1. What is Procurement?

What is Procurement?

Procurement is the process of buying goods, works and services. These can be purchased from third parties as well as from in-house providers.

Procurement however is stretched beyond the pure buying process. Procurement generally covers the whole cycle - from identifying the need to buy something, through to the end of a service and the disposal of an asset.

Shepway District Council has a Procurement Strategy, Contract Procedure Rules and Financial Regulations which all enforce the procedure for buying goods, works and services.

How we buy Goods and Services - an overview

Every year the Council spends a vast amount of money on a large variety of goods and services. The Council's Procurement Strategy is used to promote and further develop effective procurement across the whole organisation; the Council's Procurement Section co-ordinate and help facilitate all procurement activities.

We have to ensure that the money received from council tax payers is used in a controlled manner so that best value for money can be achieved. A large proportion of this money is committed to contracts.

As part of the Kent Buying Consortium (KBC), the Council participates with other Kent authorities in joint contracting. We also make use of the contracts awarded by other bodies, such as Office of Government Commerce (OGC), Kent Commercial Services (KCS) and Laser.

There are certain rules, regulations and laws that the Council must comply with when it comes to procurement. These include UK law, EU Directives and the Council's own rules.

These rules, and especially the EU Directives, emphasize the need for equal treatment of all potential suppliers, while ensuring that fair competition and arrangements are open and transparent to inspection. In cases where the procurement falls outside of EU limits, it is subject to Council's Contract Standing Orders, which, as with EU directives, ensure that competition is fair and non-discriminatory.