Introduction

We are required by the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 to publish details of:

• every invitation to tender for contracts to provide goods or services. For each invitation, the following details must be published:
  • reference number
  • title
  • description of the goods or services sought
  • start, end and review dates
  • local authority department responsible

Invitations to tender

The council issues invitations to tender (through its e-tender portal) for opportunities where the contract value exceeds £10,000. This limit is decided by councillors and is shown in the council’s contract standing orders.

We advertise any contract opportunities to do business with the council through the Supplying the South West website.

Transparency code

We are also required by the Transparency Code to publish details of:

• any contract, commissioned activity, purchase order, framework agreement and any other legally enforceable agreement with a value that exceeds £5,000. For each contract, the following details must be published:
  • reference number
  • title of agreement
  • local authority department responsible
  • description of the goods and/or services being provided
  • supplier name and details
  • sum to be paid over the length of the contract or the estimated annual spending or budget for the contract
  • Value Added Tax that cannot be recovered
  • start, end and review dates
  • whether or not the contract was the result of an invitation to quote or a published invitation to tender
  • whether or not the supplier is a small or medium-sized enterprise and/or a voluntary or community sector organisation and where it is, provide the relevant registration number

Opportunities that have been awarded by the council since 2013, using the e-tendering system can be viewed in the e-tender portal by searching in the ‘contract register’ section.

We are working towards publishing over £5,000 and will publish over £10,000 in the first phase.

Contracts finder

The authority will also advertise opportunities to tender for contracts above £25,000 on Contracts Finder, which is a website that lets you search for opportunities with the government and its agencies, and local authorities such as Somerset Council.

When Somerset Council awards contracts, and those contracts are worth £25,000 or more, an award notice is also published on Contracts Finder, so you can see who has been awarded the contract.

Non-recoverable VAT

The council’s financial systems are not set up to provide reporting on non-recoverable VAT at a transactional level. If you have any questions related to this please contact Stephen Morton.

Terms and conditions of access and re-use

Material published and accessed on our website is provided free of charge. Unless otherwise stated, this content is © Copyright of Somerset Council. The information is made available for re-use under the terms of the Open Government Licence for public sector information. Provided you accept the terms of this licence, it is not necessary to ask permission to re-use this information.