 3 emailed or telephone
quotations.(May be requested via the ‘Chest’ also, our e-tendering
portal).
Purchases below £75,000
The Council requires at least 3 competitive written quotations.
(All contracts above £10,000 must have a signed contract in place
with the Council)
Purchases above £75,000
Tenders will be advertised on the tender opportunities section.
The Council will carry out a rigorous tendering process and if the
value exceeds the current EU thresholds the procurement will be
carried out in accordance with European Procurement Rules.
Tender Opportunities
Details of current procurement
opportunities with a value of £10,000 or more can be
found on The Chest website. Tenders
with a value that exceeds the current EU threshold will also be
advertised in the
Official Journal of the European Union.
For further advice and guidance on tendering to the public
sector, please visit the GOV.UK
website.
All details of contracts can be found on the
North West Contracts register.
National - Central Government Contracts Finder System
On Friday 11th February, the Prime Minister and the Minister for
the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, announced a radical package of
measures to open up the way that Government does business and to
make sure that small companies, charities and voluntary
organisations are in the best possible position to compete for
billions of pounds worth of contracts, including:
- A new National
Contracts Finder web site has been launched. The new online
facility will become the place to find public sector contracting
opportunities over £10,000 and will make the Government’s
procurement process totally transparent.
- The appointment of Stephen Allott as a new Crown Commercial
Representative (CCR) for SMEs. His task will be to build a more
strategic dialogue between HM Government and smaller suppliers –
giving those suppliers a strong voice at the top table.
- The launch of SME (Small Medium Enterprise) product surgeries.
These events will be led by the new CCR and will give SMEs the
opportunity to pitch innovative products and services direct to a
panel of senior procurement and operational professionals from
central government and the wider public sector.
- A completely new approach to assessing companies and
organisations who want to do business with Government, so that SMEs
are not disadvantaged including:
- Seeking to eliminate PQQs (Pre-Qualification Questionnaires)
for all central government procurements under £100,000. This
represents a radical change in the way pre-qualification is carried
out and means that from now on procurers will be free to choose the
best route to market for their individual circumstances.
- Allowing firms to submit their prequalification data once for
all procurements in common commodities. This will put an end to
companies having to submit the same data time and time again,
saving time and money for the suppliers and for government.
- Publication of the findings of the Cabinet Office’s LEAN Review
into procurement processes. This will show the Government is doing
all it can to reduce waste, tackle bureaucracy and lower the cost
of doing business with government.
At the event Baroness Eaton, Chair of the Local Government Group
announced her support for the new measures and the intention that
Local Government will also make their opportunities available on
Contracts Finder and use a simplified pre-qualification
questionnaire.
Local Authorities may be able to make their tender opportunities
available on Contacts Finder through their existing e-procurement
provider, as many are developing interoperability links to
automatically post opportunities held on their sites into Contracts
Finder.
Please Note: Cheshire East Council are
currently using 'The Chest' as described above and no link has been
developed currently to this new Government Contracts Finder
system.
More information on all the new measures designed to open up
government procurement to SMEs can be found on the
Cabinet Office's information on small business contracts
page.
Oracle iSupplier Portal
Cheshire Shared Services provide Suppliers with the option of
using the Oracle iSupplier Portal module to connect to our
eBusiness System to do the following:
- Purchase Order:
- View / Print Purchase Orders
- Search for old Purchase Orders
- View Purchase Order "Lifecycle" - track if an order has been
receipted / paid etc.
- Invoices / Payments:
- Drill down against a Purchase Order to check if it has been
invoiced / paid
- Search existing invoices against Invoice Number / Purchase
Order Number / Invoice Date etc - check if your invoice has been
paid yet
- Support
Support for the system is provided through the iSupplier
User Guide (PDF, 504KB). If, after having read the user guide,
you find that you need to speak to someone at Cheshire Shared
Services for additional support (e.g. you have your password reset,
or to report an issue with iSupplier), please call 01244
977140.
Guide to Suppliers
The Selling
Goods and Services to the Council Guide (PDF, 134KB) sets out
how we work, what we buy and how who to contact. Also, please refer
to the Supplier
guidance on completing procurement documentation (PDF,
153KB).
Fraud and corruption
Fraud within the public sector costs the taxpayer hundreds of
millions of pounds each year. Detected cases of fraud and
corruption are on the increase especially in the current economic
climate. Cheshire East Council is committed to fighting fraud and
corruption and actively encourages reporting by anyone who suspects
fraud or who has any concerns about any aspect of the Council's
work.
Where to find help
If you know of anyone committing any kind of fraud, whether an
employee of the Council, a member of the public or a company who
may be contracted to work for the Council then you need to report
your suspicions. Referrals will be treated in the strictest
confidence. Please refer to the Whilsteblowing Policy below for
further information and contact details.
Whistleblowing Policy
The Council's Whistleblowing policy covers all employees of the
Council, contractors, agency staff and the Councils partners.
The policy enables both providers and staff of the Council to
report, confidentially, serious concerns about any aspects of the
Council's work in which you may suspect criminal, fraudulent
behaviour or other forms of malpractice.
For further information and guidance along with details as to
how to make such a disclosure, please refer to the Whistleblowing Policy (PDF,
85KB) or email whistleblowing@cheshireeast.gov.uk
.
Payment to Suppliers
Automated payment direct into your bank account (e.g. payment by
BACS - Banker Automated Clearing Services) is the Council's
preferred method of payment as it is cost effective, efficient and
secure. To apply for payment by BACS please submit your banking
information on your organisation’s letterhead, signed (with an
original signature) and dated by an authorised officer.
NB. We do not accept
scanned/photocopied/computer generated or faxed signatures.
This must be ink.
Please send these details to:
Cheshire East Council
PO Box 3655
Chester
CH1 9PP
Please note from the 1st January 2012
Cheshire East are implementing a No
Purchase order No Pay policy.
