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Procurement Policies & the Councils Constitution
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Northumberland County Council has a legal obligation to comply with the
European Public Contracts Regulations 2006
and the Council’s Constitution.
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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.
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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)
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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
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All procurement guidance and request forms are available on the staff intranet
Staff Intranet Front Page
On the right hand column, Procurement Forms
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Procurement Forms and Guidance
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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
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Procurement over £50,000
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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?
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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.
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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
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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