Accepting Tenders

The decision making process is as fair as possible and the Council uses 3 types of award for letting contracts:

• Lowest price - where the Council is making payment
• Highest price - where the Council is receiving payment
• Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) - where the Council is making payment

The lowest price award criteria is ascertained by considering all bids that meet the defined specification detailed in the tender documents and awarding to the supplier with the lowest price. No other consideration is required.

In circumstances where payment is to be received by the council, e.g. sale of items, contracts are to be awarded to the highest bidder.

The Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) is one that has the lowest evaluated cost and not necessarily the lowest submitted price. The criteria which the authority may use to determine that an offer is the most
economically advantageous include delivery date, running costs, cost effectiveness, quality, aesthetic and functional characteristics, technical merit, after sales service, technical assistance and price.

The objectives of this method are to;

• Identify the tender that offers best value for money,
• Compare bids on Commercial, Technical and Financial terms, i.e. not just on price element,
• To allow for optional requirements to be priced and evaluated on a lifetime cost basis, i.e. allows each criteria to be shown as either 'mandatory' or 'optional'.

Scoring matrix
Tenders are scored comparatively against each other and a weighted scoring matrix is devised for each tender exercise which will show how each offer compares against the specification and assessment criteria. Consequently, this will also show relative comparisons between tenderers.

Interviews/presentations
Tenderers are frequently invited for interviews at which they are encouraged to make presentations in support of their bids. This gives the company and the Council the opportunity to ensure that every aspect of the tender has been understood and also allows the company to ask further questions.

References
The Council will normally ask suppliers to provide at least 2 contact references that relate to similar contracts that they are working on or have worked on in the past to ensure that they are capable of undertaking the contract in question and to check on the suppliers performance. View an example of the letter that is sent out along with a copy of the reference request questionnaire.

Audit
At any stage the tender process is open to scrutiny by the Council's Internal Audit Section.

Debriefing
All unsuccessful tenderers can request a debriefing, and will be advised as to why their bid was unsuccessful. This is a useful way of finding out how a company can improve its business opportunities.