Hi,
Depends what you class as govt contracts, i currently provide a service for the forrestry commision does this count they rang me usual sort of quote. I once tried to tender for a contract with my local authority ( Havebury ). They wanted to know the ins & outs of a ducks backside my turnover, staffing levels, profit and to see my past 2 years accounts. I fell at that hurdle due to being in my 1st year of trading. Again done some work for a dept of Suffolk county council they contacted me usual quote straightforward, and finally i've got a regular fortnightly clean of a norfolk primary care trust building which was a straightforward quote.
So to summarise i would just treat them like a normal quote although like most penpushers they do seem to drag decision making out longer.
Cheers Mark.