Tendering Tools
Throughout the tendering process, various policies will be requested depending on the size and nature of the contract. These documents are not necessarily used as pass / fail questions however, but having good policies in place within your organisation will gain you extra marks and may give your application the competitive edge.
One perk of having these documents completed and in place is that you can submit them every time a contract opportunity arises that you would like to apply for, subject to some slight tweaking if necessary.
Policies
Health and Safety
Building a health and safety policy can seem like a daunting task, when in fact there are some very helpful websites available to aid you in obtaining this.
A great site for this is http://www.hse.gov.uk/business/index.htm
Here you will find examples of H&S / Risk Management policy documents and descriptions of how to create your own. You will also find lots of other information on all things related to Health and Safety in the workplace.
Equality and Diversity
Equality and diversity is very high in the agenda for most of local government at the moment so it important that you can evidence that you are adhering with legislation according to your size (in terms of the number of people you employ).
For an example of our E&D policy, which you are more than welcome to use as a starting point, go to the Sustainable Procurement area of the Supplier Portal, Equality and Diversity and download our policy. However, please ensure that you consult with your own legal and professional teams when considering whether to adopt this policy either in whole or part.
For further information on policies follow this link to Business LInks website http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=5000919648&site=210
Sustainability
Sustainability issues are another topic which is highly rated on the public sector’s agenda, as this is a key aspect in which partner authorities are measured and assessed on. One way we do this is to try and ensure that the suppliers we use also value the importance of this. So if you wish to sell goods or services to the public sector, then you will need to consider how you can demonstrate that you are doing all you can to ensure your goods or services have as little negative impact as possible.
One aspect of sustainability you can easily look into is your environmental impact. The following sites offer advice to aid you with this which will hopefully help you in building up a policy to implement.
http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/home
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=5000919648&site=210
We may also ask for a Sustainability Policy during our PQQ process (where it is necessary to the contract). This is a voluntary undertaking in the UK however having one will provide you with extra points. The structure and content are not regulated under UK legislation so what you include is up to you. Our Sustainable Procurement Strategy, which outlines what we look for in suppliers, may give you a few hints on what to add into your policy. For a copy of our strategy go to the Sustainable Procurement area of the Supplier Portal and download a copy.
Disclaimer
There are plenty of other policy examples and online step-by-step guides available on the internet for you to use, but please ensure you tailor these to your company’s needs/requirements and consult with legal bodies to ensure it’s correct.
