Council suppliers guide

If you haven’t already done so, register with the e Tendering portal Procontract

Why do the Council use Procontract? (also known as 'Proactis' and 'The Portal')

Luton Council advertise the opportunity and carryout the entire tender process via the e Tendering portal called Procontract the entire tendering process will be carried out on the portal. For transparency, openness and equality on purchases with an overall value of £5000 or above.

By registering with Procontract you will automatically be invited to tender for the council’s contracting opportunities.

When you first register with Procontract you will create a username and password, this will be needed when tendering opportunities come your way, so keep it somewhere safe and retrievable.

It is very important to complete the registration with care including all details regarding your company. Company details should match the details on Companies House (if applicable) and full details regarding what your company can offer.

For example if you are a general builder who can also tender for a plumbing or electrical contract, you need to enter this information on as ‘keywords’ or you will not be invited to tender for plumbing or electrical contracts).

For more information on registering for Procontract please have a look at our guide

Our portal provides a suite of collaborative, web-based tools that enable procurement professionals and suppliers to conduct the strategic activities of the procurement lifecycle over the internet.

It provides a simple, secure and efficient means for managing tendering and quotation activities reducing the time and effort required for both buyers and suppliers.

Current opportunities are advertised on our the ProContract  Due North portal.

Register as a supplier

If you need help registering as a supplier on our portal please use the how to’ guides listed in the download section below.

Luton Council are unable to view the portal from a contractors point of view, therefore we are unable to answer portal use, or technical issue questions. However we do have a number of guides in our download section below.

If you require support when using the portal, please get in touch with Procontract via email: [email protected]

If you have completed the registration form correctly, an automated email from Procontract will be sent to the staff member or generic email address (i.e. [email protected]) used when registering with Procontract.

Please note: it is very important to keep Procontract up to date or you may find emails will be sent to staff members who do not work for you anymore and you’ll miss out on many opportunities. It is better to use a generic email address and also check your spam folder regularly.

In the automated email, you will see a link to the opportunity. After clicking the link you’ll need your username and password to access Procontract. You can ask clarification questions via the portal’s email facility, however it is highly likely all your questions can be answered by reading all the documentation.

Follow the instructions on the documentation, within this you will need to answer: (more information can be found in the what does a bid include? tab below)

• Quality questions (evaluation questions)
• Social Value questions (see our Social Value page for advice and guidance)
• Pricing schedule

Your answers will be evaluated and moderated by qualified staff members and you will need to accept our terms and conditions.

Quality questions (evaluation questions): from these questions you will form a method statement, which informs Luton Council how you will successfully deliver the contract for its entire term. It is really important to stick to the word count, this will be made clear within the Invitation to Tender (ITT) documentation.

Social Value questions: your answer to the Social Value question informs Luton Council of the Social Value you are prepared to add to your tender and how this will support the communities in Luton. You may have more than one Social Value question to answer. Please see our Social Value page for advice and guidance.

Pricing schedule: this informs Luton Council of the price you will deliver the contract for. Please do not alter the way we have asked you to price the tender.

Accepting the council’s terms and conditions: the council contracts under its own terms and conditions. Please make sure you read these carefully before you submit a bid. If you have clarification questions submit them via the portal.

There are other items within the documentation you will need to sign or provide, please follow the instructions and double check you have supplied everything before you submit your bid.

If you have clarification questions regarding anything in the tender, use the email facility within the portal to ask all questions before submitting your bid.

If you have questions to ask about anything in the tender documentation, ask the question via the email function in Procontract before submitting your bid.

If the answer holds sensitive information, the answer will be sent to you privately. If the answer does not include sensitive information, the question and answer will be made available to all suppliers bidding for the contract on the portal and your name will remain anonymous.

All submissions will be evaluated (scored) by qualified staff members, then moderated to confirm the evaluation has been fair. After moderation the successful company will be informed. You will receive either a ‘successful’ or ‘unsuccessful’ letter via the portal.

If you receive an unsuccessful letter, we thank you for taking part in the opportunity and hope it does not discourage you from bidding again.

If you receive a successful letter, you’ll be invited to a pre contract meeting, either a face to face or virtual meeting will be arranged.

Eventually, you and an authorised staff member from Luton Council will sign the contract. A fully signed contract will be uploaded to Procontract and another sent to you for your records.

Regular contract management meetings will be needed to ascertain:

• if the contract is still meeting the council’s need
• if the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are being met
• if the Social Value offer is being delivered
• if the spend is satisfactory
• and to make sure you, as our contractor, are happy with Luton Council

If the regular contract management meetings show the contract isn’t being met:

• Regular performance meetings will be set up
• If your performance still doesn’t improve we will take you through the poor performance process
• In the first meeting of this process you will be given action points to complete in an appropriate timescale
• If your performance improves the contract will continue
• If your performance does not improve satisfactorily, your company is at a great risk of having the contract terminated due to poor performance

The term of the contract will be clearly set out in the tender documentation and in the contract. Luton Council will end the contract following the termination clause in the contract.

A termination (end of contract) letter will be sent to you spelling out the exit plan. The date the contract ends, the information or materials to return or destroy, and how to return the information or materials if applicable, or how a hand over to a new supplier will be conducted.

You will have the same rights as all other contractors to submit another bid if there is to be a renewal of the contract.

Please note that formal poor performance on a previous contract may be taken into consideration in future tender evaluations.