Title: / Procurement Strategy
  1. Our Vision for Procurement
  2. Fylde Borough Council will strive to achieve Value for Money and continuous improvement when it procures goods, services and works from third party suppliers. There will be a constant challenge to key facets of procurement, including, quality, health & safety, sustainability and how we deliver benefits to the local community.
  3. To achieve this vision the Council will ensure that there is a clear framework of accountability and responsibility, applying appropriate professional knowledge and skills, and using legally compliant procedures.
  4. The Council will ensure that its procurement strategy is fully integrated with the Council’s Corporate Strategy and will be kept under review.
  5. Introduction
  6. Procurement is the process of acquiring goods, works and services. It includes deciding whether to buy something from an external supplier or to source it in-house having given due consideration to the criteria defined by the council as necessary to deliver the characteristics of the specific purchase.
  7. Procurement by the council affects local people, local businesses and the local environment, hence it is important that these local considerations are taken into account when procurement decisions are made.
  8. Procurement affects local people because they pay the taxes which pay for the goods, works or service. Procurement is a key facilitator of the council providing service excellence.
  9. Procurement affects local businesses because a contract with the council can make a company more profitable, provide long term employment and contribute to the local economy.
  10. Procurement affects the local environment because what the council buys and where it buys it from may affect pollution and emissions.
  11. This document sets out the Council’s objectives for procurement. It lists the key outcomes the Council wants to achieve under each of the objectives, and what the Council will do to achieve them. It outlines how the Council will manage a situation in the event of conflicting objectives and sets out a number of key principles of how the council will manage the process.
  12. Rules
  13. The Council will always comply with all of the rules and regulations that apply to a particular procurement. These include Acts of Parliament, Statutory Instruments, European Union law and the Council’s own Contract Procedure Rules.
  14. Sometimes, rules and regulations may require the Council to adopt a procurement process or solution other than what this document would suggest. In such cases, the Council would comply with the rules and regulations rather than follow this document. Should this situation arise the council’s governance controls would be alerted.
  15. The Council will not do anything in a procurement exercise that would breach any of our duties under rules about Equalities or Health and Safety legislation.
  16. Governance and Accountabilities
  17. The Council has adopted a procurement service based on devolved accountability to internal clients. There is a strategic overview provided by Governance who report to the Director of Resources. Ultimate accountability and reporting is to the Chief Executive.
  18. Clients are empowered within the confines of the ‘Contract Procedure Rules’. These make it clear that every contract made by or on behalf of the Council shall comply with:
  19. the Contract Procedure Rules
  20. the Council’s Financial Regulations
  21. all relevant statutory provisions, including in particular the Local Government Act 1988, Part II, the Public Contract Regulations 2006 and the Local Government (Contracts) Act 1997
  22. any relevant European Council Directive; and
  23. any direction by the Council or the Cabinet.
  24. The procedures deal with ‘Small Contracts’, ‘Mid-Range Contracts’, Tendering from Constructionline’ and compliance with ‘British & European Standards’.
  25. Objectives
  26. Fylde Council’s key strategic objectives for procurement are to ensure:
  27. Value for money: to achieve the best balance between price and quality.
  28. Support for the local economy: to award contracts to local businesses, where possible.
  29. Environmental responsibility: to procure sustainably and seek to protect the local environment.
  30. To support these objectives, the Council will seek to:
  31. Robustly risk manage all purchases emanating from third parties;
  32. Take decisive action when contract non-performance is experienced from a contracted third party;
  33. Continuously improve the provision of goods and services from the supply chain; and
  34. Make Essential Management Information readily available to senior officers and Members.
  35. Value for Money

This is what the Council will do to get value for money:

  • Outcome 6.1:

The Council will use buying power to take advantage of the best prices.

This will be achieved by:

  • Buying through purchasing organisations and consortia like the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation or the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
  • Using existing framework agreements set up by central government or other public sector bodies, recognising that the Council may wish to vary, by exception, specific facets of such framework agreements, providing this is possible within the terms of the frameworks
  • Buying as an organisation rather than as individual sections
  • Aggregating requirements when possible
  • Outcome 6.2:

The Council will use competition to find best value.

This will be achieved by:

  • Using “the Chest” to facilitatepre-qualification procedures, invitations to tender or requests for quotations
  • Running or taking part in electronic auctions
  • Looking for ways to stimulate markets
  • Accessing e-catalogues when available
  • Soft market testing
  • Using the Council’s extensive network in the public sector
  • Outcome 6.3:

The Council will focus on what it wants to achieve, not what it wants to buy.

This will be achieved by:

  • Helping buyers to see procurement as a key management tool;
  • Taking a holistic view of the council’s requirements;
  • Knowing the whole life costs of what we buy.
  1. Support the local economy

This is what the Council will do to support the local economy:

  • Outcome 7.1:

The Council will raise local awareness of business opportunities with the council

This will be achieved by:

  • Compiling a mailing list of local companies who are interested in doing business with the council
  • Encouraging local companies to register with “the Chest”
  • Maintaining a clear and simple online guide to doing business with the council
  • Outcome 7.2:

The Council will make it easier for local companies to compete for council business

This will be achieved by:

  • Not raising unnecessary barriers or making unnecessary checks that would discourage local businesses (especially small and medium-sized enterprises)
  • Where practicable, dividing opportunities into smaller lots
  1. Environmental responsibility

This is what the Council will do to procure sustainably and protect the local environment:

  • Outcome 8.1:

The Council will minimise the use of non-renewable resources

This will be achieved by:

  • Reusing and recycling
  • Eliminating avoidable waste
  • Specifying products made of recyclable materials
  • Outcome 8.2:

The Council will build sustainability into our procurement processes

This will be achieved by:

  • Taking account running, maintenance and disposal costs as well as initial purchase costs
  • Not buying products that damage the environment where there is a reasonably suitable alternative
  • Where permitted, taking into account the environmental record of suppliers in the tendering process
  • Having regard to BS 8903:2010 ‘Procurement Sustainability’ and in particular identifying through life costs of goods and equipment purchased. This will be supported when appropriate by conducting supplier audits and including sustainability requirements in the Council’s Terms and Conditions of Contract.
  1. Squaring the circle
  2. Where possible, the Council wants procurement decisions to have the best effect on local people, local businesses and the local environment. But sometimes these aims may conflict. For example, it may be cheaper to buy from a supplier from outside the area. This may be better for local people (because it keeps their taxes lower) but not for local business (because a local company would not win the work) or for the environment (because it the supplies will need to be transported further). This part of the strategy sets out how the Council will deal with these situations .
  3. Getting the best value for money will support the local economy by keeping taxes low and giving local people more spending power, which will benefit local businesses. The Council will always look for the best value for money, while giving local businesses every opportunity to compete.
  4. If two choices offer equal value for money, the Council will choose a local supplier[1] in preference to one who is not local, as long as rules permit this approach, and subject to all parts of the strategy.
  5. The Council will never choose an option that will cause material damage to the environment if there is a practicable and affordable alternative that will not cause material damage.
  6. The Council will use evaluation models to decide which tender or quotation to accept. Evaluation models will typically allocate at least 15% of their scoring to the effect on the environment of accepting the tender or quotation.
  7. Pre-qualification and Tender evaluation.

The Council will ensure that responses to pre-qualification questionnaires and tenders will be evaluated strictly in line with pre-determined evaluation models that will contain appropriate criteria and weightings that reflect the specific requirements of the purchase. The evaluation models will be prepared prior to receipt of pre-qualification responses and tenders. The evaluation will be carried out by nominated Council officers who will ensure that the implications of the Remedies Directive are noted and that the decision making for contract award will withstand scrutiny. Unsuccessful bidders will be given feedback in an attempt to strengthen their future responses.

  1. Gateway Reviews.

In exceptional situations, for complex procurements, the Council will consider conducting Gateway Reviews to test the intended procurement. In particular the Council will ensure that the ‘Procurement Strategy’ and ‘Investment Decision’ are included as essential features of the procurement process.

  1. Supply Chain Risk Management.

The Council’s Strategic Risk Management Group and Operational Risk Management Group oversee the Council’s approach to risk management. It is recognized that risks will inevitably exist in the supply chain and that, on occasions, such supply chain risks will inform the Corporate Risk Register. Potential supply chain risks include:

  • supplier financial failure
  • lack of specialist resources
  • technology changes impacting on IT infrastructure
  • serious Force Majeure events
  • supplier takeovers and mergers

In the event that these are likely to occur, or do occur, the Council will apply appropriate due diligence actions to mitigate such risks. In all instances of one-off high risk projects the Council will create a specific Project Risk Register to which procurement will be a contributor.

  1. Contract Management.

The responsibility for contract management rests with clients, who will, post-contract award, apply appropriate resources and skills to ensure:

  • suppliers meet their contractual obligations
  • excellent relationship management exists
  • potential supply problems are identified as early as possible
  • health & safety requirements are fully complied with
  • purchase prices do not escalate
  • VFM is obtained and can be demonstrated.
  1. Openness and accountability
  2. The public has the right to hold the Council to account for how their money is spent. This includes procurement decisions. Companies who want to sell to the council will have to accept that their offers, and consideration of all offers, will be open to public scrutiny.
  3. The Council will normally publish the results of procurement exercises. This will include the names of companies, the value of their offers and how the decision was reached.
  4. The Council will continue to publish details of any spending over £500 every month.
  5. Elected Members of the Council

The Council’s procurement strategies for high risk and/or high value purchases will have an active involvement of elected members of the Council. This will be achieved through existing organisational structures and communication protocols, including:

  • appropriate briefings
  • Cabinet involvement
  • approval of risk mitigation strategies
  • comment on pre-qualification and tender evaluation criteria and weightings
  • notification of achievements of procurement objectives and targets
  1. Conclusion
  2. This strategyis intended to help all involved in buying on behalf of the Council to know what the Council wants to achieve from its procurement, how to resolve conflicting priorities and how procurement decisions can affect the local community and the environment.
  3. If you have any suggestions about how this policy can be improved, please contact any member of the legal team in the governance section.

Directorate / Resources / Section / Governance / Ref. Number
Authorised By / Job title / Issue Date
Author / Ian Curtis / Job title / Head of Governance / Revision No / 1
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[1] A “local” supplier means one which employs people in Fylde, or, if there is not one that employs people in Fylde, one which does in Blackpool, Preston or Wyre, or, if there is not one that employs people in these areas, one that does elsewhere in the ceremonial county of Lancashire.