Part A - Scope of contract procedure rules
1. Application of Contract Procedure Rules
- i) These rules apply to every contract for the supply of goods, materials or services or for the execution of works, so far as they are relevant to a contract of the type determined by Council, except as provided in (ii) below.
- ii) With the exception of (viii) overleaf, these rules do not apply to contracts with professional persons or contractors for the execution of works or the provision of services in which the professional knowledge and skill of these persons or contractors is of the primary importance, or where the contract is for the provision of a direct package of care and support for an individual child or vulnerable person.
- iii) No exemption from any of the rules shall be made otherwise than by direction of a Policy Committee or the Council or in any case of urgency, the Chief Officer after consultation with the Monitoring Officer. Requests for an exemption from the rules must be documented using the template available on the Council’s intranet. On completion of the template, a copy must be sent to the Corporate Procurement Team. The request will be checked for completeness and passed for review to:
- the Director of Legal, Governance and Human Resources or representative
- the Director of the Department requesting the exemption or representative and
- the Director of Finance, IT and Digital or representative the Commissioning Officer requesting the exemption
In the event that the exemption is requested on behalf of the Finance, IT and Digital Department, the request is to be reviewed by Chief Executive.
A record of any granted exemption from any of the provisions of these procedure rules shall be reported to the Finance and Corporate Affairs Committee on a quarterly basis and shall specify the case or urgency by which the exemption shall have been justified.
- iv) Any granted exemption to these Contract Procedure Rules shall remain valid for a maximum period of 12 months. Officers will not be able to rely upon the granted exemption beyond this point and a procurement process must be undertaken in accordance with these Contract Procedure Rules, wherever possible.
- v) For the purposes of any financial limit referred to in the rules, if the application of the rules to a particular contract cannot be identified until after opening of any tender / quotation, the value of the contract shall be as estimated by the Chief Officer.
- vi) Reference in these rules to any decision, authority or action of the Council, a Policy Committee or an Officer shall be deemed to include reference to a decision approval or action of the responsible body or Officer prior to as well as after the adoption of these rules.
- vii) The letting of any contract shall also comply with any legislation or regulations relevant to the contract, Health and Safety Regulations, the European Directive on public procurement and the Council’s Financial Regulations.
- viii) In respect of any contract to which, for whatever reason, the procedures set out in these rules do not apply, there shall be followed a procedure which:
- ensures a level of competition consistent with the nature and value of the contract
- is transparent and auditable
- provides value for money, and
- records the reasons for choosing the successful contractor