West Midlands Fire Service spends around £12 million per annum on the procurement of supplies, works and services providing companies of all sizes with a wide range of business opportunities.
West Midlands Fire Service spends around £12 million per annum on the procurement of supplies, works and services providing companies of all sizes with a wide range of business opportunities.
The service has a statutory duty to ensure that the procurement of supplies, works and services represents the most cost-effective solution and that best value for money has been achieved. The Authority is committed to ensuring that public money is spent in a way that is fair, honest and accountable and that all decisions are transparent. These pages outline the procedures that deliver that commitment.
The corporate procurement section provides specialist support to fire service departments in all tasks relating to a wide variety of contractual arrangements. To obtain the best value, most of our procurement is carried out through corporate contracts which have been subject to competition or joint arrangements with other local authorities and emergency services.
West Midlands Fire Service procurement procedures are governed by internal policies, financial regulations and the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015).
Where the contract value exceeds the PCR 2015 monetary threshold stated below there will be an advertisement on the Find a Tender Service website: https://www.gov.uk/find-tender
Our lower value tenders will be advertised on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
Procurement Thresholds (From 1 January 2022)
Value of Purchase | Procurement Process |
Below £5,000 | Obtain 3 quotations if possible |
£5,000 – £25,000 | 3 written quotations |
£25,000- £100,000 | 3 formal Quotations |
In excess of £100,000 | Formal tender to at least 3 suppliers |
Goods or services in excess of £213,477 (Inc VAT) | Formal tender (in accordance with PCR 2015) |
Works or construction in excess of £5,336,937 (Inc VAT) | Formal tender (in accordance with PCR 2015) |
Where the estimated value of the contract is expected to exceed the relevant EU threshold, it must be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU.) Rules promoting non-discriminatory and transparent competition must also be followed – PCR 2015 specifies the timescales around this
Tendering Procedures
When you have expressed an interest you may receive an Invitation to Tender (ITT) however in some cases you will be asked to complete a selection questionnaire (SQ). These will be assessed on a number of criteria including
technical capability, financial standing, health and safety, equal opportunities and environmental issues. If your SQ is acceptable you will go through to the next stage which usually means you will be sent an Invitation to Tender (ITT).
Tender Evaluation Criteria
We have an obligation under the PCR 2015 regulations to state what criterion and relevant weightings will be used to evaluate tenders. Although this is not a mandatory requirement for Contracts valued at between £100,000 and the PCR 2015 Threshold it is considered best practice to follow this same procedure when developing the evaluation criteria.
The basic criteria will usually be either lowest price or highest price when payment is to be made to the authority e.g. disposal of assets. Alternatively, it will be based on the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT)where considerations other than price also apply.
These considerations may include price, service, quality of goods, running costs, technical merit, previous experience, delivery date, cost-effectiveness, environmental considerations, aesthetic and functional characteristics, safety, after-sales service, technical assistance and any other relevant factors.
It’s important to check out our general conditions of purchase document that can be found below. This details what our expectations and terms and conditions when we purchase goods or services.
As an equal opportunities employer, we’re committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all people irrespective of sex, age, race or disability. We’re also obliged to ensure that diversity matters are embraced in all our other activities, and procurement is no exception. We seek to ensure that our contractors and suppliers satisfy their legal and ethical obligations.
To contact our procurement team for any queries you can do so via the methods below:
procurement.enquiries@wmfs.net
Tel: 0121 380 6173 / 0121 380 6185 / 0121 380 6165
