Guide for contractors and suppliers

Unless Price has been pre-determined to be the most appropriate contract award criterion, returned tenders are evaluated against pre-determined MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender) criteria, usually by a panel of officers. Evaluation will focus on how the Tender proposes to deliver the service/supplies including quality and cost (price). Where appropriate, whole life costing will be applied. The balance between quality and cost will depend on the particular requirement.

Evaluation criteria and methodology will be pre-determined and clearly stated in the Tender documents.

The procurement procedure may include a pre-qualification or suitability assessment stage which will include an evaluation / assessment of the financial and technical capacity of the company including financial, health and safety, customer references etc.

All Tenderers will be notified in writing of whether or not they have been successful in their bid. Within the limits of current legislation and good practice we will provide unsuccessful tenderers with feedback on the reasons why their bid has failed.

Additionally, selling to the Council will be influenced by specific policies that the Council has adopted. Examples of these policies are described below.

Sustainability and the environment 

At South Ribble Borough Council we are committed to protecting the local environment, addressing the environmental impact of our activities and ensuring a better quality of life for everyone. We recognise that the Council has a vital role in furthering sustainable development, through its procurement of buildings, goods, works and services and that procurement decisions can have a major socio-economic and environmental implication, both locally and globally, now and for future generations. To this end, we have adopted a Sustainable Procurement Policy and encourage our suppliers to adopt, practice and promote sustainable policies and procedures.

The Council will specify, wherever possible and practicable, the use of environmentally friendly goods and may include sustainability factors within the specification and evaluation criteria as appropriate.

Our Sustainable Procurement Policy can be viewed here.

Equal opportunities

We want to make South Ribble Borough Council a cohesive multi-cultural society in which all differences are valued and celebrated. To achieve this we are committed to the principles of fairness and valuing diversity to everyone who lives, works, studies, invests in, or visits South Ribble and have produced a comprehensive Equality Scheme which sets out the details of this commitment.