Procurement Policy

1. Statement of Policy

The purpose of this policy is to outline the principles by which Dyfed-Powys Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys (the Organisation) undertake their procurement activity. Procurement is the process whereby an organisation meets its needs for goods, services and works in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only for the organisation, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment.

Applies (but not limited) to: All categories of Dyfed-Powys Police officers and staff, whether full-time, part-time, permanent, fixed term, temporary (including agency staff, associates and contractors), seconded staff and volunteers. Police Officers, staff and volunteers accessing and using Force assets and property must have due regard to the contents of this policy.

 

2. Policy Scope

The following principles apply to procurement in Dyfed-Powys Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys:

Strategic

Procurement is recognised and managed as a strategic function that organises and understands expenditure, influencing early planning and service design and involved in decision making to support delivery of overarching objectives.

Professionally Resourced

Procurement expenditure is subject to an appropriate level of professional involvement and influence. Professionally qualified individuals are involved in all procurement expenditure exceeding the tender threshold (as stated in the Corporate Governance Framework). The procurement section provides advice to below threshold requirements when required.

Procurement staff are encouraged to maintain their professional development via the Development & Assessment Profile (DAP) process to ensure adequate skills are in place to carry out effective procurement and contract management.

Open, Accessible Competition

The Organisation advertises all contracts, not subject to a framework agreement and above the tender threshold, on www.sell2wales.gov.uk, Contracts Finder and Find a Tender (as required).

The Organisation publishes its forward contract programme for known future procurements.

The Organisation ensures that appropriate ‘lotting’ strategies are used to provide opportunities for smaller suppliers.

The Organisation uses the Single Procurement Document (SPD) approach for selection of bidders.

The Organisation encourages main contractors to use the ‘Tier 1’ facility on Sell2Wales to advertise supply chain opportunities where appropriate.

Simplified Standard Processes

The Organisation has open and transparent procurement processes and uses standard approaches and common systems where possible to minimise complexity, cost, timescales and requirements for suppliers.

The Organisation makes the best use of e-procurement tools such as Sell2Wales, SPD, e-tenderwales, Award and Welsh Purchasing Card. Details of contracts awarded are published on the Bluelight Procurement Database (www.blpd.gov.uk).

Equality

The Organisation considers its duty under the Equality Act 2010 when procuring goods, services or works. It gives due regard to the equality duty through all stages of the procurement cycle. The equality duty covers age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, race, gender reassignment, religion and faith, pregnancy and maternity.

It assesses the degree of relevance to its equality duty to the nature of the contract to be awarded.

The Organisation considers the requirements for the specification (including positive action measures); equality related contract conditions; equality requirements in the pre-qualification stage; tender award criteria and assessment of potential bidders’ track record on equality; and contract monitoring of the equalities aspects.

The Organisation only enters into contracts with suppliers that comply with equality legislation and for relevant contracts, expects its suppliers to understand the Organisation’s position on equality. Suppliers must be aware of the requirements placed upon them to adhere to the Organisation’s policies and to demonstrate that they are able to support the delivery of the Organisation’s equality objectives.

Welsh Language

The Organisation ensures that suppliers acting on its behalf give due regard to the needs of Welsh speakers, where relevant to the contract and in compliance with the Welsh Language Standards, having been approved by the National Assembly for Wales in accordance with section 150(2) of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

At the start of the procurement process, the Organisation considers the requirements for the specification; Welsh language related contract conditions; requirements in the pre-qualification stage; tender award criteria and assessment of potential bidders’ track record on Welsh language matters; and contract monitoring of the supply of goods and services in Welsh.

Social Value (Sustainability)

Value for money is considered as the optimum combination of whole-of-life costs in terms of not only generating efficiency savings and good quality outcomes for the Organisation, but also benefit to society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment.

The Organisation takes account of Social Value (Sustainability) priorities as part of its procurement activity. This includes adopting the principles of the BlueLight Commercial Responsible Procurement and Commissioning Strategy and embedding the Force’s decarbonisation ambitions in procurement procedures.

The Organisation has signed up to the Welsh Government’s Code for Ethical Employment in Supply Chains and this is a consideration in relevant tender exercises. We are a Real Living Wage accredited organisation.

Collaboration

Areas of common expenditure are addressed collectively using standardised approaches and specifications to reduce duplication, to get the best response from the market, to embed best practice, and to share resources and expertise.

The Organisation commits to participate in collaborative procurement initiatives for the benefit of the wider police service, the Welsh public sector and the Organisation itself.

The Organisation reports on engagement with collaborative procurement initiatives.

Supplier Engagement and Innovation

The Organisation engages in dialogue with its suppliers to obtain the best from the marketplace, to inform and educate suppliers, and to deliver optimum value for money.

A single point of contact for supply chain dialogue / feedback / queries is published on the Dyfed-Powys Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner’s websites.  

The Organisation ensures that de-briefing provides adequate tender feedback.

The Organisation uses outcome-based specifications where appropriate to encourage business innovation.

The Organisation ensures regular contract performance management reviews are conducted and use these to encourage two-way dialogue.

Measurement and Impact

The Organisation monitors procurement performance and outcomes to support continuous improvement. Examples of good and poor practice is openly shared.  

The Organisation monitors Suppliers performance with regard to contract performance and Social Value action plans which include Modern Slavery.

 

3.  Powers and Policy/Legal Requirements

Legislation and Corporate Governance

All public sector procurement in Wales and England is governed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.  The purpose of the Regulations is to make sure that public procurement is undertaken in an open, transparent and fair process.

The consequences of breaching the Regulations are serious. If grounds exist, a Court must render any contract which has been awarded ineffective and must impose a fine.  A Court may also shorten the contract, award damages to the aggrieved bidder and to the contractor who has lost out by having the contract taken away from them.

The ‘Lord Young’ reforms that have been introduced as part of the PCR2015 require all contracts with a value of £25k and above to be advertised on the UK Government portal called Contracts Finder. We also use the Welsh Government portal ‘Sell2Wales’ to advertise contract opportunities.  This has been introduced to make public sector contracts more accessible to small businesses.

The Procurement Act 2024 is due to be introduced into legislation in October 2024.  The current rules apply unless they conflict with current legislation.

The Organisation requires Suppliers as part of contract requirements to comply with all relevant areas of legislation.

Within the Organisation, the Commissioner’s Corporate Governance Framework details how procurement activity is to be undertaken.  The framework includes the delegation arrangements for award of contracts and standing orders relating to contracts which refer to the process to be adopted and any exceptions allowed. 

 

4.  Options and Contingencies

The Corporate Governance Framework details the levels of delegated authority relevant to procurement activity.  Section 4.3 Delegated Authority refers.

https://www.dyfedpowys-pcc.org.uk/media/10692/corporate-governance-framework-2021-22.docx

The Code of Ethics principles are integral to Procurement activities.

The Organisation acts and conducts business with its suppliers with honesty and integrity, and maintains consistency in all processes and actions.

The Forces’ Professional Standards Department discusses issues of integrity and risk with regard to suppliers to the Force with the Head of Procurement.

The Gifts and Hospitality Register is checked by the Head of Procurement to highlight any concerns regarding provision of gifts / hospitality by suppliers to the Organisation.

Declaration of Interest forms are completed and signed by each member of a tender evaluation panel.

The pre-qualification stage of a tender process requires potential bidders to declare any conflicts of interest. 

Officers and staff of the Organisation take ownership and are responsible for their actions and decisions relating to procurement matters. They must apply sound business judgement and be knowledgeable of and abide by all applicable laws and regulations to ensure responsible stewardship of public funds.

The Organisation is open, fair, impartial and non-discriminatory in its procurement processes and treats suppliers equitably, without discrimination and without imposing unnecessary constraints on the market.

The Organisation adopts a risk based, proportionate approach to procurement to ensure that contract opportunities are open to all, and smaller, local suppliers are not precluded from the winning contracts individually, as consortia or through roles within the supply chain.

• Courage - Supplier debriefs are a critical part of any tender exercise to ensure fairness and transparency throughout the tender process. Relevant awards are subject to scrutiny and approval be Chief Officer Group and Policing Board.
• Respect and Empathy - The procurement process allows for pre-market engagement with suppliers and also service users, their views can form an important part of determining requirements.
• Public Service - The procurement process ensures that value for money is achieved when spending public money.

 

5.  Take action and review

This policy will be reviewed bi-annually.

Procurement activity is reported in Strategic Finance & Business Support Group monthly and the Strategic Finance and Mid Term Finance Planning Board quarterly.  Any resulting actions are reported to the following meetings as necessary.

Procurement activity is governed by the Corporate Governance Framework.  The procurement section is reviewed annually to ensure it is updated with current procurement legislation and working practice.

Procurement is represented on Strategic Boards within Force Governance.

CODE OF ETHICS CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

This policy has been drafted in accordance with the Code of Ethics and has been reviewed on the basis of its content and the supporting evidence and it is deemed compliant with that Code and the principles underpinning it.

HUMAN RIGHTS ACT CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

This policy has been drafted in accordance with the Human Rights Act and has been reviewed on the basis of its content and the supporting evidence and it is deemed compliant with that Act and the principles underpinning it.

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010 sets out the protected characteristics that qualify for protection under the Act as follows: Age; Disability; Gender Reassignment; Marriage and Civil Partnership; Pregnancy and Maternity; Race; Religion or Belief; Sex; Sexual Orientation.

The public sector equality duty places a proactive legal requirement on public bodies to have regard, in the exercise of their functions, to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and any other conduct that is unlawful under the Act;
• advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;
• foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

The equality duty applies to all protected characteristics with the exception of Marriage and Civil Partnership, to which only the duty to have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination applies.

Carrying out an equality impact assessment involves systematically assessing the likely or actual effects of policies on people in respect of all the protected characteristics set out above. An equality impact assessment should be carried out on any policy that is relevant to the public sector equality duty. 

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT COMPLETED: April 2024