Doing business with the Council
Advertising our opportunities
All our contract opportunities over £100,000 are available on the Government’s national advertising portal Contracts Finder.
In addition to Contracts Finder, we will advertise anything procured as part of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 on the Government’s new procurement portal, Find a Tender (FTS).
You can sign up for email alerts and choose to be notified of any relevant opportunities that are advertised on the website.
We use Intend for our e-procurement system to allow you to submit offers electronically for any of our published contract opportunities. You can sign up to Intend to receive alerts for opportunities as they are published.
Supporting local businesses
We are committed to supporting small and local businesses and are continuously working to improve our processes to meet the standards as set out by the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB).
To support local businesses further we are also encouraging our staff to communicate our quoting opportunities via our Economy and Growth team and The Northants Chamber of Commerce.
Existing contracts for subcontracting opportunities or pre-procurement pipeline
If you are looking for sub-contracting opportunities or when to expect contracts to be re-procured, we publish details of all our active contracts above £5,000 with details of awarded suppliers on our contracts register.
| Value of contract | Pre-procurement authorisation | Advertising | Procurement process | Contract execution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £1,000 |
Officer | No requirement to advertise | Obtain best value for money | Contract terms issued via purchase order |
| £1,000 to £5,000 |
Officer | No requirement to advertise | Seek to obtain at least two (2) written Quotations unless exception is granted by line manager (at least one (1) from a Local provider) | Contract terms issued via purchase order |
| £5,000 to £25,000 |
Officer If “Key Decision”, relevant Officer and Executive approval | No requirement to advertise | Seek to obtain at least three (3) written Quotations (at least one (1) from a Local provider) | Contract terms issued via purchase order Contract must be published on the Contract Register |
| £25,000 to £100,000 |
Officer | Advertising on Contracts Finder is recommended | Seek to obtain at least three (3) written Quotations (at least one (1) from a Local provider). | Written contract signed by one (1) Chief Officer or Officer with appropriate authority to enter into a Contract Standard terms approved by Monitoring Officer Contract must be published on the Contract Register and Contracts Finder |
£100,000 to Threshold |
Officer and the Procurement Team | Advertising on Contracts Finder is mandatory unless the Regulations stipulate otherwise All procurement Notices must be issued by the Procurement Team Award notice must also be published on Contracts Finder |
Seek to obtain at least three (3) written Quotations |
Written contract signed/sealed |
| Above Threshold |
Officer and Procurement Team |
Advertising on Contracts Finder is mandatory unless the Regulations stipulate otherwise | Procurement must be run in accordance with the Regulations and in consultation with the Procurement Team |
Written contract signed/sealed. Standard terms approved by Director of Legal and Democratic Contract must be published on the Contract Register and Contracts Finder |
| Framework Agreements or DPSs |
Officer (and Council’s Procurement Team if over | Not applicable |
Follow call-off procedure within Framework Agreement or DPS |
Written Contract created from Framework Agreement or DPS |
If you have been awarded a contract by the Council and have been sent a purchase order, our standard terms and conditions will apply unless we state otherwise such as the Council issuing separate terms and conditions.
All invoices should be addressed to West Northamptonshire Council.
Compliant Invoice Checklist
- Your full company name, address, and contact details
- Invoice date to ensure our system calculates your invoice due date correctly
- A unique invoice number which we will be recorded on our system and quoted on your remittance advice or during any other correspondence with you
- A valid ERP Purchase Order Number for the goods and/or services you are invoicing for on the invoice. The correct West Northamptonshire Council PO number will have 11 digits and start with 3140XXXXXXX and must be clearly specified on the invoice.
- Your bank details including sort code and account number where you expect to receive the payment for your invoice
- Full organisation name and address liable for paying the invoice eg West Northamptonshire Council
- Clear description of the goods and/or services provided
- Accurate quantities, price and amount due
- The date of supply (also known as tax point) if this is different from the invoice date
- A breakdown of the goods and/or service clearly showing the net price, the VAT rate, the VAT
amount, and the total amount for each line on the invoice
Submitting your invoices
Please email all Purchase Order Invoices in PDF format to: WNC.Invoices@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Invoices must be submitted in PDF format and individually attached ie one invoice per each attachment but you can submit multiple attachments in one email. Invoices which are not submitted in PDF format will be automatically rejected and unpaid until you re-submit your invoice in the required PDF format.
We prefer to receive invoices via email but if you are unable to send them to us electronically, paper invoices can be posted to: Accounts Payable, Shire Hall OCT 1101, Castle Hill, Cambridge, CB3 0AP.
Non-Compliant invoices will be automatically rejected and unpaid until you re-submit your invoice in the required format.
If you have any queries regarding the outstanding invoice payments or you need to update your supplier record, please contact our Help Desk team via:
Email: helpdesk@northamptonshire.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 126 8088 (External customers only)
This can include things such as PPE, IT equipment, office furniture, tyres and electricity. We don’t buy enough of these things to justify running a full tender ourselves so make use of the greater buying power of those buying consortia to get best value for money.
If you are interested in supplying us with goods and services, it is worthwhile applying to the framework agreement contracts operated by Crown Commercial Services and ESPO too.
We are taking steps to prevent modern slavery in our operations and supply chains. For further details see our modern slavery and human trafficking statement.
This also applies to concerns about the actions of employees and councillors and external organisations in their dealings with the council.
The Whistleblowing Policy is applicable to the following groups:
- All employees
- All contractors working for the council on council property
- All suppliers to the council
Where possible we seek to ensure that any issues that are raised through the Whistleblowing Policy are dealt with through the internal process outlined.
However, where an individual feels that the issue should be raised outside of the council, please view to Government advice on how you can do so.
The 2011 Localism Act included a new ‘Community Right to Challenge’, which allows:
- voluntary and community bodies
- charities
- parish councils
- groups of 2 or more staff from the local authority
- any other person or body specified by the Secretary of State by regulations
to bid to express an interest in the running of services the council currently provides. Private sector providers can support the above providers in their challenge. The Government provides guidance on the services the Right to Challenge can apply to and who can submit an EOI form.
Under the Right to Challenge, relevant bodies can submit a written Expression of Interest (EOI) in running a service, which the local authority is required to consider and respond to.
You can contact the Council’s Procurement Team via email at procurement@westnorthants.gov.uk.
Our procurement strategy sets out our anticipated view of West Northamptonshire’s future and highlights the areas we intend to focus on to prepare for it.
Last updated 01 October 2021