Www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Procurement Policies & the...

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Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council

Procurement Policies & the Councils Constitution



Northumberland County Council has a legal obligation to comply with the

European Public Contracts Regulations 2006

and the Council’s Constitution.



Contract Value – Finance and Contract Rule 4.2

Calculation of Contract Value (Finance and Contract Rule 4.2.1)

The Value of the Proposed Contract must be estimated before undertaking a procurement to determine which rules apply. The value of the Contract is the total consideration to be paid over its full term and not simply the estimated annual expenditure. Where the term of the Contract is indefinite or uncertain, the annual consideration should be multiplied by 4 years to give the total of the Contract.

Aggregation (Finance and Contract Rule 4.2.3)

Contract of a similar nature should not be artificially split into different parts to avoid the application of the £15,000 minimum threshold of these rules or the applicable EU Threshold. If there is doubt as to whether Contracts must be aggregated, advice of the Head of Procurement must be sought and followed.



The EU Limits are set from Jan 08 – Dec 10 at: Goods and Service - £139k (the OGC advises that procurements reaching £132K follow the EU Procurement Route) Works - £3.5 million (the OGC advises that procurements reaching £3.3 million follow the EU Procurement Route)

Procurement Best Practice and Northumberland County Council’s Finance and Contract Rules

Guidance around Requests for Quotations and Tenders where the Goods or Services are not held within our ORACLE iProc Catalogues

Under £15,000

Procurement Best Practice Seek three quotations where

appropriate and ensure quotations are documented to provide a good practice

audit trail.

Over £15,000 and under £25,000

Procurement Best Practice Obtain three quotations where

appropriate and ensure quotations are documented to provide a good

practice audit trail.

Finance and Contract Rule 4.4a states that officers must obtain two quotations. Quotations should be

documented to provide a clear audit trail.

Over £25,000 and under £50,000

Finance and Contract Rule 4.4b states that officers must seek

three written quotations. Quotations should be documented

to provide a clear audit trail.

Finance and Contract Rule 4.4All quotations shall be obtained and recorded by the Contract and Buying Team

Over £50,000

Finance and Contract Rule 4.1 (3)states that officers must consult the Head of

Procurement.

Tendering for such contracts must be done in conjunction with the

Procurement Team, in accordance with rules 4.5 – 4.10

Finance and Contract Rule 4.3.1 (b)States every contract which exceeds £50,000 in

value or amount shall be in writing and signed by the Head of Procurement

Finance and Contract Rule 4.1 (3)Prior to the commencement of tendering for any

contract with the total value in excess of £50,000 the Head of Procurement shall be consulted and their

comments obtained.

Procurements over £250,000: Approval by the Executive must be obtained prior to commencing a procurement exercise (see Finance and Contract Rule 2005) Your Executive Member must submit a report to the monthly Executive meeting.

Engagement of Consultants: The Finance and Contract Rules apply to the procurement of consultancy services . Prior to the procurement of consultancy services, of whatever value, requires the approval of the Chief Officer and Executive Member (see Finance and Contract Rule 2.6)



The Council has a centralised approach to procurement.

– All spend under £50k is carried out in conjunction with the Contract & Buying Team (since 1st April 2009 forms part of Financial Transactions)

– All spend over £50k is carried out by the Council’s Corporate Procurement Team



All procurement guidance and request forms are available on the staff intranet

Staff Intranet Front Page

On the right hand column, Procurement Forms



Procurement Forms and Guidance



Is your requirement available via an iProc catalogue?

iProc Catalogues include:Stationery; print consumables;

paper; furniture & cleaning materials

What is your purchasing requirement?

Complete the appropriate eForm on the

Northumberland Staff intranet site

Travel and / or Accommodation

Complete the appropriate eForm on the

Northumberland Staff intranet site

Mobile Technology (mobile phones etc)

All other purchase requirements

Carry out a catalogue search within iProc

Search found your requirements

If in doubt please contact the Contract & Buying Team for assistance

Place order via the iProc Catalogue

Yes

Raise a non catalogue request via iProc

No

YES NO

REMEMBER!Your job is not done until have have receipted

purchases

How to purchase goods and services up to £50k



Procurement over £50,000



Before commencing / selecting any procurement process

• Has the organisation done its research (i.e. do we know the market capability)?

• Does this requirement cross over other Directorates / Services Areas?

• Do you have a clear understanding of what your scope / requirements are?

• Can you develop an appropriate specification?

• If not is there a mechanism that will help define this?

• Has the organisation agreed and bought into the requirement?

• Are the appropriate resources available to progress?

• Has this been done before (elsewhere?)

• If so are there any quick wins?

• Lessons learnt?

• Sharing of contract data / specifications?

• Are the finances available to progress procurement?



Under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 there are 4 procurement procedures available to Contracting Authorities:

• Open

• Restricted

• Negotiated

• Competitive Dialogue

The public procurement regulations emphasise that the negotiated and competitive dialogue procedures can only be used where deviation from open or restricted procedure is justified

The Contracting Authority is free to choose whether it uses the open or restricted

procedure

The Procurement Team will determine in consultation the most appropriate procurement route.



Place Chris Rush 01670 534152

People Chris Baty 01670 533126

Performance Claire Povey 01670 534120

Adult Services Barry Abbott 01670 534145

Sustainable Procurement Julie Davison 01670 534150

Procurement Link Officer for spend over £50,000k

Procurement Link Officer Role

To provide general procurement advice and to help plan your procurement requirements inline with the Council’s Service Planning process

For advice on spend below £50,000 and the use of Corporate Contacts contact

the Contract and Buying Team



Things to Remember

• All quotations (spend under £50k) will be sought on your behalf by the Contract & Buying Team, inline with the Finance & Contract Rules and the requirement detailed in your requisition.

• Where the term of the contract is indefinite or uncertain. The annual consideration (yearly value) should multiplied by 4 year to give the total value of the contract.

• You must remember to allow sufficient time for the tender process (spend over £50k) – generally the whole process can take approx. 3-4 months.

• We follow EU rules for procurement above £132k.

• All procurement over £250k must be approved by the Council’s Executive.

• Engagement of Consultants – the Finance & Contract Rules state that the procurement of consultancy service, of whatever value, requires the approval of the Chief Officer and Executive Member

• Every contract which exceeds £50k must be signed by the Head of Procurement

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