Partners in Procurement
Objectives
The objectives of Partners in Procurement are:
(a) identification of areas of synergy and collaborative
opportunity for the purpose of maximising members’ purchasing
influence achieving ‘process’ and ‘resource’ savings for
Authorities by dividing the responsibility for pre-contract
procurement activity for ‘common commodities’ achieving ‘process’
and ‘resource’ savings for suppliers by eliminating the requirement
to compete individually for each Authority’s ‘common’ business
(b) to seek convergence in e-procurement solutions which
will support the members’ efforts in :attracting suppliers to
sign-up to e-procurement achieving savings in commodity and
transaction cost accessing ‘spend’ data for usage and trend
analysis contract monitoring and management
(c) supporting the sub- regional economic and social
infrastructure by encouraging local supply solutions (where
possible, and in strict compliance with legislation and best value
principles) by: ensuring visibility of contract opportunities
through a single web portal working with stakeholder organisations
(such as the Regional Development Agency) to communicate a better
understanding of the way in which the Authorities do business and
increase the commercial viability of SME’s in contracting to public
sector organisations
(d) identifying and reviewing alternative procurement
opportunities which may complement the work of the Partnership
and/or deliver additional benefits to the member organisations,
such as:- The South West Procurement Federation other eligible
framework agreements, eg. Emergency Services or University
contracts
(e) raising the profile of procurement both internally and
in the wider community by: marketing collaborative procurement
initiatives and successes giving wide and transparent access to
partnership activities (eg. Chief Officers, cabinet members, the
community, the private sector) encouraging a broad range of
stakeholder and/or external expertise to take part in activities or
sub-group consultation (as appropriate)
Operations:
(i) Partners in Procurement will formally
meet on a quarterly basis
(ii) In the interests of expediency and progress,
the Partnership may appoint a sub-group or working party to
undertake research into particular initiatives and report back to
the main meeting. Any such sub-group will be formed from the
membership (or their appointed representative within their
Authority) and may also include other stakeholders or
internal/external expertise if appropriate
(iii) For each major activity the Partnership will
consider how best to engage a broader range of stakeholder to
ensure inclusiveness of requirements and range of expertise and
knowledge
(iv) The Partnership will work openly and
transparently. Agendas, minutes of meetings and working
papers will be retained electronically and may be viewed by any
member of any of the organisations forming the Partnership.
(v) Progress towards achieving objectives will be
reviewed annually and will inform the strategic plan for the
following year
Membership:
The membership will be drawn from procurement representatives of
the councils Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City, North
Somerset and South Gloucestershire., emergency services
organisations and any other sub-regional public sector bodies
wishing to be involved.
Each member organisation will be given the opportunity to host
meetings on a rotational basis. The Chair shall be the
representative of the hosting organisation.
