Dear West Lindsey District Council,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding your council's procurement policies and practices. Specifically, I would like to know:

1 - What are your council's procurement policies and procedures for awarding contracts?
2 - How many contracts has your council awarded in the past year?
3 - Of those contracts, how many were awarded to local businesses, and how many were awarded to outside firms?
4 - How does your council define a "local" business for the purposes of awarding contracts?
5 - What criteria does your council use to assess bids for contracts, and how are these criteria weighted?
6 - Does your council have a policy or target for the proportion of contracts that should be awarded to local businesses? If so, what is that target?
7 - Does your council monitor the performance of contractors it has awarded contracts to? If so, how is this monitored?

I would like to receive the above information in electronic format, preferably as a spreadsheet or other structured data format, if possible.

If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide assistance under Section 16 to refine the request.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.

Yours faithfully,

Daniel Jaines

Following a request for clarification from North Kesteven District Council, I felt it best to include my response in all submissions of this FOI, so for further details/clarification see below:

Dear Graeme,

Thank you for your speedy response to my Freedom of Information request regarding the number of contracts awarded to local businesses versus outside firms. I appreciate your feedback and would like to provide further clarification for the definitions you have requested.

For the purposes of this request, a "contract" refers to any legally binding agreement made by the council with a supplier or service provider, including but not limited to purchase orders, service level agreements, and contracts for works, goods or services. The time period of interest is the most recent completed fiscal year, from April 1st, 2022, to March 31st, 2023.

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours sincerely,
Daniel