1. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Procurement Policies & the Councils Constitution

2. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Northumberland County Council has a legal obligation to comply with the European Public Contracts Regulations 2006 and the Council’s Constitution.

3. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council 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.

4. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council

5. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council The Council has a centralised approach to procurement. –All spend under £50k is carried out in conjunction with the Contract & Buying Team (since 1 st April 2009 forms part of Financial Transactions) –All spend over £50k is carried out by the Council’s Corporate Procurement Team

6. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council All procurement guidance and request forms are available on the staff intranet Staff Intranet Front Page On the right hand column, Procurement Forms

7. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Procurement Forms and Guidance

8. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council

9. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council

10. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Procurement over £50,000

11. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council 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?

12. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council 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.

13. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council Place Chris Rush01670 534152 PeopleChris Baty01670 533126 Performance Claire Povey01670 534120 Adult ServicesBarry Abbott01670 534145 Sustainable ProcurementJulie Davison01670 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

14. www.northumberland.gov.uk Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council 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