In all aspects of procurement, Officers (and Members) must act with integrity. Our procurement activity must comply with national legislation and these regulations are central to our internal Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) which form part of the Council’s Constitution. Ethical practices are rooted in our processes and procedures such as:
- no one individual can authorise all stages of a purchase order or procurement exercise. The authority to raise orders, tender and award contracts is governed by our CPRs and Finance Procedure Rules
- proportionate, auditable records are kept of all transactions and decisions
- the CPRs set out the appropriate contract value ‘thresholds’ above which specific steps and tasks are mandated, and officer (and Member) probity is always expected when conducting procurement activity
- the Find a Tender (FTS) portal and/or Contracts Finder (CF) and/or the Central Digital Platform (see gov.uk website) are used to ensure transparency in our procurements
- our procurement portal, The Chest, ensures tender exercises are conducted electronically providing security and efficiency and a fully auditable process
- contract management is proportionate, however, typically, the more complex, high cost and high level of risk associated with the procurement then the more robust and rigorous a process is required to successfully plan, tender for and manage it
- we promote fair and transparent competition, minimise exposure to fraud and collusion by effectively managing commercial risk
- good procurement governance is supported by building and maintaining capacity and skills within the procurement team
- Procurement Training is offered to ensure all officers involved in procurements have the necessary skills to meet their responsibilities
- we act with integrity and transparency when we undertake procurement; and our decisions will be communicated clearly. In our dealings with our suppliers we will act fairly i.e. we will pay our suppliers promptly, and in accordance with agreed terms
- the Council has a zero-tolerance approach to modern day slavery (which is a criminal offence under the Modern Slavery Act 2015)