11. Submission and Opening of Tenders

11.1

An Invitation to Tender shall be issued by the Council for all contracts over £75,000 and tenders shall be submitted in accordance with the requirements of the Invitation to Tender.

11.2

Any tenders received (other than those received electronically, to which 11.3 shall apply) shall be:

11.2.1	addressed to the Democratic Services Manager
11.2.2	in a sealed envelope marked “Tender” followed by the subject matter to which it relates
11.2.3	kept in a locked cabinet by Democratic Services
11.2.4	retained unopened until the date and time specified for its opening.

11.3

Where the Council has indicated in the Invitation to Tender that a tender can or must be submitted electronically, then those tenders shall be:

11.3.1	addressed to the e-mail address as notified in the Invitation to Tender
11.3.2	in the format specified in the Invitation to Tender
11.3.3	stored in a secure mailbox, which requires a code or other appropriate security measure, to open it
11.3.4	retained unopened until the date and time specified for its opening.

11.4

No tender received after the time and date specified for its opening shall be accepted or considered by the Council unless the relevant Service Manager's satisfied that there is sufficient evidence of the tender having been dispatched in time for it to have arrived before the closing date and time, or other exceptional circumstances apply, and the other tenders have not been opened.

11.5

Where Tenders are expected to have a value in excess of £75,000, invitations to the opening of these tenders will be sent to the appropriate Portfolio Holder or another Cabinet Member and the appropriate Shadow Portfolio Holder or another Shadow Cabinet Member, a Procurement Officer, one responsible officer nominated by the relevant Service Manager and a Democratic Services Officer to undertake the completion of the Record of Receipt of Tender Document of tenders received including names and addresses and the date and time of opening. In circumstances where both Portfolio/Cabinet member and/or, both Shadow Portfolio/Cabinet members are unable to attend, opening of tenders can and should be undertaken in presence of officers and at least one substitute Member to ensure procurement programme is maintained.