APPENDIX A

Agreed Lead Members, Lead Officers, and Managers for the ten Key Lines of Enquiry (‘KLOEs’)

11      APPENDIX B

Procedure for recruiting external assistance to support the Corporate Governance Improvement Programme

Outlined below are a number of steps which must be complied with in the recruitment of external assistance. The financial limits to which this process applies will be agreed by Cabinet.

1.  A Project Initiation Document (PID) comprising the:

(a)scope of the document

(b)the objectives to be achieve

(c) the external benchmarks and information to be sought

(d)the methodology for the review including proposed member involvement

(e)the project timelines

(f)  resource requirements including skills, abilities and experiences of those employees or external support required

2.  The Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive will be asked to approve the requirement for external support. If approved, the Programme Lead Officer will move to the next stage.

3.  In accordance with Contract Procedure Rule (CPR) 19.1.1 (i), where the estimated contract value is less than £10,000 (based on an estimate of the type or types of work required and the number of hours work of that type or those types), three written quotations (supported by CVs, or statements of skill, ability and experience) from different organisations, must be sought,.  These quotations must be in writing and, normally, one of these organisations will be the Local Government Association.

4.  In accordance with CPR 19.1.1 (ii), where the estimated value is between £10,000 and £50,000, procurement shall be by way of five quotations using the Council’s eTendering and sourcing portal, unless the Director of Finance (or anyone authorised by him) is satisfied (in accordance with the CPRs) that it is not possible to obtain five quotations in which case a minimum of three quotations must be obtained or it is in the interests of the Council for its eTendering and sourcing portal not to be used in which case written quotations must be obtained.

5.  As time is of the essence for the Corporate Governance Improvement Programme, all organisations will be required to submit their quotations and CVs etc. within 7 working days of the requirement being sent out. Those which cannot meet this deadline may be rejected.

6. The quotations and CVs etc will be evaluated on relevance of skills, abilities and experience to the Corporate Governance Improvement Programme together with value for money and a recommendation will be made by the project team to the Chief Executive within 3 days of receiving the submissions for approval.

7.   Any exceptions to the above procedures will comply with CPR 21.1 ‘Exceptions to Procurement Procedure’ (a copy of which is annexed to this Appendix).  Examples of possible exceptions include where:

(a)  there is only one viable contractor;

(b)  the Council seeks the extension of an existing contract;

(c)  the procurement is required so urgently that it is not possible to invite tenders and the time likely to be taken to undertake the necessary procurement process would (in the opinion of the relevant Chief Officer) expose the Council to an unacceptable risk, challenge and/or reputational harm; and

(d)  where tenders have already been invited by a Local Government consortium or other public body.

8. In all cases, appointments of external support, with appropriate details – including costs and the reasons for decisions - will be recorded in writing by the commissioning officer and  reported to the next available Cabinet Committee meeting (and, if required by the CPRs, to Cabinet and/or Council).

    Appendix B – Annexe

Contract Procedure Rule 21

21.1  Exceptions to Procurement Procedure

21.1.1 The procurement of goods and/or services or works valued at £50,000 (excluding VAT) or more but less than any applicable thresholds under European Regulations (minus ten percent), may be made by Official Order in the following circumstances (but only after consultation with the Chief Executive (or his authorised representative) or in his absence the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management or the Director of Finance (or their authorised representatives):

(i)  Where there is only one viable contractor and there would be no genuine competition.

(ii)  Where the Council seeks to procure goods and/or services or works through the extension of an existing contract.

(iii)  Where the procurement is required so urgently that it is not possible to invite tenders and the time likely to be taken to undertake the necessary procurement process would (in the opinion of the Responsible Chief Officer) expose the Council to an unacceptable risk, challenge and/or reputational harm.

(iv)  Where tenders have already been invited by a Local Government consortium or other public body e.g. the Office of Government Commerce, in accordance with the procurement procedures of that organisation, being subject to the provisions of any European or UK procurement legislation.

(v)  Where in the opinion of the Cabinet or Pensions Committee (as applicable) it is in the Council’s interests to do so, a single tender may be invited from a contractor or negotiated with a contractor already engaged by the Council. The justification for this must be reported as soon as practicably possible to a meeting of Council.

(vi)  Where only one tender is received in the course of a tender exercise, in which case the Responsible Chief Officer shall, prior to accepting the tender, notify the Council’s Cabinet of this fact and, if the intention is to accept the tender, explain to Cabinet how the tender satisfies the Overriding Objective.

21.1.2 Where Rule 21.1.1 applies, the officer leading the procurement shall, in consultation with the Director of Finance (or his authorised representative) undertake an assessment of the procurement which shall include consideration of relevant options available, issues and factors; and must be satisfied that the award of the procurement represents value for money to the Council.

21.1.3 The assessment undertaken under Rule 21.1.2 above shall be writing and shall include details of the options, issues and factors taken into account, together with all information considered. The assessment and decision shall be reported to Cabinet or the Pensions Committee (as applicable).

21.1.4 Unless otherwise provided for under legislation, where less than three expressions of interest have been received (or where the number of expressions of interests received is below any prescribed legislative minimum) in relation to any procurement exercise for goods and/or services or works valued at the relevant financial threshold under European Regulations (minus ten percent), then the procurement exercise shall proceed in accordance with Rules 7.1 to 17.1, unless it is considered by the Responsible Chief Officer after having had regard to the Overriding Objective that it would not be in the interests of the Council to do so. The Responsible Chief Officer shall keep a written record his/her decision to proceed or abandon the procurement exercise and before implementing the decision shall provide a copy of those reasons to the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management and Director of Finance (or their authorised representatives).