Expenditure over £500
We know that transparent expenditure of public money matters to members of the public and it matters to us too.
2020
2019
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2015
2014
Value for money
As a public sector body accountable to the public for the way in which we procure goods, services and works, the Police service is bound by stringent rules, regulations and codes of practice that determine how we go about demonstrating value for money (VfM) and best value for the public purse and as such we cannot just "choose" what we want to procure.
The rules we are bound by take two distinct paths - legislative and best practice.
The legislative requirements to which the police service must comply in relation to all their procurement related activities are vast but the principle ones are:
- the Principles of the Treaty of Rome (EU Treaty) which embodies the requirement to ensure fair, open and transparent treatment of suppliers to allow the free trade of goods and services through Europe and the World Trade Organisations;
- The EU procurement directive (and equivalent The UK Statutory Instrument) which dictates the rules that apply to procurement activities over a threshold value;
- Contract standing orders (which form part of the Force's internal rules under national legislation (Local Government Act).
The best practice recommendations that also govern our approach are many with the key ones being:
- the Byatt report recommendations that procurement professionals are integral to the delivery of best value within public bodies and so should be involved in all aspects of procurement for the OPCC and Force;
- the Gershon review in relation to the delivery of the efficiency agenda;
- National Audit Office reviews and guidelines;
- Internal accountability at each stage of the process through reporting to and ratification by the assistant chief officers/directors of finance responsible for regional purchasing;
- The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply code of conduct which dictates the code of conduct for MCIPS qualified procurement professionals undertaking procurement related activities.
In order to ensure compliance with these and other aspects we have chosen to undertake our procurement related activities through the South West Police Procurement Department (SWPPD) which is staffed by teams that include MCIPS qualified procurement professionals who advise upon, manage and facilitate their spend related activities. In doing so the SWPPD determine the best approach to the market and undertake fair and open tender processes that ensure whole life costing, and requirements management approaches are applied to determine the best value option for the force, taking account of the entire life cycle of the purchase.
As a result of this, all our activities are undertaken through either full market approach tender processes or mini-competitions run via compliant framework agreements from the Home Office, or other compliant bodies, in order to deliver best value to the public.
On an annual basis, the PCC and chief constable’s external auditors are required under Section 5 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 to satisfy themselves that proper arrangements are in place for securing economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the PCC and chief constable’s use of resources.