Procurement is core to achieving our objectives of:
- protecting and enhancing a sustainable environment
- promoting a healthier and safer community
- developing a more prosperous and sustainable local economy
This can be achieved by:
- securing best value and improving service standards
- protecting assets and making optimum use of facilities
- modernising the way we do things
Every member and employee of the council has a responsibility to declare, by completing the council's declaration of interest form and annual declaration of interest - conflict of interest form, any links or personal interests which they may have with suppliers and/or contractors if they are engaged in contractual or purchasing decisions on behalf of the council. Our financial regulations and standing orders relating to contracts provides more details on the requirements for using protocols. These apply to all members and employees in the work they do for us.
Purchasing - ordering goods and services from our contracted suppliers
View a list of contracted suppliers and product categories that are approved for our employees to purchase for departmental requirements (as outlined in financial regulations and standing orders relating to contracts).
For IT hardware (like laptops, monitors, mouse, headphones) please order using Halo.
Purchasing low value / low risk items (less than £50,000)
For purchasing low value / low risk items, departments should follow Protocol 7A or Protocol 7B of our financial regulations and standing orders to contracts.
- Protocol 7A should be used for requirements less than £5,000
- Protocol 7B for requirements between £5,000 and £50,000
View our list of contracted suppliers and product categories first to make sure we do not already have contracts in place for your requirements.
Procurements above £50,000
Procurement is governed by both the financial regulations and standing orders relating to contracts and Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015).
Most procurements above £50,000 are required to be advertised publicly by the government's Contracts Finder. The Contracts Finder system allows suppliers to view and search opportunities that are currently open across all government agencies. Contract award information relating to the winning contractor should also be made available on Contracts Finder.
Any suppliers and organisations can register on Contracts Finder and can choose to be alerted when suitable opportunities are advertised.
Contracts Finder is a critical part of delivering our commitment for transparency in procurement and for making it easier and more accessible for smaller businesses and voluntary or charitable organisations to do business with us.
In addition, to meet Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) high value contracts in the UK, should be advertised on the government's Find a Tender service (FTS). This requires a notice to be published on FTS before being published on Contracts Finder or anywhere else. Find a Tender replaced the European Union's Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) Service from 1 January 2021.
All of our procurement opportunities above £50,000 should be procured through our e-procurement system (ProContract) on East Midlands Tenders. Please speak to the county procurement team who can provide information, advise and support on progressing procurements at this level.
Procurement contacts
If you require guidance or up-to-date documents, please contact the relevant category leads in County Procurement as follows: