The term ‘OJEU’ means the Official Journal of the European Union. If the estimated value of a contract falls above the EU thresholds then we must advertise the tender in the supplement to OJEU. Some types of services are exempted from this requirement.
We will normally seek three written quotes for low value work, supplies or services, (e.g. under £50,000 in value). If the value is above £50,000 or the nature of the request is complex, or requires a certain specification that needs to be matched, then we will competitively tender in accordance with our Standing Financial Instructions.
This is the process by which we decide who is the best provider. A tender is a completed and priced document that lays out all the terms, conditions and specification. We usually invite a minimum of five suppliers to submit a tender. The invitation to tender is issued to all suppliers at the same time. They are not allowed to canvass or collude with us or each other.
They can only seek clarity and clarifications from us. The time allowed for pricing and submitting a tender is governed by law. All tenders must be returned electronically at a specified time to the Due-North pro-contract portal.
When tendering and awarding contracts for goods, services or works, we are legally obliged to observe the requirements of the EU Public Procurement Rules. These stipulate that contracts valued in excess of specified amounts (see below) must be publicly exposed to competition within the European Union. Therefore we are obligated to advertise contracts in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) when contract values exceed these amounts:- Works contracts – *£4,104,394; Supplies contracts – *£164,176; Services contracts – *£164,176. In the case of services advertisement is required for certain types of priority services * These figures are set by the European Union and are subject to change but are correct at the time of producing this document (January 2016). OJEU is the Official Journal of the European Union. When contracts for works, supplies and services exceed a specified threshold value, local authorities and other public organisations must advertise their details in this publication, calling for expressions of interest.
The term tender means a formal invitation to trade under the terms of offer and the documents associated with that offer. A contract is, generally speaking, a legally binding agreement between parties, where there has been offer, acceptance and consideration.
The current regulations classify health and social care as the light touch regime (the only obligations relate to technical specifications and post award information and there is no requirement to advertise in the OJEU).