5.4 For a contract for the supply of goods, services or works where the estimated value will exceed the thresholds set by Parliament, the full requirements of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 or any superseding legislation (“the Legislation”), must be followed in respect of the tendering, award and notification of that contract.

5.5 Where the estimated value is below the Government threshold, the Council shall (with the exception of items listed in paragraph 5.12) obtain prices as follows:

5.6 For contracts estimated to exceed £80,000 excluding VAT, the Clerk shall advertise an open invitation for tenders in compliance with any relevant provisions of the Legislation. Tenders shall be invited in accordance with Appendix 1.

5.7 For contracts estimated to be over £30,000 including VAT, the Council must comply with any requirements of the Legislation1 regarding the advertising of contract opportunities and the publication of notices about the award of contracts.

5.8 For contracts greater than £20,000 excluding VAT the RFO shall seek at least 3 fixed-price quotes;

5.9 Where the value is between £3,000 and £20,000 excluding VAT, the RFO shall try to obtain 3 estimates which might include evidence of online prices, or recent prices from regular suppliers.

5.10 For smaller purchases, the RFO shall seek to achieve value for money.

5.11 Contracts must not be split into smaller lots to avoid compliance with these rules.

5.12 The requirement to obtain competitive prices in these regulations need not apply to contracts that relate to items (i) to (iv) below:

5.13 When applications are made to waive this financial regulation to enable a price to be negotiated without competition, the reason should be set out in a recommendation to Full Council. Avoidance of competition is not a valid reason.

  • specialist services, such as legal professionals acting in disputes;
  • repairs to, or parts for, existing machinery or equipment;
  • works, goods or services that constitute an extension of an existing contract;
  • goods or services that are only available from one supplier or are sold at a fixed price.

5.14 The Council shall not be obliged to accept the lowest or any tender, quote or estimate.

1 The Regulations require Councils to use the Contracts Finder website if they advertise contract opportunities and also to publicise the award of contracts over £30,000 including VAT, regardless of whether they were advertised.