Purchasing and Contracts Section

The Purchasing and Contracts Section, is responsible for arranging contracts for the supply of goods and services to Lancashire Constabulary and, in some instances, to other police forces in the North West Region, which comprises Greater Manchester Police, Merseyside Police, North Wales Police, Cheshire Constabulary and Cumbria Constabulary

Current Projects
The team are currently working on the following corporate contracts and projects:

• First aid training
• E procurement - Oracle financials
• Purchase of force helicopter
• Online recruitment system (via ESPO)
• Translation/interpretation services
• Insurance services
• Digital recording and storage of interviews
• Various uniform projects
• Northwest supplier portal (development)
• Body armour (national contract)
• Vehicle repairs
• CCTV
• Call routing/handling hardware and software
• Key holders
• Mobile telephony and data
• Central storage facility
• Childcare voucher scheme
• Cleaning consumables & associated products
• Workforce management system
• Managed Vehicle recovery services

Recently Awarded Contracts

• ANPR systems
• Message and document classification system
• Communication headsets and associated equipment
• Printing services
• Custody services
• Temporary staffing contract
• Copier/printing paper (via buying solutions)
• Random drugs testing services (via North Yorkshire)
• Visitors ID system
• Advertising services

Future Projects

• Aviation equipment
• Integrated communication control system
• Emergency boarding service
• Custody medical services
• Laundry services
• Telephone calls/lines

Purchasing Procedures
Our purchasing procedures are prescribed by statute and standing orders. The actual procedure for supplies and services is determined by the potential value of each contract.

Details are as follows:-
Contracts valued £5,000 - £55,000
Contracts in this category would not under normal circumstances be advertised. However, we are obliged to obtain a minimum of three written quotations or tenders.

Contracts valued £55,000 - £115,000
Contracts in this range would be the subject of a tendering exercise and, in this respect, an advertisement would normally appear in the local press.

Contracts valued £115,000 - £156,442
In addition to advertisements in the local press, contracts in this category would be advertised in relevant trades papers and or national publications such as Contrax Weekly.

Contracts valued over £156,442
These contracts must be advertised locally and nationally and a notice must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
This publication is issued daily on-line at http://ted.publications.eu.int
It should be noted that in some instances the Constabulary may decide to take advantage of an existing collaborative contract.

Tendering
We have, to a large extent, standardised our tender documents for the supply of goods across the North West Region.
When tendering, the Constabulary may opt for "open procedure" whereby you will receive a complete tender pack which includes the following sections:

• Introduction
• Instruction to tenders
• Operational requirements/specification
• Schedule(s) of prices
• Company information questionnaire
• General conditions of contract
• Contract award criteria
• Contract management and monitoring
• Delivery sites

If the "restricted procedure" is used you will be requested to complete a company information questionnaire/ for inclusion on the short list.
You will be required to complete all sections of the questionnaire which includes the following sections:-

• General company information including resources
• Technical experiences and references
• Financial details
• Insurances
• Equal opportunities
• Health and Safety
• Professional conduct

Advice
If you require any advice on how to tender for the Constabulary's requirements or require details about the products or services that are due to be tendered please call on 01772 412513 or 01772 412322.

Lancashire Constabulary is fully supportive of all aspects of diversity including ethnicity, race, religion, age, gender, disability and sexual orientation. In this respect, we welcome expressions of interest from the ethnic minority, disabled and other diverse business communities, in addition to the voluntary sector.

Tendering Opportunities
Please note that the Constabulary uses the following e tendering portal for the publication and notification of tendering opportunities www.bluelight.gov.uk Suppliers may register free of charge and will be notified of relevant tendering opportunities from a number of police forces throughout the UK.