The purpose of this guidance is to make it as simple as possible for you to do business with West Dunbartonshire Council. The term “supplier” is used throughout this guidance and refers to goods suppliers, service providers and works contractors. Our Corporate Procurement Unit works with the Council service areas to develop contracts which achieve Best Value - balance of price, quality and service.
The purpose of this guidance is to make it as simple as possible for you to do business with West Dunbartonshire Council. The term “supplier” is used throughout this guidance and refers to goods suppliers, service providers and works contractors. Our Corporate Procurement Unit works with the Council service areas to develop contracts which achieve Best Value - balance of price, quality and service.
There are a number of procurement routes available to the Council:
Value Procedure.
| Value | Procedure |
|---|---|
| Up to £1,999.99 (exc. VAT) | Buyers have to ensure best value and this may involve inviting suppliers to quote. |
| Up to £2,000 to £9,999.99 | Buyers seek a minimum of 3 written quotes (if available) and can use the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) portal, the national advertising website for public sector procurement in Scotland, to search for suppliers. |
| £10,000 to £49,999.99 (goods and services) and from £10,000 to £499,999.99 (works) | Buyers use the PCS Quick Quote portal to search for registered suppliers who can meet their requirements and will send an invitation to quote to up to five suppliers including two West Dunbartonshire based suppliers where available. |
| From £50,000 (goods and services) and from £500,000 (works) | The Council applies the Public Contract (Scotland) Regulations 2016 or the Public Contract (Scotland) Regulations 2015. All procurements, except for social care and other specific services under £663,540 will be advertised on PCS. |
| Framework Agreements Dynamic Purchasing Systems | The Council also utilises Framework Agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems, including those awarded by Scotland Excel, Scottish Procurement and Property Directorate, Crown Commercial Services and Scottish Procurement Alliance |
The Council uses the PCS portal to advertise opportunities, source suppliers and conduct procurement exercises. Registration is free and the process is simple and straightforward.
When registering, you should take time to complete the ‘Supplier Finder’ profile as this allows buyers to invite you to quote for opportunities under £50,000 for supplies and services and under £500,000 for works. This can improve your chances of working with the public sector. Your profile is required to be set as ‘public’ to be visible to buyers. It is important to make best use of the ‘key words’ fields within this section as this is how buyers search for suppliers.
If you want to be made aware of tender opportunities from £50,000 for supplies or services or from £500,000 for works that are advertised openly on the PCS portal, then you should complete the ‘Alert Profile’. This will ensure you receive automatic e-mail alerts for opportunities in the categories you have selected.
We also recommend that you select all relevant categories for best results.
Links to the Council’s current and forthcoming procurements and contracts register are provided below together with a link to the Public Contracts Scotland advertising portal.
When the quotes/tender responses are received, the Council’s evaluation team will evaluate these against the award criteria and make the decision to award the contract.
Depending on the procurement route taken, the award procedure will be slightly different.
Whatever the result of your quote/tender response, you are entitled to a debrief.
This will explain areas in which you did well and not so well, and should hopefully provide you with the right information to help improve future quote/tender responses.
We encourage you to read the information our Procurement web pages. It has lots of useful information including the Procurement Strategy, Annual Procurement Report, Contracts Register and details of our procurement team where you can identify and reach out to those relevant to your market.
Come speak to us - the procurement team is ready to engage with all local suppliers that want to do business with the Council. We can provide further information to help your business grow and prosper including how to raise the Council’s awareness of your company, how to maximise sub-contracting opportunities if you are a smaller company and unable to bid for larger contracts, how to access business support advice including start up grants and how to become tender ready.
Here are some useful contacts if you need any further information:
We support West Dunbartonshire Council in managing all of its third party spend.
You can engage further with the Corporate Procurement Unit regarding opportunities to sell your products, works or services to the Council.
Telephone: 01389 737833
Email: procurement@west-dunbarton.gov.uk
The Supplier Journey provides guidance on how to bid for public sector contracts. Further information can be accessed at: https://www.supplierjourney.scot/
The Council has a dedicated business support team which provides grant and
loan support to local businesses to support their growth and the creation of local
jobs.
Further information on the grants and support available can be accessed at
on the Grant and Loan page.
Telephone: 0141 530 2408
Email: business.support@west-dunbarton.gov.uk
Business Gateway provides West Dunbartonshire businesses with a wide range
of practical advice and support on how to start up and develop a business.
It offers free workshops and events tackling various topics including e-commerce.
https://www.bgateway.com/local-offices/west-dunbartonshire/local-support
Telephone: 0141 319 4671
Email: westdunbartonshire@bgateway.com
The Supplier Development Programme (SDP) is a partnership of Local Authorities,
Scottish Government and other public bodies that works together to bring FREE
support in all aspects of tendering to Scottish-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
SDP helps SMEs win work and grow their business by offering expert
training and support. You can engage with SDP by registering and logging in,
where you can learn more about booking training and events, and access additional resources.
https://www.sdpscotland.co.uk/
Telephone: 01698 453734
Email: info@sdpscotland@co.uk
Scotland Excel is a national organisation that negotiates contracts for a wide
range of supplies, services and works on behalf of Scottish local authorities.
Further information can be accessed at http://www.scotland-excel.org.uk/
The Scottish Government provides a wide range of information on public
procurement. This includes information about e-tendering and the ‘Single Point
of Enquiry’, set up to provide suppliers to public sector or publicly funded bodies
with an impartial point of contact where they can ask for advice or raise concerns
about public procurement practices in Scotland.
Further information can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-procurement