Contracts
The move towards providing services for public bodies through commercial contracts has been around for a long time. For a few voluntary and community organisations income from contracts already makes up the bulk of their turnover. For others, declining grant income means they will have to consider how to adapt. For most VCOs, with turnovers of less than £10000, contracts are not on their radar and probabably shouldn't be.
As a start you may wish to read our leaflet on Commissioning, procurement, tendering and contracts. It's an easy read guide.
For those who wish to discover more about being "contract ready", please follow this link to Improving Support.
Further material with more local details can be found at:
useful reference material and links
Contracts Matter
Please download the factsheet which gives you information regarding the role and benefits of membership. Contracts Matter .
As funding opportunities change and public sector organisations dictate larger, fewer projects there needs to be a mechanism to ensure local, small VCS organisations have the opportunity to contribute to the changing environment and continue to provide a valuable service to their community.
ConTracked
This is a very valuable free service provided by FINE (Funding Information North East) and provides information about procurement opportunities for VCOs in the region. By registering you will be able to access current tenders.
County Council
The Procurement Team hold regular workshops 'How to do business with the County Council'. Organisations who want to do business with Northumberland County Council should register free on the electronic tendering ProContract System (North East Purchasing Organisation portal) at www.nepoportal.org as NCC go out to tender for all our business opportunities over £50k via this system. To find out more about the Council's approach to purchasing go to this section of its website.
