Devon and Cornwall Police
The Procurement department has the responsibility for sourcing all goods and services required to support the operational activities of the Force. This includes estates procurement, ICT procurement and the appointment of consultants, as well as the more traditional police procurement activities such as uniform, stationery, furniture and cleaning services.
Our focus is on:-
- developing our role as custodians of all supply markets and producing sourcing strategies that integrate with demand strategies of the Force;
- maximising the value (over and above just competitive prices) we get from suppliers in supporting our requirements;
- engineering supply markets where needed to support new and emerging needs and to create a competitive supply position as well as fostering innovation;
- managing commercial risks from supply chains and the way in which we interact with suppliers;
- continually measuring and monitoring the performance, reliability and viability of key suppliers;
- support the operational Officers by engaging with end users and suppliers to ensure that the requirements are fully met.
The procurement department has introduced a number of tools available to them to ensure that, wherever possible, collaborative opportunities are fully explored and utilised. There are a number of national, regional and local framework arrangements and call-off contracts in place which are available to Devon and Cornwall Police.
We are members of the Devon Procurement Partnership where we explore collaborative opportunities with our local partners including all councils across Devon, University of Exeter, Met Office and Dartmoor National Park. Currently such a procurement partnership is not developed in Cornwall although we do liaise with Cornwall County Council and other district councils where collaborative opportunities may exist.
The Department is Responsible for:
- Preparing and administering Tenders
- Review and drafting Terms and Conditions
- Drafting contracts
- Management of the final contract
- Stock Control
We aim to procure equipment and services that support the Force and Front Line Policing:
- The department follows standard procedures to ensure the tender process is fair, equal and transparent
- We conduct market research
- We manage the procurement process
- We use existing commercial contracts where possible
- We provide Commercial and Legal Advice
Escalating Levels of Procurement
Informal Quotation - Up to £3,000 Goods and Services, Up to £10,000 Works
BCU and HQ Departments can conduct an informal quotation by:
- Providing specification to suppliers to a minimum of three suppliers
- Responses can be faxed back
- Make sure the official quotation form is used at it makes reference to Force Standard Terms and Conditions
Formal Quotation (Between £3,000 and £14,000)
Items/services that fall between these values must be passed to Contract and Procurement Services where a legal document will be produced
Formal Tender - Over £14,000 up to European Threshold
Items/services that fall between these values must be passed to Contract and Procurement Services where a legal document will be produced and the opportunity to bid for the work will be advertised. The Police Authority must open the responses.
Aggregation Rules
- Aggregation rules apply to the total value of spend on a specific item for the whole Force, not for each individual single BCU or Department.
EU Legislation
If the value of spend exceeds £140,000 then all public bodies must:
- advertise in OJEC before advertisement in UK
- comply with statutory timescales (can take 6 months)
- follow all EU procurement rules
Spend approximately £50 million