Procurement

The council advertises forthcoming opportunities

• under Public Notices in the Medway Messenger and KM Extra newspapers;
• in the Official Journal of the European Union - this is required for any contract covered by the regulations implementing EU legislation, although the council may also use this publication voluntarily if it is deemed appropriate;
• in Government Opportunities/Contrax Weekly (www.govopps.co.uk/) - this is required for all contracts which are subject to formal tendering;
• in trade journals, where the cost can be justified;
• on this website under current opportunities.

Fees scrapped

• The government has announced that it will scrap the subscription fee for small businesses to view public sector procurement contracts on its www.supply2.gov.uk website.
• The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) said that firms will now be able to access tenders advertised on the website without having to pay a £180 annual charge. The free service would be 'an interim step' toward introducing a single website for all public sector contracts in 2010. Full story:
  www.bis.gov.uk/businesses-given-free-access-to-thousands-of-new-opportunities

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