Rules and Regulations

As a public body, there are regulations at a European, National and Local Level, which the Council has to follow when procuring goods, Services and Contracts. The information below gives a brief outline of these regulations:

European Rules

All public sector contracts, no matter what their value within the European Union, are covered by a treaty which incorporates free movement of goods and services, this prevents discrimination against firms on the grounds of nationality.

The principles of the treaty are backed by a series of EU Procurement Directives.

Public Supplies Directive 1993-93/36/EEC
Public Service Directive 1992-92/50/EEC
Public Works Directive 1993-93/37/EEC
Amending Directive 1997-97/52/EEC (Amends the three Directives above)

These Directives are included in U.K Law as a number of regulations.

The Supply Contracts Regulations 1995 S.I. Number 201
The Public Services Contracts Regulations 1993 S.I Number 3228
The Public Works Contracts Regulations 1991 S.I Number 2680

The Directives and Regulations require the Council to follow detailed procedures for all procurement above a financial threshold. The thresholds are reviewed every two years and are outlined below.

Thresholds - Public Sector from 31 January 2006 - 31 December 2007

Figures do not include VAT.

Other Public Contractors & Authorities	Supplies	Services	Works
GBP	£139,893	£139,893	£3,497,313
EUR	(€206,000)	(€206,000)	(€5,150,000)

The Council must follow some basic principles:

A specific tender notice must be placed in the supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) to give all suppliers in the EU an equal opportunity to tender.
Tenders must be invited in accordance with one of the prescribed procedures (open, restricted, negotiated – there are also two separate urgency procedures).

Each procedure imposes minimum time scales covering the tender activities to ensure that reasonable time to respond to adverts and prepare submissions is given to interested parties, these are detailed below.

Description	Open (Days)	Restricted (Days)
Earliest date for last receipt of tenders from the date of despatch of OJEU notice	52	N/A
As above if a PIN (Prior Information Notice) Notice was published	36	N/A
Time to supply contract documents from date of request by supplier	6	N/A
Earliest date for last receipt of request to participate from the date of despatch of the ojeu notice	N/A	37
Earliest date for last receipt of tenders from date of despatch of invitation to tender	N/A	40
As above if PIN Notice was issued	N/A	26
Last date before tender due to provide further information to contractors (if requested)	6	6

A notice of contract award must be placed in the OJEU. Unsuccessful contractors must be de-briefed if requested.

National Rules

Whilst there is no prescription on local authorities to tender out specific services, all Councils have a duty under Best Value Legislation (introduced in April 2000) as laid down by Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1999 to fundamentally review their services. Also to make arrangements to ensure continuous improvement, having regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Performance Indicators and targets for improvement are set and published in an annual Best Value Performance Plan. Bexley Council recognises that effective procurement is at the heart of Best Value and the Best Value review process will help deliver the commitment of the Council to provide the best possible services for the people of Bexley. The Council must also have regard for Part 2 of the Local Government Act 1998, which prohibits non-commercial considerations being taken into account when awarding contracts.

Local Rules

A copy of our Contract Standing Orders (212KB, PDF) is available to download.