Scope
Reference
DN774678
Description
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC) as the South West Kent Waste Partnership (together the Authorities) are looking to procure a Household Recycling, Waste Collection and Street Cleansing Services contractor. The Authorities have been working in partnership since 2018.
This contract seeks to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of the service across the Authorities' Administrative Areas whilst addressing the differing needs and priorities of each of them.
Key Dates & Timeline for Procurement
Tender release (Initial Tender): Wednesday 14th May 2025
Expression of Interest Deadline: 12:00pm Friday 27th June 2025
Deadline for submission of Initial Tenders: 12:00pm 28th July 2025
Evaluation of Initial Tenders: w/c Monday 28th July 2025
Dialogue and Negotiation Stage Commencing: Monday 15th September 2025
Tender release (Final Tenders): Monday 13th October 2025
Deadline for submission of Final Tenders: 12:00pm Monday 10th November 2025
Evaluation of Final Tenders: 11th November 2025
Appointment of contractor: w/c 21st April 2026
Total value (estimated)
- £266,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2039
- Possible extension to 31 March 2041
- 14 years
Description of possible extension:
Tender has an option for one 24 month extension.
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 90511200 - Household-refuse collection services
- 90610000 - Street-cleaning and sweeping services
Contract locations
- UKJ46 - West Kent
Submission
Enquiry deadline
27 June 2025, 12:00pm
Submission type
Tenders
Tender submission deadline
28 July 2025, 12:00am
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
21 April 2026
Recurring procurement
Publication date of next tender notice (estimated): 1 May 2036
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Stage one (Initial Tenders) - Cost | Weighting - 0% |
Cost |
| Stage one (Initial Tenders) - Quality | Weighting - 100% |
Quality |
| Stage 2 (Final Tenders)- Cost | Weighting - 60% |
Cost |
| Stage 2 (Final Tenders) - Quality | Weighting - 40% |
Quality |
Weighting description
Each stage of this tender is weighted Separately.
Other information
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
Stage One - Invitation to Submit Initial Tenders
Both a tender notice and the full tender pack will be issued, and any interested tenderer will be eligible to come forward, view and respond to the documents.
Once the initial tender period has closed, the Authorities will begin the evaluation. The evaluation of initial tenders will be completed in the following order:
1. All pre supplier questionnaires will be assessed and evaluated.
2. The Authorities will then move to assessing the mandatory elements listed within the tender documents.
3. The scored elements will then be assessed, once initial scoring is completed, the Authorities will have an opportunity to raise any clarifications required. The responses to clarifications will then be considered and scoring may be adjusted. Once the scoring window is closed, no further changes will be made to assigned scores.
Tenderers will be assessed against the advertised criteria. Tenderers may be excluded throughout the process - the evaluation section of this ITT sets out the criteria for assessment and relevant exclusion terms and set benchmarks.
4. Once the assessment of initial tenders has concluded, tenderers who remain in the process will proceed to Stage two.
Stage Two - Dialogue
Stage two will begin dialogue between the Authorities and the tenderers. These sessions will have the aim of furthering both tenderers' and the Authorities' understanding of the contract requirements and dialogue will focus on the issues highlighted within the specification document. For clarity, dialogue in this process will be defined as, 'discussion between the Authorities and tenderers to discuss any aspect of the service, e.g. the service requirements or proposed solution (enhancing understanding)'.
1. Stage two will commence with the issuing of a letter inviting tenderers that have successfully passed Stage one to attend one or more dialogue meetings.
2. The letter will also provide details of any new information made available to tenderers at this stage in the procurement.
3. The letter will also describe how the dialogue will be conducted, including the location and dates for the relevant meetings, as well as the attendee arrangements.
4. Stage two will conclude with the issuing of letters to all participating tenderers confirming the closure of dialogue.
Stage Three - Negotiation
Stage three will move into the negotiation of proposals. Whilst the Authorities' intention is to hold a negotiation stage within this process, in the event that the Authorities deem this stage to offer no value to the process, they reserve the right to disregard this stage and move forward to stage four. Negotiation in this process will be defined as, 'discussion between the Authorities and the tenderers with a view to improving the content of tenders'.
1. Stage three will commence with the issuing of a letter inviting tenderers to attend one or more negotiation meetings.
2. The letter will also provide details of any new information made available to tenderers at this stage in the procurement.
3. The letter will also describe how the negotiations will be conducted, including the location and dates for the relevant meetings, as well as the attendee arrangements.
4. Stage three will conclude with the issuing of letters to all participating tenderers confirming the closure of negotiations.
Stage Four - Invitation to Submit Final Tenders
At Stage four, tenderers will be given an opportunity to submit their final tender and will be informed of the outcome of the process.
1. Stage four will commence with the issuing of a letter inviting tenderers to submit their final tenders.
2. Final tenders must be submitted in accordance with the timetable and instructions set out in this document and any additional information provided.
3. After the deadline for submission of final tenders, the Authorities will consider, in respect of each tenderer that submitted a tender, whether the tenderer or any related persons within its corporate group, associated persons relied on to meet the conditions of participation, or proposed sub-contractors, are excluded or excludable tenderers and will consider whether to disregard the tender submitted in accordance with their obligations under the Act. If the tenderer is an excluded or excludable tenderer only by virtue of an associated person or proposed sub-contractor, the Authorities will notify the tenderer of their intention to disregard its tender and provide the tenderer with reasonable opportunity to replace the associated person or sub-contractor. If as a consequence of this process the Authorities disregard a tender from an excluded or excludable tenderer, or are aware of an associated person or sub-contractor having been replaced, they will give notice of this fact within 30 days of their decision to the Procurement Review Unit (PRU).
4. The Authorities will conduct an assessment of all final tenders in order to identify the tenderer which has submitted the most advantageous tender in accordance with the assessment methodology and award criteria set out in the Tender Notice and described in this document. In carrying out this assessment, the Authorities will disregard any tender that does not satisfy the conditions of participation. The Authorities may also disregard a tender:
a. from a tenderer that is not a United Kingdom tenderer or a treaty state Supplier or that intends to sub-contract the performance of all or part of the contract to a Supplier that is not a United Kingdom Supplier or a treaty state Supplier; or
b. if the tender breaches a procedural requirement set out in the Tender Notice or associated tender documents; or
c. if the tender offers a price that the Authorities consider to be abnormally low for the performance of the contract. Where the Authorities consider that a price offered by a tenderer is abnormally low, the Authorities will notify the tenderer and give it reasonable opportunity to demonstrate that it will be able to perform the contract for the price offered. The Authorities will only disregard the tender if the tenderer cannot satisfactorily demonstrate that it will be able to perform the contract for the price offered.
5. Once the assessment has concluded, the Authorities will provide an assessment summary to all tenderers that submitted final tenders to:
a. inform them whether they have been successful in being awarded the contract
b. provide an explanation of the assessment of their tender against the relevant award criteria, in accordance with the requirements of the Act
c. where different from the tenderers concerned, provide information in respect of the most advantageous tender submitted, including details of the assessment of this tender against the relevant award criteria and the tenderer's name
6. Once the assessment summaries have been provided to the tenderers that submitted final tenders, the Authorities will also publish a contract award notice on the Central Digital Platform to commence the mandatory 8 working day standstill period.
7. Subject to completion of the mandatory standstill period, Stage four will end with the Authorities entering into the contract with the preferred tenderer and publication of a Contract Details Notice on the Central Digital Platform (within 30 days of the date on which the contract is entered into). Where appropriate, a copy of the contract may also be published on the Central Digital Platform.
Procurement Portal
The Authorities are in the process of changing procurement portal providers. The Authorities will switch from the current Proactis portal in August 2025 and move to the Delta system in October 2025. The Authorities will conduct events 1-5 using the Proactis system, stages 6 and 7 will be managed via email. The Authorities intend to conduct stages 8 onward via the Delta system, subject to successful migration across to the new platform. In the event of a delay, the Authorities will inform tenderers, and it is likely that we will continue to use email as the management system for stages 8 onward. Once the transition is complete all further notices required for compliance with the Act will be issued using the Delta platform.
Justification for not publishing a preliminary market engagement notice
Preliminary market engagement was carried under Public Contract Regulations 2015 our prior to Procurement Act 2023 going live.
Documents
Associated tender documents
https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/
Tenderers must express their interest through the Kent Business Portal, (https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/).
The link to register is https://procontract.due-north.com/register, registration is free.
Once registered tenderers will be able to express their interest and then view and respond to the documents.
Contracting authorities
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PLDX-6964-RZQX
Town Hall, Monson Way
Royal Tunbridge Wells
TN1 1RS
United Kingdom
Contact name: Louisa Coley
Email: procurement@tunbridgewells.gov.uk
Website: https://tunbridgewells.gov.uk/
Region: UKJ46 - West Kent
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government
Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PBNB-2692-VQCJ
Gibson Building, Gibson Drive, Kings Hill
West Malling
ME19 4LZ
United Kingdom
Region: UKJ46 - West Kent
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government