Council tender alerts
Search every live UK and Irish tender, free. Pro does the hard work for you and emails them every morning. Covers local authority contracts from councils across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Local government publishes more procurement notices than any other part of the UK public sector. In our most recent analysis councils accounted for 43 per cent of all UK notices, ahead of central government at 18 per cent, so a supplier able to serve councils has a far larger addressable market by volume than one focused on Whitehall.
It is also the most scattered part of the market. England alone has over 300 councils, spread across a range of procurement platforms, with many on In-Tend and many others on ProContract. Each runs its own portal with its own registration. Watching a handful of neighbouring authorities by hand is feasible; watching the market is not.
Much of the value sits below the headline thresholds. Under the Procurement Act 2023, a council inviting competitive tenders for a contract worth £30,000 or more (including VAT) must publish a below-threshold tender notice on the Central Digital Platform, and that band between £30,000 and the full procurement thresholds is consistently less competitive than the large contracts, while still being substantial work. It is also where local suppliers compete best, because councils weight social value heavily and a genuine local presence, local employment and local spend are worth real marks.
Alerts pull all of it into one place. Set your regions, and new council contracts arrive by email regardless of which platform the authority happens to use.
Part of our tender alerts for every UK public sector buyer. Want to see what is open today? Browse live council tenders.
What your council alerts cover
- County, city, district, borough, unitary and metropolitan councils
- Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland local authorities alongside England
- In-Tend, ProContract and other council procurement platforms, plus Contracts Finder
- Below-threshold work from £30,000, where competition is usually lighter
- Combined authorities, and regional purchasing consortia such as ESPO, YPO and NEPO
How it works
Describe your business once
Tell us your sectors and regions. We build your saved search from it.
600+ buyer portals covered
The national portals and 600+ buyer portals across the UK and Ireland, in one place, so nothing depends on you remembering to check.
Matches arrive by email
Every morning on Pro, ranked with an AI fit score to help you triage. On the free plan, a Tuesday email tells you how many new tenders your saved search found.
What is free, and what Pro adds
Free lets you browse and discover. You can browse, search, filter and open every live tender, see award history and buyer pages, and keep one saved search with its 3 newest matches in your account. A free email every Tuesday morning tells you how many new tenders it found, so you know when to log in. There is no card and nothing to cancel.
Pro does the work for you. New tenders matching your saved searches arrive by email every morning, ranked by fit, with the reason each one matched, buyer contacts and a link to the buyer's portal and documents. It is £39 a month + VAT, monthly, and you can cancel any time. If you leave Pro, the account moves to Free on its own. Your first saved search stays active, and any others are paused until you upgrade again, so nothing you set up is lost.
Council tender alerts: common questions
Are council tender alerts free?
Yes, to start. Searching is free, and so is one saved search with its 3 newest matches in your account and a Tuesday email of how many new council contracts it found, with no card. Free lets you browse and discover: you can browse, search, filter and open every live tender. Pro does the work for you. For £39 a month + VAT, new council contracts matching your saved searches arrive by email every morning, ranked by fit, with unlimited saved searches, tender tracking and an AI fit score.
Do I have to register with every council separately?
To bid, yes, you will usually register on the portal the awarding council uses. To see the opportunities you do not, which is the point of alerts. We monitor the council platforms together so you find the contract first and register only where you actually intend to bid.
What is the threshold for council contracts to be published?
Under the Procurement Act 2023, councils and other sub-central bodies that invite competitive tenders for a contract worth £30,000 or more (including VAT) must publish a below-threshold tender notice on the Central Digital Platform (Find a Tender). The equivalent figure for central government is £12,000. Above the full procurement thresholds, contracts must be advertised on Find a Tender under the full rules. Procurements started under the old rules before 24 February 2025 may still appear on Contracts Finder.
Does being a local supplier help win council contracts?
It can, though not as a preference in itself. Councils weight social value heavily, and local employment, local supply chain spend and community benefit score within it. A local supplier who evidences those specifically, rather than asserting local presence, tends to score better on that section.
Alerts for other sectors
Covering a different sector? Set up free tender alerts for any sector.
Start getting council tender alerts
Search every live UK and Irish tender, free. Pro does the hard work for you and emails them every morning.
14 days of Pro, no card. Then Free unless you upgrade.
Pro sends every match to your inbox each morning, tracks your deadlines and shows you who to contact. See what Pro includes