Organisational profile of procurement

Organisational profile of procurement

At present, much of the Council’s expenditure is highly devolved to departments: during the financial year 2004/05 the Council did business with approximately 12,000 suppliers spending in the region of £220million (excluding payroll).

ORGANISATIONAL DETAILS

CONTACT DETAILS

Head of Procurement: Francis Murphy (+44 (0)20 8753 2211)
Procurement Consultant: Joanna Angelides (+44 (0)20 8753 2586)
Procurement Consultant: Alan Parry (+44 (0)20 8753 2581)

It is the Council’s duty to spend wisely, the money it receives through Council-tax contributions from its residents and grants from government departments and agencies.  It attempts secure value for money in procuring works, goods and services through robust and transparent rules with organisations submitting prices and tenders.  Lowest price does not always mean the best and contracts may be awarded to organisations who undertake to improve quality or continuous improvements in services.

The Council aims to achieve non-discrimination, with fair and transparent procedures and equal treatment of all potential suppliers. With this in mind, these guidelines have been prepared to ensure that all potential suppliers of goods or services fully understand the procedures involved.

The value of a contract determines the procedure which the Council Officers must follow with respect to how many quotes they need to obtain or whether a tender process must be entered into.  Delegated purchasing responsibility is exercised through the Council’s Contract Standing Orders, which sets out Financial thresholds for seeking quotes/tenders as follows.  The higher the estimated value the greater the need to demonstrate transparent processes.

• upto £5,000: one quotation
• from £5,000 to under £50,000: normally three quotations
• £50,000 or more through a formal tendering process 
• • if under £50,000 organisations may be sought through advertisements appearing in journals, placing advertisements or using approved suppliers
  • £50,000 or more must be through a public advertisement, except for contractors or suppliers on an approved list (Constructionline for works contracts)           
• for supplies and some service  related contracts where the estimated value is £156,442 or more the Council must place an advertisement in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) seeking expressions of interest.
• for works related contracts where the estimated value is £3,927,260  or more the Council must place an advertisement in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) seeking expressions of interest.