Introduction
Cambridgeshire County Council spends millions of pounds each year with our suppliers to ensure that our communities and residents get the best possible service from us. We work with businesses ranging from small, local suppliers to large national companies. We want to make it as easy as possible for any business interested in our procurements, to bid and help us deliver excellent public services.
The Council procures the contracts it needs through processes that are compliant with the Public Contract Regulations (2015). These regulations help to ensure that our contracts deliver high quality balanced with good value.
This page gives prospective and current suppliers the information needed to get involved in our procurement processes. And to understand how our priorities impact on our procurements. We are here to support you so If you have any questions when you have finished reading this page, please email procurementandcommercial@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.
Where our procurements are valued over £25,000, they are advertised on Contracts Finder (details below), except where we are using existing framework agreements. Where the value of the procurement is above the UK Procurement Threshold, currently £214,904 for goods/services and £5,372,609 for works, our procurements are also advertised on the Find a Tender Service (details below).
If you want to find out more about our current contracts, please visit: Cambridgeshire County Council: Contract Register | Cambridgeshire Insight Open Data
Our procurement activity supports the overall priorities of the Council which are outlined in our Business Plan (2023-2028). We also have a Sustainable Procurement Strategy, to learn more about that, please take a look.
Support for Suppliers
How to Bid
The Council has developed guidance for suppliers on how to get involved in one of our procurement processes. That Guidance aims to bring together all the information a supplier needs into a single document and to support suppliers to submit high quality and competitive bids.
The Council regularly conducts soft market testing, and those opportunities will be advertised through ProContract (please see below). We also hope to start running more generic ‘Meet the Buyer’ events to give suppliers an opportunity to meet the Procurement Team and ask any questions they might have about the Council’s procurement processes. Please see the document below.
More information about how the Council manages its procurement activity can be found on this page of the Council's website.
This information is being provided to support suppliers in preparing for our key procurement activity. The Council aims to ensure this pipeline is as accurate as possible. However, the Council will provide no guarantees that the procurements listed here will be published at the time indicated or at all. Procurements not listed here may be published without prior notice where this is necessary.
If you have any questions about the information contained within this pipeline, please contact the Procurement and Commercial team at procurementandcommercial@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.
More information about how the Council manages its procurement activity can be found on this page of the Council's website.
Supplier Support Events
On Tuesday 16 July, we are holding an online webinar for Local Cambridgeshire SMEs to find more information on relevant opportunities and how to utilise the Procontract system used by many public bodies within Cambridgeshire.
Following on from our SME event last year, this is a continuation of the engagement process to provide upskilling opportunities for Local SMEs and to establish meaningful connections with the County procurement team and understanding the various opportunities available.
Follow the link below for further details and book to attend the event.
Additionally, colleagues at South Cambridgeshire District Council also hold events. Follow the link below for details of their next session.
The Council also works with the Social Value Portal (SVP) for relevant procurement process. SVP run monthly training sessions for bidders/suppliers on Social Value, find details of the sessions that you can join to understand more about Social Value (Outlook.com). Additionally, there is further resources from SVP about bidding for projects with Social Value with them here: Win More Bids (Social Value Portal)
The Procurement Act 2023
The UK’s exit from the European Union (EU), has created an opportunity to develop and implement a new procurement regime (GOV.UK website). As a result of the Public Procurement Law changing, we want to keep our suppliers both supported and up-to-date.
The Procurement Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and the commencement (referred to as the go live date) of the new regime has been confirmed as the 28 October 2024. This will replace the existing regulations for any new procurement process started after this date.
The new act is a UK law that regulates public procurement by contracting authorities. Its aim is to improve the country's public procurement system. The intention is to make it quicker, simpler, more transparent, and better able to meet the UK's needs.
Suppliers can start to assess how these changes will affect them if they are a supplier who already work with or are interested in working with us.
The Procurement Act 2023 Short Guide for Suppliers (opens as a .pdf)
Secondary legislation has now also been finalised and has started the six- month notice period to allow authorities and suppliers to prepare. The Council is currently in the process of completing the relevant training modules and sessions being provided by the Cabinet Office and reviewing the guidance which is still being developed by Cabinet Office as well.
Once the legislation is live you will find, new rules, regulations and notices as to how councils will setup bidding opportunities in accordance with this new legislation.
There has been previously guidance issued including a Short Video for suppliers (YouTube) together with a short animation (YouTube) for suppliers, including one for SMEs and VCSEs (YouTube) which will be a useful for first step. There is also a guidance document that summarises the new Procurement Act, next steps and timelines, outlines the support which will be made available, and includes suggestions for initial steps to help everyone prepare.
The first official training materials for the new Procurement Act were published on 5 December 2023 for Suppliers. The "knowledge drops"(GOV.UK website) at the official Transforming Public Procurement site are designed "to provide a high-level overview on the changes" and are in three parts for suppliers and a further three parts for SMEs/VCSEs along with factsheets on the new regime.
Cabinet Office had previously issued some early guidance for suppliers (GOV.UK website) which we recommend suppliers reviewing.
If you have any questions, please contact the Cabinet Office or email our Procurement and Commercial Team.
ProContract
The Council uses an electronic tendering system to publish the majority of its procurement opportunities, please visit the CCC Procurement Portal to learn more. You can view a list of the current opportunities but in order to view the details of each you will need to register online. By registering online you can choose to receive automatic updates when new opportunities are published by the Council. You can search for our procurement opportunities by using the ‘Find Opportunities’ tab and by filtering for ‘Cambridgeshire public services’.
Supplier user guides for the system can be found once you have logged in by accessing the ‘Help’ function.
The Council has also written its own Guide on how to use the system, please see below.
Contracts Finder
All procurements valued over £25,000 are also advertised on Contracts Finder, which is one of the central advertising portals for UK public sector organisations. You can register on Contracts Finder and save searches to get email alerts for procurements in the categories you are interested in.
You can find and register on Contracts Finder.
Find a Tender Service
Where our procurements are valued over the UK Procurement Threshold (details in the Introduction), we also advertise on Find A Tender which is the other central advertising portal for UK public sector organisations. Find a Tender works in the same way as Contracts Finder.
Find and register on Find a Tender.
Procurement Pipeline
This procurement pipeline aims to give suppliers and other interested parties an indication of the procurements that the Council may run over the course of the next three years. Procurements valued over £500,000 are listed within this pipeline. Procurements valued below that threshold will not be listed here. Details of those procurements can be found by visiting either Contracts Finder or Procontract where the Council will advertise the majority of its procurement activity valued over £25,000.
There are three tabs on the excel spreadsheet the first tab gives details about the next 12 months, the second tab about the 12 months following and the 3rd tab about the final twelve months. This pipeline will be updated quarterly and as procurements move into the first tab more detail will be provided.
This information is being provided to support suppliers in preparing for our key procurement activity. The Council aims to ensure this pipeline is as accurate as possible. However, the Council will provide no guarantees that the procurements listed here will be published at the time indicated or at all. Procurements not listed here may be published without prior notice where this is necessary.
If you have any questions about the information contained within this pipeline, please contact the Procurement and Commercial team at procurementandcommercial@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.
More information about how the Council manages its procurement activity can be found on this page of the Council's website.
Terms and Conditions
The Council will aim to use the standard terms and conditions available below, for all procurements valued below £25,000.
Where the procurement is valued over £25,000 or is complex in nature, bespoke terms and conditions will form part of the procurement pack of information.
Submitting Invoices
Our terms and conditions set out our payment terms, we want to be able to pay our suppliers promptly and within those agreed payment terms. The document below gives suppliers advice and guidance on how to submit a compliant invoice to ensure that you receive prompt payment.
Social Value
The Council is committed to delivering additional value through its procurement activity. Where a procurement is valued over £100,000, we will seek to embed social value in that procurement wherever possible. This means that suppliers will be asked to deliver additional, relevant social value alongside their delivery of the key contractual requirements.
How social value will be delivered will depend on the nature of the contract, but to learn more about the indicators we use, please access the document here:
Climate Change
The Council has challenging Net Zero targets to meet. The Council itself is committed to achieving Net Zero by 2030 and the County has a whole has a target of Net Zero by 2045. Supporting our suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint will be a key part of delivering these targets. You can find out more about how we intend to do that below.
Climate Charter
The Council has developed a Climate Charter that it asks any supplier with a contract valued over £100,000 to sign up to. The Charter contains a list of key commitments and promises that the supplier must deliver alongside their other contractual commitments. A copy of the Climate Charter is available below:
Low Carbon Purchasing Guidance
The Council is also working on guidance for suppliers in responding to procurements with challenging Net Zero requirements. This Guidance will be available soon.
Carbon Calculator
It will be important for suppliers to be able to calculate their carbon footprint so that they can deliver the target set for them within the procurement process. The Council intends to provide suppliers with an easy-to-use carbon calculator that will be free to use and accessible via this webpage. We intend to have the calculator available for all suppliers in 2024.
Other Related Policies
You may also be interested in reading the Council’s other policies connected with procurement.
Advertising and Sponsorship
The Council aspires to maximise the use of its assets and build positive relationships with business through advertising and sponsorship. The purpose of the policy is to set out the terms on which advertising and sponsorship will be managed by the Council.
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
The Council is committed to eliminating acts of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains. Suppliers will be asked to respond to questions about their own modern slavery practice when they respond to procurements. The Council’s Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement can be found below.
