DOING BUSINESS WITH WATFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL
The Council is keen to support local businesses, including SMEs and voluntary sector organisations, to bid for contracts with the Council. While the Council cannot choose a local firm over other providers simply because it is local, we do ensure that working with the Council and our contract opportunities are available to local businesses. The Council takes social value in to account in its procurements, ensuring that the Council assists in:
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creating new businesses, new jobs and new skills;
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tackling climate change and reducing waste;
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improving supplier diversity, innovation and resilience.
This is in accordance with the Government’s National Procurement Policy.
The Council, along with other public sector organisations, is encouraged to split larger contracts into smaller ‘lots’, where appropriate, which can be helpful to smaller organisations, and are required to advertise contracts over £25,000.
Some information about how to provide goods or services to the council is provided below. If you’d like more information or have suggestions about how we could make opportunities more accessible to providers, please contact us.
How to find opportunities to sell to the council
Contract opportunities (which are valued above £25,000 and not procured through a Framework) are procured via Delta eSourcing. This is an e-procurement system on which we advertise and manage our tender opportunities. Organisations can register on the portal to receive notifications of any current opportunities.
All public bodies, including Watford Borough Council, are recommend to advertise contracts over £25,000 on Contracts Finder, so you can also find national opportunities there.
Upcoming council procurements
A list of contracts which are to be procured or re-procured in the next 12 months can be found here. Information is contained for both Watford Borough Council and Three Rivers District Council.
Procurement in Hertfordshire
The Supply Hertfordshire website represents public sector procurement within Hertfordshire at local and national levels. Supply Hertfordshire provides you with opportunities to access potential business through quotations or tenders (depending upon the contract value) via a one-stop information point which also contains details of how to register your organisation for free.
High value contracts
Where a contract is valued in excess of the UK Procurement thresholds as shown below, the contract must also be advertised on the Government’s Find a Tender website. Any organisation is able to search this platform and receive free tender alerts from it.
Supply, Service and Design contracts: £213,477
Works contracts: £5,336,937
Social and other specific services: £663,540
UK Law
The range of legislation that defines how the council must procure currently includes UK Procurement Regulations (especially the Public Contract Regulations 2015), Best Value Statutory Guidance, Equality Act 2010 and Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. The Government is currently reviewing this process following the UK’s exit from the European Union and issues guidance through its Procurement Policy Notices (PPN).
The Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and Procurement Strategy
The Council’s Constitution sets out the procurement procedures that the council must follow in acquiring the provision of goods or services. The Council's Procurement Strategy can be found here
Watford Borough Council Contract Register
The Council’s current contracts register provides information on our contracts and is updated every quarter.
Selling to the Public Sector
You can find out more about different ways of selling to the Public Sector here.
Procurement Contact
For more information on any aspect of procurement please contact:
Derek Hatcher
Procurement Manager, Watford Borough Council & Three Rivers District Council
Tel: 01923 278370
Email: derek.hatcher@watford.gov.uk