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Procurement

Procurement covers all the supplies, services and works we need to deliver our services. We spend around £35 million per annum on a varied range of works, services and goods.

Procurement news

Ashfield has a new procurement opportunity relating to Landscaping, Groundworks and Green Space Maintenance, for more information on our requirements and how to apply visit Proactis' website.

The first round of applications closed at 5pm on 24 February 2025.

Webinars for suppliers and other external organisations

Public procurement is changing. On 24 February 2025, the rules that shape how public bodies buy goods and services will change.


The Procurement Act 2023 will introduce new measures to improve and streamline the way procurement is done which will benefit prospective suppliers of all sizes, particularly small businesses, start-ups, and social enterprises. Government will also be introducing the new Central Digital Platform, which is an online resource, which will make it easier for suppliers to Find and Bid for Contract opportunities.

What do you need to know?

If your business supplies goods, works or services to organisations in the public or utility sectors or hopes to do so in the future, then you need to know about these changes. This includes, supplying to government Departments, the NHS, local authorities, universities, schools, social housing organisations, police and fire brigades and utility companies.


The Government has produced a series of useful videos to help you understand and navigate the Central Digital Platform, including how to register, upload organisational information and search and bid for opportunities.

For suppliers:

For buyers and suppliers:

Guidance and support

If you are a supplier, there are dedicated guidance products to help you prepare and to support you as you begin to do business under the new regime

Tenders and contracts

Doing business with the council

The council is responsible for ensuring that funds (from taxpayers or grants) are spent in the most effective way possible. We typically spend over £100 million annually on buying multiple goods, works, services and projects. These are delivered both directly by the council and through external contractors, with a large and diverse supply chain. This includes individuals, SMEs and multinational corporations.

We have a responsibility to manage and protect public money and put it to good use in providing services. We must ensure that we offer value for money and support wider council objectives.

Our contract register

The Contract Register is an online searchable list of current contracts valued over £5000 and includes a brief description, value and expiry date of each one.

For more information, please see:

Tendering thresholds

We follow key legislation set out in the Procurement Act 2023. We keep to our Contract Procedure Rules (CPR) (part of the Constitution of the Council) updated:

This ensures we are open, honest, fair and transparent in our procurement processes. It sets out our tendering procedures and thresholds, which follow UK procurement legislation.

These rules determine how we choose who to work with. It sets out how we approach suppliers and receive quotations/tenders. It also gives guidance on how we then select suppliers.

Tendering opportunities

Ashfield District Council uses the services of Nottinghamshire County Council for all major procurement work. The platforms used for advertising are:

Registering with these websites will enable you to be notified immediately when relevant contracts for your organisation are advertised.

Know what to expect in our tendering process

Depending on the type of procurement/project, the general process followed by Ashfield District Council is:

  1. Advertising the requirement
  2. Bidder submissions received
  3. Bid compliance check/selection stage
  4. Evaluation of the Tender Submissions
  5. Standstill period (8 days)
  6. Internal award sign off
  7. Award of contract
  8. Mobilisation and contract drafting
  9. All tenders will be advertised on Find a Tender Service (FTS) and interested parties will need to register on FTS if they wish to submit a tender bid.

Social value

Ashfield District Council is committed to a performance and evidence-based approach to Social Value, based on the National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes and Measures) developed by the Social Value Portal. Social Value is a vital part of our tendering process, and it is included in our invitation to tender documents.

To find out more about social value and TOM's (themes, outcomes and measures), the Social Value Portal held a webinar, which is now available on demand:

The Social Value Portal have other information and resources available to access at any time, to help you incorporate social value into your tender submissions:

If you are interested in understanding more about social value then please access this Supplier Engagement Calendar to book onto a bidder and supplier event with Social Value Portal:

Procurement procedures

We recognise the need for effective procurement practices to acquire and deliver value for money on goods, works and services bought by us.

To achieve this, we have a Procurement Strategy which informs members, staff, the public and suppliers how procurement will be managed. In addition, we are working with Social Value Portal who will undertake social value evaluation of tenders over £50,000 and Social Value Portal will manage the delivery of social value through contract management, according to the principles of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. You can view the relevant documents from the related documents section of this web page.

The rules governing how this money is spent (which are also subject to compliance with statutory requirements such as The Procurement Act 2023 and The Procurement Regulations 2024) can be found in our contract procedure rules, available from the related documents section of this web page.

Our terms and conditions for goods and for services are also available to view and download from the related documents section of this web page.

We have a partnership agreement with Nottinghamshire County Council to provide procurement support, whilst the strategic ownership remains with Ashfield. Colleagues at Nottinghamshire County Council will undertake procurement activities on behalf of the Council.

Our Five-Year Procurement Plan which is available under related documents is reviewed twice yearly and forms the pipeline for our known procurement requirements.

Our current Contracts Register can be found on:

5 Year Procurement Plan

A 5 year procurement plan exists for all know procurement activities over £25,000 (whole of life value). The plan is reviewed twice a year, once in January and then again in June. Please note that Nottinghamshire County Council undertake all procurement work over £25,000 and therefore when the opportunities are tendered then the relevant portals will include those details.

We have signed the Small Business Friendly Concordat and it will ensure rules and policies are applied fairly and transparently without discrimination to businesses irrespective of size. Where possible we will seek to provide opportunities and encouragement for small and medium enterprises and local suppliers.

Sign your business up to our local business suppliers directory, to allow your business to be considered during our procurement processes:

Ways to contact us about procurement

If you have a question about procurement or tendering you can contact us by:

Related links:

Related documents: