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Tendering
Our draft Social Value Procurement Policy outlines progressive measures to:
The draft policy outlines the measures we will put in place to achieve these ambitions, while also ensuring the best value for money when purchasing goods, works and services.
The draft policy has been developed to help deliver on the inclusive growth ambitions of reducing poverty, economic inactivity, unemployment and underemployment, as outlined in The Belfast Agenda, the city’s community plan.
A public consultation on the draft policy is running until Tuesday 14 December 2021. You can read the draft policy document, submit your feedback and find out more about planned interactive virtual workshops on our consultation hub
We spend an average of £100m each year on a wide variety of supplies, services, works and concessions. On average, 85% of our annual spend is with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Our objective for all commercial and procurement activities is to achieve best value for money outcomes for the ratepayer that consistently meets the highest economic, quality, and ethical standards.
For quotations valued up to £30,000, we encourage suppliers to register their details with us.
Tenders greater than £30,000 are procured via the eSourcing website.
There is also a list of suppliers who have been awarded a tender in the last month. A list of all awarded tenders can be found on the eSourcingNI website.
If you are an existing supplier with a query about invoices or payments, you can find out more information within our Suppliers section.
This table sets out the areas that we are responsible for and provides examples of what we buy in each area:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Advertising and Media | Advertising, marketing and distribution, media, broadcasting, signage, promotional items, products for resale (e.g. toys, games for sale at Belfast Zoo) external publicity, sponsorship, photography and printing services |
| Buildings / asset maintenance | Buildings/site maintenance, mechanical and electrical services (M&E), fencing, lift maintenance |
| Catering and Hospitality | Concession catering contracts (e.g. catering services at different venues), catering equipment and supplies, catering food, catering for meetings, bottled water and vending machine supplies. |
| Energy and Utilities | Mains/ metered gas, electricity, utilities, combined heat and power, sustainability projects, renewables, energy management services and bottled/cylinder gas |
| Events and community | Event organisation and planning services, event support services, event equipment and facilities hire, PEACE IV projects and community support and safety projects |
| Facilities Management | Cleaning services (e.g. general, window, gutters etc), outdoor maintenance services (e.g. de-icing and snow clearance), security guarding, pest control services and supplies, facilities management agreements |
| Fleet | Replacement fleet vehicles to support in-house operations (e.g. vans, road/ street sweepers, bin lorries etc), vehicles spares, parts and consumables (OEM and non OEM), fleet repair services (e.g. general repairs and bodywork repairs), vehicle recovery services, grounds maintenance equipment, hire of vehicles and plant (with and without operator), vehicle fuel and tyres. |
| HR | Temporary/ agency resources, employee support services (e.g. counselling and occupational health), training, executive recruitment and travel services |
| ICT | ICT hardware, IT software, ICT equipment, printers, IT consultancy and support services, network services, telecoms and mobile phones |
| Office Supplies | Office stationery, printing supplies, office furniture, porterage, office records storage and management, confidential waste recycling/ disposal. |
| Parks and Grounds Maintenance | Grounds maintenance services and supplies, Tree maintenance/ horticultural services, plants, trees and soil supplies and associated products, aggregates and topsoil, animal welfare services (e.g. dog kennelling), animal food/ feed supplies (e.g. food supplies for Belfast Zoo), Playground equipment |
| Professional services | Consultancy, staff substitution, financial services, insurance brokerage, legal support services, sponsorship and employment/ training academies |
| Stores | Workwear, PPE, cleaning products, power tools, hand tools, safety equipment, hardware, concrete products, electrical consumables, mechanical consumables, white goods/ appliances, paint and painting products, timber/wood products and COVID related supplies (e.g. hand sanitiser, face masks, faceguards, disposable gloves) |
| Waste Management | Non-hazardous waste management and disposal, Inert waste management and disposal, hazardous waste management and disposal, waste recycling/ reuse (e.g. mixed dry recyclables, mattresses), waste collection services, bins for resale, waste containers, skip hire, waste management equipment/ plant, environmental management services, waste spill/ cleaning up services, fly tipping collection/ clean up |
| Works and construction | Capital works projects, capital consultancy and support services design and build, asset management |
The Belfast City Council Enterprise Framework, which is part-funded by Invest NI and the EU Investment for Jobs and Growth Programme, provides free expert mentoring support for eligible businesses. Eligible businesses can take advantage of this support to help them identify and access public and private sector procurement opportunities in Northern Ireland and further afield (this can also include support during a live bidding stage).
To be eligible for free mentoring support, your business must:
If you have any queries or feedback about a procurement process you have been involved in, please contact Commercial and Procurement Services directly by email cps@belfastcity.gov.uk
The Regulations (PCR2015 or CCR2016) under which our procurement activity is governed, includes the ability to make appeal (known as remedies), however this legislative framework is only available for procurement activity over a stipulated threshold.
The current thresholds for PCR2015 or CCR2016 to apply are £189,330 and £4,733,252.
PCR2015 regulates the purchase of goods, works or services and CCR2016 concession contracts.
However, for under threshold procurement exercises, remedies not being available does not prevent a bidder from seeking damages. To seek damages the bidder would require grounds to do so and should seek their own legal advice if considering this step.
Furthermore, any supplier unhappy with the outcome of a procurement process can make a complaint through the our complaints process, this process is set out in detail on the Corporate Complaints Office page.
To find out further information on how to request information related to procurement activity and contracts, please refer to our Freedom of Information webpage.
For more information and advice, get in touch.
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