College Procurement
New College Lanarkshire is committed to obtaining value for money in all of its procurement activities and ensuring that the procurement of goods, services and works adheres to the College’s Procurement Strategy and Financial Regulations. The Procurement Strategy, endorsed by the Senior Management Team, sets out the procurement direction of the College.
College Procurement
The college is legally required to have and maintain a Procurement Strategy as part of the requirements for the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, which provides a national legislative framework for sustainable public procurement that supports Scotland’s economic growth through improved procurement practice.
The strategy is subject to ongoing development and shall evolve in line with sectorial and national procurement initiatives.
Procurement
Procurement is based within the Finance Department of New College Lanarkshire. Procurement is responsible for supporting the College in the following activities:
- Ensuring compliance with procurement legislation;
- Development Tendering Policies and Procedures;
- Increasing the College’s utilisation of collaborative agreements and contracted spend;
- Improving engagement with Suppliers including SMEs
Contact
If you have any questions regarding any element of Procurement within New College Lanarkshire, please direct your queries to the persons listed below.
Cheryl Spence | Procurement Manager | Tel: 0300 555 8080 Ext 4315
Janice McAulay | Assistant Principal Finance | Tel: 0300 555 8080 Ext 7211
New College Lanarkshire is a member of Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC) Ltd which is the Procurement Centre of Expertise. APUC Ltd works collaboratively with Universities and Colleges in setting up Framework Agreements on behalf of the higher and further education sectors in Scotland.
New College Lanarkshire where possible will utilise existing agreements competitively tendered through Scottish and UK Procurement Consortiums/Centres of Excellence. This includes access to Frameworks from the Scottish Public Sector Contracts, established by Scottish Procurement (Scottish Procurement and Commercial Directorate).
Where agreements are not available the College will follow the internal guidelines to procure via Competitive Tendering, compliant to the processes determined by the thresholds detailed in the following Tendering Policy.
New College Lanarkshire advertises all tenders above £50,000 through Public Contracts Scotland advertising portal. The advertising portal may also be used to smaller value requests for quotation.
New College Lanarkshire Contracts
New College Lanarkshire will publish details of all the contracts in place via the Hunter Contracts database, a link to which is provided below:
Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable Procurement is defined as ‘a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis and generates benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society, the economy and the environment’. New College Lanarkshire is committed to achieving sustainable procurement by:
- Committing to the Supplier’s Charter
- Considering Whole Life Costs of goods and services procured;
- Considering the environmental and social impact of goods and services in the tender process, process, communicating and promoting sustainability to all employees and ensuring that it is included in the tender process where appropriate;
- Ensuring Community Benefits are considered in all major works contracts.
- Ensuring all potential Contractors to sign up to the APUC Ltd Supply Chain Code of Conduct or have equivalent polices in place.
E-procurement
The College operates an electronic ordering system which directly interfaces with the College financial package TechOne. The service allows routine purchases to be processed electronically from requisition to payment. The College endeavours to ensure that all requisitions raised are electronic and that TechOne is used consistently across the College.
The College utilise Public Contracts Scotland – Tender online electronic Tendering system, for all requirements above £50,000 for services and goods and above £2,000,000 for works.
Contract Management
New College Lanarkshire have adopted Contract Management Processes across the supply base. Risk/Spend analysis is carried out to identify key contracts which the College will effectively managed.
Contract Management is necessary to:
- Ensure the objectives of the Contract are delivered;
- Ensure the goods/services/works provided comply fully with the requirements as detailed in the contract specification and terms and conditions;
- Ensure the roles and responsibilities of those involved in the process are clearly defined and understood;
- Ensure all anticipated benefits are achieved;
- Ensure accountability and effective control of budgets;
- Provide evidence of regular contract monitoring and audit trail of issued raised and resolved; and
- Ensure continuous improvement in terms of quality, cost, sustainability and service.