we will operate effective governance arrangements, with transparency around what decisions have been made and why
we will have strong internal processes to ensure procurements comply with our regulatory duties
we will manage the quality of our procurement practices through Quality Assurance, Gateways and Peer Reviews
Value for money
Specifications and contracting terms
we will use market knowledge when developing specifications and contractual obligations
we will identify outcomes that are important to Lincolnshire and ensure suppliers are held to account for delivering them
we will build payment mechanisms to encourage and reward good performance
we will introduce a set of light-touch terms and conditions for procurements of lower value
Category management
procurement resources will be allocated to the market areas or categories we rely on most, helping us improve our understanding of them
our key spending areas are:
Adult Care and Community Wellbeing
Children's Social Care
Education
Information Technology (IT)
Environmental Services (including waste)
Highways (incl. grounds maintenance)
Property Services (including construction)
Transport and Vehicles
Employment Services, Agency Workers and Consultancy
Supplier relationship management
we will identify strategic suppliers and engage with them to:
improve performance
reduce cost
mitigate risk
support innovation
share benefit as appropriate
the council will take a reasonable and collaborative approach to managing relationships with strategic suppliers
Contract management
our contracts will be regularly reviewed to monitor service delivery, compliance, transparency and actual versus planned spend
opportunities for additional value from specification and performance reviews will be assessed on an ongoing basis
any agreed contract changes will be recorded as part of a change control process
where suppliers are experiencing difficulty, we will do our best to support them to succeed
Partnerships, collaboration and relationship management
we will work collaboratively and develop relationships with other public sector organisations in Lincolnshire such as:
the NHS
schools
Lincolnshire Police
district councils
the Local Enterprise Partnership
the University of Lincoln
we will adopt a 'one Lincolnshire' approach to our contracts, seeking to ensure they complement related services contracted by public sector partners
we will contribute to regional and national working groups, sharing best practice and guidance for the benefit of the public sector
Efficient practices
we will use frameworks awarded by public buying organisations such as Crown Commercial Services and the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation where they meet our requirements
this will help us to benefit from the public sector's purchasing power whilst saving on time and resources
we will follow the council's Contract and Procurement Procedure Rules and use the exception process in those rules, particularly for Social Services
when appropriate, we will use tried and tested solutions rather than creating bespoke new ones
in routine contracts, we will use standard documents and contract terms for simplicity and speed
we will invest in skills development and build capacity so the council has a highly skilled and experienced procurement team
Social and community benefits
in our procurement, we will consider whether additional community benefits can be achieved without significantly increasing costs
we will look at how suppliers can provide opportunities to young people, including any in line with our Corporate Parenting Strategy
our specifications will have regard to the environment, especially energy efficiency, waste reduction and the use of natural resources
we will provide "always-on" digital tendering support for suppliers, giving SMEs the back-up they need to bid for our contracts
