Procurement

Procurement concerns the acquisition of all goods, works and services. It relates to all expenditure by us, with the exception only of staff costs, benefit payments and grants. Staff should be aware of effective and fair procurement procedures to gain maximum value to us. It is also important that the way we procure is transparent:

• to the residents of Eden - this will show that we seek to be open and accountable in our procurement; and

• to those we procure from - this should demystify the process and encourage as many suppliers as possible to deal with us. Any queries with orders received from us, please contact us on the details below, or contact the person named on the order form.

Read our Procurement Strategy 2022 (PDF: 947Kb / 17 pages).

Effective Procurement in Cumbria (EPiC)

EPiC is an established collaborative procurement arrangement across the Cumbrian authorities, including:

• Cumberland Council
• Westmorland and Furness Council
• Lake District National Park Authority,
• Cumbria Constabulary
• NHS Cumbria.

Through EPiC, more and more Cumbrian local authority contracts are being procured collaboratively. With continuing pressure to improve efficiency and value for money, as well as delivering improvements in our services in the public sector, the long term goal is the establishment of a shared procurement service which provides an efficient, effective and sustainable service which meets the needs of our communities.

Registering on The Chest e-procurement portal

Read Supplier Registration Process User Guide ProContract (PDF: 225 Kb / 4 pages) for information on registering on The Chest, showing expression of interest, accessing documents and viewing questions and answers.

Register with The Chest e-procurement portal if you would like to tender for any of our contracts.

We are only a small local authority; however, we are still a relatively large purchaser within the district. This brief guide is for businesses and the opportunities available to them.

Tenders

We seek formal tenders for orders over £60,000.

Selling to the Council

What we purchase

We purchase some £4.7 million pounds worth of revenue items every year. Approximately two thirds of this expenditure relates to contracted services, such as refuse collection, grounds maintenance and leisure management. At present, Urbaser, and Greenwich Leisure Limited, undertake these services. This contract will run until March 2022.

We also enter into a range of contracts for capital works. The total Capital Programme over the next four years is approximately £3.5 million pounds and comprises both building and engineering work.

How we purchase

• Orders below £10,000 - we procure the bulk of our day-to-day supplies and services by orders of less than £10,000. We award orders based on competitive quotations (dependent on value).
• Orders over £10,000, but less than £60,000 - a minimum of three competitive quotations are invited. We are committed to placing opportunities to provide services on The Chest. ProContract provide the Chest portal. This is an electronic portal on which suppliers can register free of charge. Registration ensures notification to service providers when suitable opportunities arise.
• Procurement over £60,000 - we seek a minimum of four competitive tenders for this level of procurement. Unless impractical, all such tenders are advertised on The Chest. In some circumstances, we use a Special List, where there are a limited number of specialist suppliers for that particular procurement. In other cases, we use open tendering. In such a case, a tender invitation will appear in the local press, as well as in the relevant trade journal.

See registering on The Chest e-procurement portal above for information becoming a supplier.

Useful links:

Corporate Procurement and Contract Management.

Contracts Finder on GOV.UK.

See how to sell goods or services to the public sector on GOV.UK.

View the Contracts Register.

See the accounting and audit procedure rules and procurement rules in our constitution.