Collaborative procurement is where authorities work together to jointly purchase common goods and services, in other words, the goods and services that all authorities have to buy. Joining forces with other local authorities and other public sector bodies such as the Fire and Rescue Service and the Police Authority enables Torbay Council to achieve economies of scale and get better value for money, as well as often offering suppliers a more attractive and more sustainable contract.

Authorities are able to collaborate on a wide range of goods and services that are classified as essential in order to be able to function, common because they support a business need that all authorities have or because they are statutory requirements (or assist authorities to meet their statutory requirements) that they must provide, these include (but are not limited to the following):

Therefore, if you are a supplier interested in providing any of the above or similar to Torbay Council, please bear in mind that the Authority might not procure these goods or services directly and instead might buy in to a contract established by another Authority.

Torbay Council works with other Local Authority and public sector bodies throughout Devon via the Devon Procurement Partnership (DPP) on a range of issues including collaborative procurement. The DPP is comprised of Local Authorities from the Devon region at County Council, Unitary Authority and Borough and District Council levels as well as Devon and Cornwall Police, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, the Met Office, Dartmoor National Park and others. Representatives from each Authority meet bi-monthly.

Generally these opportunities will be advertised via Devon Tenders .