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Thames Valley Police spends approximately £115 million per annum on the procurement of goods, services and works. The aim of the Thames Valley Police Procurement Services team is to identify saving opportunities across the force and to provide a flexible procurement function to meet the Force's current and future needs.
The team is working with the business to deliver significant commercial benefits by:
Procurement Services has teams in the following areas:
A lack of information about opportunities and understanding of the Force’s contracting procedures may be stopping some organisations from seeking to become a supplier to the force. This information aims to overcome these difficulties and explains how to apply for opportunities and what is expected of you when working for the force.
Contracts are awarded on the basis of obtaining best value for money for the taxpayer. Thames Valley Police cannot discriminate in favour of local suppliers but they will be given every encouragement to compete for contracts.
There is a great deal of competition for Thames Valley Police contracts and this guide cannot assure an individual firm’s success. However, it should provide enough information to give you the opportunity to be considered for force work.
The Authority requires successful bidders to either hold Cyber Essentials or have a minimum of core membership (free of charge) with the South East Cyber Resilience Centre (SECRC). Membership can be secured by registering at the SECRC website. The Authority recommends all businesses register for this free support with regards to cyber crime.
As a public body, there are regulations at both national and local levels that Thames Valley Police is required to follow when procuring goods, services and works. Further details of the local regulations can be found within the Chief Constable’s Financial Instructions.
The EC Treaty incorporates the free movement of goods and services and prevents discrimination against suppliers on the grounds of nationality. It covers all public sector contracts no matter what their value, within the EU. An EC Procurement Directive backs up the principles of the treaty:
2004/18/EC – Procedures for the award of Public Works Contracts, Public Supply Contracts and Public Service Contracts.
This directive is included in UK law as a number of regulations:
The directives and regulations require public bodies to follow detailed procedures for all procurement activities above financial thresholds. The thresholds are reviewed every two years.
A number of new reforms to make public sector procurement more accessible have now been implemented in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015). These reforms include new transparency obligations on all contracting authorities which mean that new public sector opportunities will be available in one place, the contracts finder portal. In addition contract award information relating to the winning contractor will also be available on the contracts finder portal. The threshold for TVP to publish is £50,000.
When the estimated value of a contract is expected to exceed the relevant EU financial threshold it must be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), and rules that promote non-discriminatory and transparent competition must be followed. Note that values are for total contract value (ie for the full value for the term of the contract).
With effect from 1st January 2022 the following thresholds apply:-
Full details on thresholds is available on the OJEU portal.
European Procurement Directives specify timescales that must be followed and these are intended to ensure that reasonable time to respond to adverts and prepare submissions is given to interested parties.
A specific Tender Notice must be placed in the supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) to give all suppliers in the EU an equal opportunity to tender. A notice of contract award must be placed in OJEU.
Where a purchase need cannot be met from an existing contract, a quotation or “tender” process is undertaken, as follows, in accordance with the Chief Constables Finance Instructions:
Value £ | Roles and Responsibilities |
---|---|
Up to £10,000 | Budget holder Process: The budget holder shall conduct such activity as is prudent to show best value and ensure compliance with Financial Instructions. |
>£10,000 - £50,000 |
Informal Process: The budget holder/ Procurement Professional shall subject the requirement to formal quotations from not less than three competitive sources. |
>£50,000 to OJEU Threshold |
Formal Process: The requirement shall be subjected to a formal tender process conducted by the Procurement Services Team. |
Thames Valley Police are committed to encouraging local suppliers as well as small/medium enterprises (SMEs) to compete for business.
In order to assist SMEs and local suppliers Thames Valley Police aims to:
Thames Valley Police tender opportunities can also be viewed at Bluelight and the contracts finder portal.
Budget holders are to source their requirement seeking the quotations / prices ensuring that they are obtaining full value for money.
Quotation
>£10,000 to <£50,000
At least three suppliers are requested to quote. Quote must include a specification of the services/goods required and timescales for delivery where possible. This is conducted by the Receipts Procure and Pay section.
Tender (goods, services and works)
>£50,000 upwards
The contract notice or advertisement will invite companies to submit tenders and will state what is required from potential bidders. It will also detail the evaluation criteria and weightings to be used. If your organisation would like to be considered for a particular contract you must follow the application instructions detailed in the advertisement.
Submitted bids will be evaluated against the pre-determined criteria. Evaluation will focus on how the proposal will deliver the service quality and the cost. The balance between quality and price will depend upon the particular service area. Thames Valley Police will award the contract on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender.
If the nature of the contract requires your employees’ unescorted access to Thames Valley Police premises or access to sensitive material/systems, they will need to be vetted in accordance with our Non Police Personnel vetting procedures.
Following contract award the Procurement Services team work with the client/contract user to ensure that the contractor performs in accordance with the specification and the terms and conditions of the contract. Effective monitoring procedures are essential to ensuring value for money and will depend on the nature of the goods or services purchased.
We aim to establish a good working relationship with the contractor/supplier and their staff as this provides the opportunity to ensure that the contract requirements incorporated into the contract are enforced.
This note explains how contracts are displayed and accessed for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) purposes and some additional information.
Contracts which need to be publicly available are displayed on the Contracts Register via the link:
In-Tend Electronic Tendering Site
The In Tend system does not show archived contracts on the public contract register.
For general enquiries, email the above email addresses, or write to this address:
Procurement Services Team
HQ North (Meadow House)
The Boulevard
Langford Lane
Kidlington
Oxon
OX5 1NZ
Head of Procurement – Richard Fowles MCIPS, email [email protected].