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Procurement Policy

Reference: P08-005
Status: Approved by the Council on 9 December 2008

Policy Objectives

The procurement policy objectives of the Council are to:

• Ensure purchases are made in an open, fair and transparent manner.
• Deliver best value over whole life through the most appropriate service provider.
• Ensure open and effective competition.
• Support environmental procurement and sustainability where feasible to do so.
• Appropriately manage risk.
• Promote efficient purchasing practices and their continuous improvement.
• Ensure the Council’s purchasing activities are in accordance with its legal responsibilities.

Policy Statements

To enable these objectives to be met the Council sets procurement policies as described in the following policy statements: 

Policy Statement 1: Procurement will only be made in accordance with budgets approved by the Council.

Policy Statement 2: Procurement will be made in an open, fair and transparent manner. 

Policy Statement 3:  Procurement will be based on value for money, taking into account the “whole of life” costs of goods or services.

Policy Statement 4: The methods used in procurement will be appropriate to the risks and benefits involved. 

Policy Statement 5: There shall be no specific preference given to local suppliers and manufacturers, however procurement packages will provide full and fair opportunity for local suppliers/ manufacturers to compete provided they have sufficient capacity and capability to do so.

Policy Statement 6: The Council has a commitment to sustainability and environmental protection. This will be pursued by promoting, where legally possible to do so, purchasing practices which conserve resources, save energy, minimise waste, and will protect the environment and human health whilst maintaining environmental safety and quality.

Next review 2016.
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