my-it graphic e-Tendering my-it graphic

How the Public Sector buys

This my-IT e-tendering topic is designed to point small businesses in the right direction – and we recommend starting with the straightforward information provided by The Office of Government Commerce (OGC). Together with Business Link, OGC has produced a website dedicated to supplying the public sector (www.supplyinggovernment.gov.uk). The following section links you to the parts of that site that cover online tendering.

In particular, the section “How Government Buys” contains links to concise ‘step by step’ guides of interest to anyone considering tendering for public sector and government contracts:

Frequent Questions

Why not start here? This section addresses some questions we all have about the procurement process. Usefully, it starts at the most basic level “What is the Public Sector?” and then builds up to more specific issues such as “How do I get on an approved supplier list like S-Cat or G-Cat?”

Link: www.supplyinggovernment.gov.uk/faq.asp


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Glossary

A Typical Procurement Process

This guide sequences a typical procurement process right up to the contract becoming operational.

The advice covers the first four stages of our e-procurement process, as illustrated here. At the end of the guide there is a version you can download - which you may find useful to add your own notes for general use or for a particular contract.

 
Link: www.supplyinggovernment.gov.uk/viewStepGuide.asp?ID=154

Increasing Your Chances of Winning
Public Sector Business

This guide presents the issues to be considered at each step in the procurement process. Whilst some of the advice it obvious, it is still very useful to have it in writing!

Link: www.supplyinggovernment.gov.uk/viewStepGuide.asp?ID=155


European Rules

This describes the three procurement procedures (Open, Restricted & Negotiated) permitted under European Rules for public sector contracts over the threshold of around £100,000 in goods or services. The chosen process will be made clear for each tender opportunity. The Open procedure is most straightforward and most common. A full guide is provided for the Restricted procedure, which includes Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and Short List steps and is well suited for e-tendering.

Link: www.supplyinggovernment.gov.uk/ecRules.asp


Financial Assessment

Explains the information you may need to provide to buyers to demonstrate your company’s financial standing. The extent to which this information is required depends on the particular tender opportunity - however, it is essential to have the capacity to provide this information in order to demonstrate your organisation’s ability to meet the contract requirements.

Link: www.supplyinggovernment.gov.uk/finassess.asp


Frameworks

This provides a concise description of the ‘framework contract’ approach. This is a way of selecting a supplier (or a consortium) to deliver any of the requested goods or services on demand over an agreed period.

Link www.supplyinggovernment.gov.uk/frameworks.asp