Procurement
What is Procurement?
Procurement is the process of buying goods and services from suppliers. The process covers the whole life cycle from the identification of the need to the end of the service provision or the useful life of the goods .It covers everything that Harborough District Council buys from envelopes to waste management services.
Many factors must be considered in any procurement activity and the detail required to address the issues may vary according to the nature, complexity and value of the purchase or contract. Consideration of these issues means that contracts will not be awarded on cost alone, but will be based on best value for money which means that the decision to buy should be made based on both cost and quality issues.
Every procurement process follows a number of steps, starting with the decision as to whether we actually need what we plan to buy and if so do we have the funds to buy it at this time. A number of stages follow, including market testing, advertising and evaluating the tender, awarding the contract and importantly managing the contract to ensure effective delivery of goods or services procured.
Procurement Strategy
Harborough District Council’s Procurement Strategy Document promotes effective procurement across all its activities and aims to set out a flexible planning framework within which all procurement reform can evolve to combat the intensity of the challenges currently posed. Every aspect of the procurement process and practice must be tuned to deliver cost savings for the people of the District of Harborough.
The Strategy also sets out how the Council will adopt a strategic approach to sustainable procurement based on national and regional drivers, best practice and the recommendations of the Government’s Sustainable Task Force.
Strategy Document: Document currently unavailable due to revision
Best Value for Money
The procurement process has at its core obtaining ‘best value for money’ which means selecting the submission that provides the optimum combination of whole life costs and benefits to meet the customers’ requirements. This is not necessarily the lowest price submission and requires assessment of the ongoing resource/revenue costs as well as initial capital investment. Consideration must also be given to social, environmental, economic and other strategic objectives in the evaluation of submissions.
Value for money and efficiency targets require Harborough District Council to adopt a positive approach to competition, taking full account of the opportunities for innovation and genuine partnership, available from working with others in the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Rules and Regulations
EU Public Procurement Directives
The EU Public Procurement Directives (incorporated into UK law as the Public Procurement Directives) are intended to ensure that where public funds are to be used for the purchase of supplies, services or works, there will be full, fair and transparent competition. As a contracting Authority Harborough District Council are legally bound to comply with these regulations.
Contract Procedure Rules
All procurement will conform with the Contract Procedure Rules, which are bound into the Council’s Constitution, and set out how procurement activities are to be undertaken to ensure compliance with the above regulations.
