Inverness College UHI Page 1 of 8 PROCUREMENT STRATEGY ST/CS/2011/001 Lead Officer (Post): Finance Officer Review date: April 2014 Department: Corporate Services Review Lead Officer (Post): Director of Corporate Services Category: Corporate Services Date published: 15 August 2011 Committee responsible for this strategy: Finance & General Purposes Date approved by Board of Management: 20 June 2011
Inverness College UHI Page 2 of 8 Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Overview 3 3. Objectives 4 4. Governance 6 5. Supplier Management 7 6. E-procurement 7 7. Contract Management 7 8. Corporate Social Responsibility 8 9. Implementation and Review 8
Inverness College UHI Page 3 of 8 1. Introduction The Procurement of services and goods is a key process within the College. The purpose of this document is to provide a which specifies the objectives and policies relating to the management, efficiency and effectiveness of procurement within Inverness College. The key objectives of the procurement function within the College are that goods and services: Are procured within the statutory and regulatory requirements for public bodies Are procured within the guidelines of the College Financial Regulations Are obtained at the best price Are of suitable quality Are delivered in the correct quantity to the correct location Are delivered on time and to the correct person Comply with the College s Sustainability Policy The is driven by the objectives contained within the College Strategic Plan, and also the Value for Money Policy and the College annual budget. The College also recognises the regulatory requirements for it to secure best value in its decision making processes. 2. Overview In March 2006 the Scottish Executive published a review of Public Procurement in Scotland (The McClelland Report). This report made 82 recommendations on how the efficiency of public sector procurement should be improved. One of these recommendations was to establish centres of expertise within each of the main public sectors (Local Government, Central Government, NHS and Universities and Colleges). The centre of expertise established for Universities and Colleges is called APUC (Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges). The primary role of APUC is to facilitate collaborative procurement in the FE and HE sectors with a view to achieving cost savings and efficiencies. The College became a member of APUC in 2008, and as such can utilise national and collaborative contracts negotiated by APUC on behalf of its members. In February 2010, the College completed its implementation of the PECOS E- procurement system, which is one of the key ways in which the College will continue to implement and develop its procurement strategy. The increasing use of this system is key to improving efficiency in ordering and moving towards a preferred supplier list of APUC approved suppliers, which in turn ensures that procurement objectives are met.
Inverness College UHI Page 4 of 8 The College also uses the Public Contracts portal. The portal was launched in August 2008, and is a vital tool in enabling the public sector to: Increase competition and support best value Provide free contract information to suppliers Support the public sector to achieve a more transparent tendering process and adhere to EU rules Build stronger communication links with buyers and suppliers Stimulate growth in Scotland The portal is the College preferred route for tendering and receiving quotations for all goods and services, and is administered by the Finance Officer. The incorporates and monitors Best Practice Indicators appropriate to the College, based on those recommended in the Scottish Government report from 2008: Best Practice Indicators for Public Procurement in Scotland. The cash savings identified in the BPI monitoring will be reported back through APUC to the Scottish Government. 3. Objectives The College has identified five key strategic objectives. Each of these are summarised below along with actions and related BPIs. These objectives enable the College to seek and ensure Best Value and Value for Money in relation to the procurement of goods and services. It is anticipated that the BPIs will be fully established and monitored from the financial year 2011/12 onwards. The BPI s will be reported to Senior Management annually. Objective 1: The College will maintain good governance structures and policies in relation to procurement activities. The College will adhere to the provisions of the Procurement Manual issued by APUC in all procurement processes. The College will maintain a which will be reviewed and updated on a periodic basis (usually on a 3 year basis). The College will, as necessary, maintain, review and update the Finance Manual which covers all day to day processes relating to procurement practices. The College will, as necessary, maintain, review and update the College Financial Regulations which provide high level guidance on financial and procurement practices. BPI: Procedures, Regulations and Strategy to be reviewed at least every three years.
Inverness College UHI Page 5 of 8 Objective 2: The College will utilise e-procurement to obtain best value and efficiencies. The College will continue to develop the use of PECOS adding identified high volume and high usage transaction suppliers. The College will continue to roll out requisitioner and refresher training. BPI: a) Percentage and total number of transactions that are e-transactions. b) Average process cost of a transaction (electronic versus paper). c) Cash savings arising from using e-transactions as opposed to paper. Objective 3: The College shall identify, monitor and mitigate risks arising from Procurement activities. The College shall keep abreast of the environment that it operates in, and any specific issues surrounding procurement. Any pertinent issues will be included on the College Risk Management Register. BPI: Risk analysis on College procurement activity to be performed at least once a year. Objective 4: The College will adhere to best practice on supplier management, supplier appraisal and procurement collaboration. The College will continue to monitor the contracts established by APUC and utilise these where possible. The College will adhere to the College Financial Regulations and APUC Procurement Manual when appraising suppliers. The College will ensure that all high volume transaction suppliers are on PECOS where possible. The College will ensure that suppliers used have high ethical standards and high commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. The College will continue to support local small and medium businesses and enterprises as part of its commitment to it s local community. The College will adhere to European Union Procurement Law in tendering procedures and contractor appointment.
Inverness College UHI Page 6 of 8 BPI: a) Percentage of procurement spend that is channelled through a collaborative (APUC) contract. b) Percentage of total transactions that are e-transactions. c) Number of contracts subject to European award legislation. d) Percentage of spend with small and medium enterprises. Objective 5: The College shall seek to monitor total spend, contractual spend and contractual performance. The College will aim to have all goods and services purchased through PECOS, APUC Collaborative agreements or under contract where possible. For all contracts awarded by the College, the College will monitor their performance on a regular basis. BPI: a) Total savings achieved year on year. b) Percentage of procurement spend that is channelled through a collaborative agreement. c) Percentage of spend with contracted suppliers. d) Percentage of contractual BPIs that show improvement since previous report. 4. Governance The College is committed to ensuring best practice in all aspects of corporate governance. In following the recommendations from the McClelland report, APUC has produced a best practice Sector Procurement Manual. This gives best practice guidance on all aspects of the procurement of goods and services. The College is committed to applying the guidance in this manual to all procurement activity it undertakes. The manual can be found Here The College Financial Procedures and the Finance Manual also provide guidance on procurement issues as well as the College Procurement Toolkit. These documents along with the cover the governance of College procurement.
Inverness College UHI Page 7 of 8 5. Supplier Management In the first instance the College will seek to utilise collaborative procurement contracts established by APUC. The College will rely on the recommendations of the APUC team in the supplier appraisal process. Where unable to utilise an APUC contract, or where there is none in place, a check should be made for either: another established partner arrangement : or set up a joint specification with any other involved partners within UHI If the College decision is to seek its own procurement route, all contracts will be advertised on the Public Contract Scotland Portal. Supplier appraisals will ensure that the College achieves its procurement aims in terms of obtaining value for money, and will ensure suppliers are evaluated in areas such as; financial stability, quality of services and/or goods and sustainability, environmental and ethical policies. The College will adhere to European Union legislation for the procurement of goods and services exceeding the specified limit published by the EU. 6. e-procurement The College has fully implemented the e-procurement system PECOS. It is anticipated once fully utilised PECOS will provide the College with significant savings in transactional costs and staff time. It also provides an opportunity to migrate expenditure to APUC negotiated contracts. The PECOS supplier base will be annually reviewed to identify areas of savings and potential areas for improvement. 7. Contract Management The College will aim to have all key spend on goods and services under contract, whether it is on collaborative APUC contracts or contracts awarded by the College following a tender process. This will ensure that the College is obtaining value for money. It also provides legally binding terms and conditions should any dispute arise. Contractual agreements also assist the College in budgeting. A list of current contracts awarded by the College along with those currently out to tender, can be found within the College Procurement Toolkit.
Inverness College UHI Page 8 of 8 8. Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is broadly described as a collection of related disciplines all of which combine to represent an organisation s overall ethos, personality and character. The banner of CSR covers a wide range of issues including: Environmental responsibility Human rights Equal opportunities Diversity Corporate governance Sustainability Ethics Biodiversity Community Involvement The College will demonstrate a clear commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility in all aspects of its operation. The College is a member of the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC), has a Sustainability Strategy and has also signed up to the Carbon Management Programme. The is committed to supporting the College in its CSR objectives and policies by; Ensuring when appraising or selecting suppliers that they too have CRS policies and commitments. Continuing to use local suppliers as and when appropriate. Procuring recyclable goods and green utilities and services where available. 9. Implementation and Review The College will seek to implement its through the actions as detailed in section 3. It will also update the strategy every three years and will monitor progress and performance on an annual basis.