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Doing business with the Council

We are committed to obtaining the maximum benefit for every taxpayer's pound we spend. This means using our resources in the best possible way, and delivering public services at a reasonable cost. To do this, we must make sure that all Council purchasing achieves value for money.

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This does not mean that we will always buy the cheapest product or service, but consider quality and cost when deciding what we buy and who from, sometimes this means buying something rather than providing the service or goods ourselves. 

Current tender opportunities - ProContract 

All our tenders and tender opportunities are advertised on the ProContract system. 

We now use E-procurement to buy the vast majority of our goods, works and services rather than a paper based system. 

All elements, from the initial ordering to the invoicing and payment, is carried out electronically to streamline processes and reduce costs. 

The system we, and councils across the North East, use to advertise contracts and invite/receive tenders is ProContract. Suppliers need to be registered to receive notification of opportunities and to return a quote or tender. To register use the ProContract Supplier Registration.

In some cases we also advertise in relevant journals and publications. Tenders over the thresholds will additionally be advertised in the Find a Tender Service (FTS). 

 

Our procurement procedures and rules 

We have well-established procedures for offering work or buying products and services. 

We do not usually respond to unsolicited enquiries or applications. The procedures we follow can vary depending on what we are buying as well as its value. 

For contracts of over to £177,897 where there is no in-house provider or corporate contract for what we want to purchase, a competitive tendering process is followed. This means asking organisations to submit competitive bids (tenders) to us. By doing this we can ensure that public money is spent in a way that is fair, open, honest and accountable. 

For contracts under to £177,897 and over £15,000 at least four written quotes will be obtained.  

Read more about the contract procedure rules in our Constitution, part 3.221.  

  

Current contracts 

We maintain a register of current contracts. This information is available to give your organisation an overview of the Council's current contracts. 

This list is updated on a regular basis so please check back for the most up-to-date information. 

If you have any queries about the contract register, please contact the Procurement Team by e-mailing CorporateProcurement@stockton.gov.uk. 

View the contract register

 

Standard terms and conditions 

We have standard terms and conditions for the purchase of goods, services and consultancy. These do not vary and all organisations doing business with us are required to comply. For some contracts we will also have a set of "special terms and conditions" which are bespoke to the contract and if these are required they will be issued to bidding organisations as part of the pack of tender documents.