What you need to know to sell services, goods and works to the council. Find the procurement rules and regulations we have to follow, and use our online procurement system.
Procurement rules
See the pdf council's procurement rules (363 KB) .
Procurement Act 2023
Public procurement law changes are expected to come into effect around October 2024.
You should start to assess how these changes will affect you if you are a supplier who already work with or are interested in working with us.
The government's Official Transforming Public Procurement Knowledge Drops are short videos and guidance designed to provide a high level overview of the changes to the procurement regulations and aimed at those who have regular interactions with procurement.
We will update this page with important information about these changes as it becomes available.
Procurement and Contract Management Strategy
Our pdf Procurement and Contract Management Strategy (383 KB) sets out our plan to support the corporate strategy. It provides guiding principles and ambitions for our procurement and contract management activity for the period 2023 to 2027.
It's built around 4 core ambitions:
- Best Value
- Fair and Compliant
- Healthy and Sustainable
- Local Communities
The documents supporting the Procurement and Contract Management Strategy went to April 2023 Cabinet for approval.
Selling to the council guide
The pdf Selling to the Council (403 KB) guide gives detailed information about how we buy goods, services and works.
Large contracts
Where supplies and services procurements exceed £214,904, and works exceed £5,372,609 and light touch regime for services £663,540 (inclusive of VAT and with effect from January 2023) the following applies: Procurement Policy Note: New Thresholds (GOV.UK)
Contracts are advertised and are accessible online via Find high value contracts in the public sector (GOV.UK).
Social value
Social value is about maximising the impact of public expenditure to get the best possible outcomes, and improving the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the area.
Our approach is set out in our pdf Social Value Policy 2021 (269 KB) . We developed it with city partners, councillors and organisations representing small businesses, micro businesses and the voluntary community sector.
Procurement decisions are one area in which we consider social value. This means that when we are choosing which organisation to award a contract to, we take into account the additional economic, social and environmental benefits the bidders can offer to our local area.
We have a set of spreadsheet social value measures (139 KB) that we use when we are assessing social value. These measures help organisations understand our priorities, and help us compare different social value commitments fairly.
One of our priorities is to encourage organisations to work with our local schools to raise the aspirations of young people in Bristol and offer work experience opportunities. If you're interested in this, the Bristol WORKS Go to https://www.bristol.works/thepledge (opens new window) project can help make it easier for you to offer support.
If you're thinking about bidding for a council contract, please read the Invitation to Tender/Request for Quotation documents issued by the Council carefully.
Healthy and sustainable procurement
We have a target of being a carbon neutral, climate resilient and wildlife rich city by 2030.
Our suppliers have an important role to play in helping us get there.
pdf The Healthy and Sustainable Procurement Policy (219 KB) is driven by this ambition and the current Government Buying Standards.
Annex 1: Health and sustainability requirements for tenders lists the full toolkit of measures, which will evolve over time in order to move our supply chain to where we need to be.
The health and sustainability requirements which are relevant to the contract will be identified in either the specification, in tender evaluation questions or in the initial tender documentation.
Watch our video about how to embed sustainability into a tender response.
Detail of services being commissioned
Details of upcoming tender opportunities.
Community Right to Challenge
The Localism Act provides a Community Right to Challenge in respect of relevant bodies wishing to deliver, or help deliver, services on our behalf.
Find out more about Community Right to Challenge.
E-Procurement system (ProContract)
We use a system called ProContract to commission and manage contracts over £25,000.
You'll need to register on ProContact Go to https://procontract.due-north.com/Login (opens new window) to receive notifications and express interest in our contract opportunities
There's no charge for registering. To take part in any of our purchasing activities, you must have an account registered on the system.
If you require any technical assistance please contact ProContractSuppliers@proactis.com.
Race equality
The Commission for Racial Equality and the CBI offers advice on how external suppliers can respond to public authorities' race equality duties in their guidance: pdf Public Procurement and Race Equality (77 KB) .
Terms and conditions
Our terms and conditions apply to anything ordered by the council unless it has expressly agreed otherwise in writing, or the order is for something covered by an existing written contract.
pdf Terms and conditions for supply of goods and / or work (99 KB)
Contract information and data
We're keen to promote the transparency of the contract data we hold. This information can be accessed via the following sources.
Contract Register
Details of frameworks, dynamic purchasing systems and contracts awarded can be found on our e-procurement contracts register.
Contracts Finder
Contracts Finder lets you search for information about contracts worth over £10,000 with the government and its agencies. The portal can be found on the gov.uk contracts finder.
Council spending and performance
Information about our spending and performance can be found on our council spending and performance page.
This includes monthly reports of items or services bought by us that cost over £500.
Local Government Transparency Code
Information which must be published as set out in the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 can be found on data.gov.uk :
Support
See Selling to the council: support page for micro, small and medium businesses, social enterprises, voluntary and community organisations.
Public Procurement Review Service: tackling poor procurement practice
Public Procurement Review Service is an anonymous service run by Cabinet Office allowing businesses to raise concerns and highlight the barriers they encounter when bidding for, or working on, public sector contracts. Issues can include:
- a procurement process run by an in-scope contracting authority
- a supply chain issue that relates to a contract let by an in-scope contracting authority
- late payment (for example, not paid within 30 calendar days or any earlier payment date as stated in the contract terms) of valid and undisputed invoices relating to an in-scope public contract let by an in-scope contracting authority
The Public Review Service will then work with the council to resolve concerns.
Before reporting an issue or concern to the Public Review Service, email corporate.procurement@bristol.gov.uk so that we have an opportunity to resolve the issue.