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That
–
 

(a)    
following consideration of the impact of the current
levels for tender exercises on the Council’s resources and
capacity and being potentially disproportionate to increased costs
for purchasing goods and services, an exemption for an interim
period be granted;

 

(b)    
the exemption will apply to all procurements with
the value of £50,000 to £100,000 to follow the
Council’s Request for Quotation Rules, as set out in the
Council’s Procurement Procedure Rules; and
 

(c) the exemption will remain until the Council
formally considers the revised Procurement Procedure Rules, which
are currently being drafted by the Essex Procurement Partnership,
in accordance with the Council’s adopted Procurement Strategy
and Collaboration Agreement. 
 

Reasons for the decision

The
reason to proceed with an exemption from the Council’s
Procurement Procedure Rules for procurements with a value of
£50,000 - £100,000 is to increase capacity within the
procurement function conducted by Essex Procurement Partnership and
to allow the Council’s resources to proceed with the Request
for Quote (RFQ) process.  The exemption
allows for the request for Quotation process and associated control
measures, established documentation and guidance to be utilised,
providing assurance to ensure the Council’s requirements to
demonstrate Value for Money are not compromised and to mitigate
risks associated with not following the Request for Quotation
process.
 
This
will allow for capacity and resource to be redirected as previously
detailed within the report.  This
exemption represents a pragmatic approach balancing associated
risks, enabling the Council and EPP to conduct a more robust and
detailed service.

Alternative options considered

The following
options were considered:
 

1.  
Continue with the Council’s current Procurement Procedure
Rules Request for Quotation value of procurements £10,00 -
£50,000, with the associated impacts to resource as detailed
within the report.

2.  
Continue with the Council’s current Procurement Procedure
Rules for Tenders of procurements with a value above £50,000,
with the associated impacts to resource as detailed within the
report.

3.  
Additional resource to the Essex Procurement Partnership, which is
not currently viable within associated budgets and would not
alleviate the same quantity of pressure as the recommendation
within the report would.