Council spending
Discussion
I believe that government contracts over something like £40,000 in one year go out to the whole EU community for tender.
I had the pleasure of negotiating a supply deal to a government business that over time crept over the say £40k pa limit - the next year I had to renegotiate the business and they phoned me to ask if I new of any my competitors in the market that would also offer them a deal. They had to show at least 2 other firms were involed in the procurement process to show fairness.
Barking.
Mad.
Also filling out the ethnic make up of my employess on the tender docs tends to simmer one's urine.
I had the pleasure of negotiating a supply deal to a government business that over time crept over the say £40k pa limit - the next year I had to renegotiate the business and they phoned me to ask if I new of any my competitors in the market that would also offer them a deal. They had to show at least 2 other firms were involed in the procurement process to show fairness.
Barking.
Mad.
Also filling out the ethnic make up of my employess on the tender docs tends to simmer one's urine.
southendpier said:
I believe that government contracts over something like £40,000 in one year go out to the whole EU community for tender.
Only those tenders which exceed the "EU tender threshold" (>£173k) have to be advertised in OJEU. Also its not a "per annum" value its the value of the total contract (so if its a 10 year contract at £20k per annum it needs to be advertised across the EU)southendpier said:
I had the pleasure of negotiating a supply deal to a government business that over time crept over the say £40k pa limit - the next year I had to renegotiate the business and they phoned me to ask if I new of any my competitors in the market that would also offer them a deal. They had to show at least 2 other firms were involed in the procurement process to show fairness.
Strange - for most big-value contracts you can get suppliers from the OGC website. Alternatively there are several procurement consortiums who will give you a list of suppliers. It would be a very lazy procurement department which would ask a supplier for a list of competitors.What is it you provide?
sd477667 said:
Tell A if they price match B the deal is theirs
You might be surprised to find that companies are not atcually falling over themselves to price match - maybe more so when they know its a public body.anonymous said:
[redacted]
As I said in my OP, if you did favour local spending you would have to draw the line soemwhere - seems no one favours local spendign so it is probably a moot point.Mojooo said:
As I said in my OP, if you did favour local spending you would have to draw the line soemwhere - seems no one favours local spendign so it is probably a moot point.
It's a bit like paying your son/daughter (who lives in your house) to do a job OR paying the bloke across the street. There are benefits to keeping things local.At a national level, lots of countries have passive/active trade barriers. The French seem to be masters at this. We on the other hand seem to treat initial cost as the be-all and end-all.
Johnnytheboy said:
I've done tenders for county councils that I've gone through all the procedure of costing competitively, only to be told that they chose someone else because they were more local.
Which begs the question: why did they invite me to tender in the first place?
make their new conservatories and other personal perks less obvious?Which begs the question: why did they invite me to tender in the first place?
Johnnytheboy said:
I've done tenders for county councils that I've gone through all the procedure of costing competitively, only to be told that they chose someone else because they were more local.
Which begs the question: why did they invite me to tender in the first place?
Tender pack should have contained the scoring criteria. Was distance/location not mentioned within the info provided? Which begs the question: why did they invite me to tender in the first place?
There would be a presumption for supplier B, unless there was evidence that cheapest is not always best.
Although Councils seek to promote business on their patch, it's voters' dosh they are spending, and politicians won't be keen on pricey contracts that risk losing service confidence or which might lead to raising Council Tax - which could well stuff-up their chances of re-election.
Although Councils seek to promote business on their patch, it's voters' dosh they are spending, and politicians won't be keen on pricey contracts that risk losing service confidence or which might lead to raising Council Tax - which could well stuff-up their chances of re-election.
Bibbs said:
Which company does my friend own, or I'm on the Board of Directors of?
Can I pay more?
I think one post that suggests Councils are bent was sufficient...Can I pay more?
Isn't that one of the reasons wh ythey have such stringent tendering processes and approved supplier lists etc which sometimes end up costing mroe time and money than allowing a free choice. Can't have it both ways.
Mojooo said:
I think one post that suggests Councils are bent was sufficient...
Isn't that one of the reasons wh ythey have such stringent tendering processes and approved supplier lists etc which sometimes end up costing mroe time and money than allowing a free choice. Can't have it both ways.
That's just so they "look" stringent.Isn't that one of the reasons wh ythey have such stringent tendering processes and approved supplier lists etc which sometimes end up costing mroe time and money than allowing a free choice. Can't have it both ways.
hedgefinder said:
you forgot to mention that the council department in question only "needs" to buy the item as they have a large ammount of money left in their budget for that tax year and as the tax year is coming to a close they want to get rid of the funds to guarantee they wont have their spending budget cut for the following year...
as an example fo such disgraceful waste of public money -
My company was called in to look at replacing the "tea/coffee station" at a local council office.
I arrived to measure up to find a reasonably new set of cupboards,sink,tap and worksurface (indeed I was told they were only 2 years old!). Bear in mind this was only for people from within the office to make cups of tea or coffee at. When I asked why they wanted a solid GRANITE top with undermounted sink and new units I was told it was because they had several thousand pounds left of that years budget and they needed to spend it quickly before the end of the budget year or face having their future budget cut!
I also know another department that bought new laptops for everyone then 6 months later bought all new laptops again due to it being within the following budget year...
I guarantee more money is wasted by local authorities in this manner than any of use dare consider...
This; the annual "sas an example fo such disgraceful waste of public money -
My company was called in to look at replacing the "tea/coffee station" at a local council office.
I arrived to measure up to find a reasonably new set of cupboards,sink,tap and worksurface (indeed I was told they were only 2 years old!). Bear in mind this was only for people from within the office to make cups of tea or coffee at. When I asked why they wanted a solid GRANITE top with undermounted sink and new units I was told it was because they had several thousand pounds left of that years budget and they needed to spend it quickly before the end of the budget year or face having their future budget cut!
I also know another department that bought new laptops for everyone then 6 months later bought all new laptops again due to it being within the following budget year...
I guarantee more money is wasted by local authorities in this manner than any of use dare consider...
t, we've got money left over; if we don't spend it 'they' will take it away" farce that occurs at the end of every bloody financial year in pretty much every state-funded organisation. Why has this never been stopped? It's worthy of Kafka, the amount of money pissed away on stuff that isn't needed probably makes paying for the Apollo program look like penny ante stuff.Dr Gonzo said:
There would be a presumption for supplier B, unless there was evidence that cheapest is not always best.
Although Councils seek to promote business on their patch, it's voters' dosh they are spending, and politicians won't be keen on pricey contracts that risk losing service confidence or which might lead to raising Council Tax - which could well stuff-up their chances of re-election.
It's local voters' dosh they are spending.Although Councils seek to promote business on their patch, it's voters' dosh they are spending, and politicians won't be keen on pricey contracts that risk losing service confidence or which might lead to raising Council Tax - which could well stuff-up their chances of re-election.
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