FPOL18 Procurement by Provide Community

Procurement

Version: V3

Ratified by: Finance & Investment Committee

Date ratified: 03/04/2024

Job Title of author: Procurement Partner

Reviewed by Committee or Expert Group Audit Committee

Equality Impact Assessed by: Procurement Partner

1. Introduction

The purpose of the Procurement Policy is to ensure a consistent, efficient and best practice approach to Procurement across the organisation. An effective procurement and supply chain is a critical success factor in any organisation. To achieve this we will apply a consistent procurement process in selecting and using suppliers, so that we:

• Manage business and financial risk

• Derive maximum value from our spend, through appropriate procurement strategies and supplier selection criteria, such as low cost, technically acceptable or best overall value, whilst mitigating risks to business and customer objectives and meeting our customer service requirements

• Work with suppliers to maximise and deliver sustainable value to the Group and maintain the integrity of our procurement process and drive continuous improvements

• Reflect our ethical standards and code of conduct throughout our supply chain and ensure that sourcing initiatives are fair and ethical to both the Group and the participating suppliers

• Consider social and environmental factors that are important to the communities within which we operate

• We will be professional in all our dealings with suppliers and establish solid relationships where suppliers will want to do business with the Group again

The aims of the Policy are to:

• Ensure that all individuals involved in the procurement of goods, services and works have a clear understanding of their role and what is required of them;

• Ensure the outcomes, as detailed in the Procurement Strategy, are achieved

• Ensure that policies, systems and procedures are regularly reviewed to ensure they reflect business requirements.

2. Scope

This policy covers all procurement carried out by the organisation, namely the acquisition by purchase, lease or other legal means of the goods/works/services/resources required for the Group to function in an effective, efficient and economic manner.

There are two types of procurement

• Purchasing; and

• Strategic Procurement

Purchasing is the process supporting the day to day buying of goods and services that are needed to ensure the smooth running of the organisation.

Strategic procurement enables the delivery of specified requirements and takes into account legislative requirements, contract and supplier management, the Group strategic objectives and Procurement Strategy.

3. Definitions

Fraud is where any person who dishonestly makes a false representation to make a gain for himself or another or dishonestly fails to disclose to another person, information which he is under a legal duty to disclose, or commits fraud by abuse of position, including any offence as defined in the Fraud Act 2006.

Bribery is the giving or receiving a financial or other advantage in connection with the ‘improper performance’ of trust or a function that is expected to be performed impartially or in good faith. Where the Provide Group is engaged in commercial activity it could be considered guilty of a corporate bribery offence if an employee, agent, subsidiary or any other person acting on its behalf bribes another person intending to obtain or retain business or an advantage in the conduct of business for the Provide Group and it cannot demonstrate that it has adequate procedures in place to prevent such. The adequate procedures that the Provide Group is required to have in place to prevent bribery being committed on their behalf are performed by six principles – proportionate procedures, toplevel commitment, risk assessment, communication (including training), monitoring and review. The Provide Group does not tolerate any bribery on its behalf, even if this might result in a loss of business for it. Criminal liability must be prevented at all times.

4. Counter Fraud

If any member of staff has good reason to suspect a colleague, patient or other person of fraud, bribery and / or corruption, involving the Provide Group, they should report their genuine concerns to the LCFS or Chief Finance Officer immediately. The LCFS will then decide on the next course of action and advise the member of staff accordingly. All calls are dealt with in the strictest of confidence and callers may remain anonymous.

Suspicions of fraud, bribery or corruption should be reported to the Local Counter Fraud Specialists on 01473 945843, Provide Group Chief Finance Officer or NHS Fraud and Corruption Reporting Line via an online reporting form: http://www.reportnhsfraud.nhs.uk/ or telephone 0800 028 4060. Further details including email addresses for those responsible can be found on the Provide Intranet.

Individuals suspected of committing an offence of fraud, bribery or corruption may be subject to criminal and/or disciplinary investigation, which could result in criminal and/or disciplinary action being taken, including prosecution and/or dismissal. For more information, please refer to the Local Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy or to the Provide Counter Fraud intranet page https://www.providecommunityplatform.co.uk/Interact/Pages/Content/Document.aspx?id =2254&SearchId=530713.

5. Governance and Accountability

The Chief Finance Officer is the lead director for Procurement.

All procurement will be conducted in accordance with the Group delegated approval authorities and all employees will make themselves aware of and adhere to this with regard to any transactions they execute or propose.

6. People and Skills

Training guides and procedures will be provided where appropriate.

These resources will take into account legislation and Financial Regulations.

All written resources will be available, in the first instance, through the Group intranet site and further copies are available from the Procurement/Finance Department.

7. The Procurement Process

A consistent approach to the requisitioning process will be applied to optimise the value delivered from suppliers whilst improving procurement efficiencies, and minimising exposure to commercial risk.

All purchasing activity will be in accordance with the Group Delegated Approval Authorities and procurement requirements, including Group standard PO Terms and Conditions.

The group has standard payment terms as set out in the PO Terms and Conditions, it is expected that all employees and suppliers will honour them.

Requisitions will be raised only with appropriate approvals in place and prior to any commitment being made to the supplier.

Call off orders may be raised for a maximum period of 12 months.

The Group will apply responsible procurement to ensure the products, services, works and utilities it procures achieves value for money on a whole life basis whilst delivering tangible social, environmental and economic outcomes.

As part of the Purchase to Pay (P2P) process, we have developed our eProcurement system, which enables the Group to reduce costs, increase transaction speed and productivity.

Provide Group largely uses the NHS SBS finance system for all non-stock purchases and specific on-line purchasing portals for NHS Supply Chain items and stationery.

All requests for goods or services should be made via the organisation’s eProcurement system.

Items under £5K and not on a National or Local Contract should be supported by a minimum of two written quotations.

Items £5K to £50K and not on a National or Local Contract should be supported by a minimum of three written quotations.

Items over £50K and not on a National or Local Contract should follow a competitive tendering process.

Circumstances in which the above limits can be waivered are set out in the Standing Orders. The Chief Executive Officer or the Chief Finance Officer can approve waivers and the waivers must be reported to the Audit Committee.

All purchases for IM&T equipment and software must be placed via the IM&T Department to ensure compatibility with the Group infrastructure.

Invoices for goods/services will only be paid once Accounts Payable have applied the appropriate three-way matching. Three-way matching means the successful matching of the purchase order, goods received note (GRN) and invoice.

8. Supplier Selection

The general criteria for supplier selection will be lowest price from suppliers that meet the quality and service criteria specified in the Request for Quotation (RFQ) or other document used to request supplier bids. Alternative criteria such as ‘best value’ or ‘total cost of ownership’ may be used where appropriate and agreed in advance.

Group staff will not accept gratuities of any nature from suppliers that form part of any supply arrangement.

All staff working within the Group must conform to the Bribery Act 2010 and actively contribute to the prevention of bribery within the organisation.

Group staff will critically assess and declare any conflict of interest in any supply arrangement and remove themselves from any negotiations and subsequent purchasing decisions involving a supplier where a direct or indirect conflict of interest exists.

Relationships with suppliers will be based on fair and honest dealings.

Small firms, voluntary and community organisations, social enterprises and ethnic minority businesses etc. are considered valued members of the Group supply chain.

The Group will only enter into contracts which are fair and ethical and that do not compromise our competitive position or service and share appropriate risks.

Where possible, and in line with regional requirements, supplier contracts and purchases will be in accordance with the Group Standard Terms and Conditions of Contract. Exceptions are approved generally or specifically by the delegated approval authority.

Standard payment terms are 30 days, but can deviate from these terms by request to support service need or the valued supply chain members list above.

Due Diligence checks will be carried out by the Procurement Team in respect of all new suppliers, and those over the tender threshold to minimise risk and safeguard the organisation.

9. Collaboration

Collaboration provides an integrated approach to delivering procurement solutions and helps organisations to drive efficiencies, reduce risk and save money by buying together.

The key benefit of collaborative procurement is that it helps organisations leverage their combined purchasing power to deliver savings that would not be possible if they were purchasing alone.

10.Supplier Engagement and Management

Every attempt shall be made to ensure that small and medium sized enterprises are aware of any procurement opportunities.

11.Sustainable Procurement

All procurement activity will be carried out in line with the Group’s sustainability objectives. Whole life costing will be used whenever applicable as part of the price evaluation.

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

TEMPLATE: Stage 1: ‘Screening’

Name of project/policy/strategy (hereafter referred to as “initiative”):

Procurement

Provide a brief summary (bullet points) of the aims of the initiative and main activities:

Project/Policy Manager: Procurement Partner

Date: March 2024

This stage establishes whether a proposed initiative will have an impact from an equality perspective on any particular group of people or community – i.e. on the grounds of race (incl. religion/faith), gender (incl. sexual orientation), age, disability, or whether it is “equality neutral” (i.e. have no effect either positive or negative). In the case of gender, consider whether men and women are affected differently.

Q1. Who will benefit from this initiative? Is there likely to be a positive impact on specific groups/communities (whether or not they are the intended beneficiaries), and if so, how? Or is it clear at this stage that it will be equality “neutral”? i.e. will have no particular effect on any group.

Q2. Is there likely to be an adverse impact on one or more minority/under-represented or community groups as a result of this initiative? If so, who may be affected and why? Or is it clear at this stage that it will be equality “neutral”?

Q3. Is the impact of the initiative – whether positive or negative - significant enough to warrant a more detailed assessment (Stage 2 – see guidance)? If not, will there be monitoring and review to assess the impact over a period time? Briefly (bullet points) give reasons for your answer and any steps you are taking to address particular issues, including any consultation with staff or external groups/agencies.

Guidelines: Things to consider

Equality impact assessments at Provide take account of relevant equality legislation and include age, (i.e. young and old,); race and ethnicity, gender, disability, religion and faith, and sexual orientation.

The initiative may have a positive, negative or neutral impact, i.e. have no particular effect on the group/community.

Where a negative (i.e. adverse) impact is identified, it may be appropriate to make a more detailed EIA (see Stage 2), or, as important, take early action to redress this –e.g. by abandoning or modifying the initiative. NB: If the initiative contravenes equality legislation, it must be abandoned or modified.

Where an initiative has a positive impact on groups/community relations, the EIA should make this explicit, to enable the outcomes to be monitored over its lifespan. Where there is a positive impact on particular groups does this mean there could be an adverse impact on others, and if so can this be justified? - e.g. are there other existing or planned initiatives which redress this?

It may not be possible to provide detailed answers to some of these questions at the start of the initiative. The EIA may identify a lack of relevant data, and that datagathering is a specific action required to inform the initiative as it develops, and also to form part of a continuing evaluation and review process.

It is envisaged that it will be relatively rare for full impact assessments to be carried out at Provide. Usually, where there are particular problems identified in the screening stage, it is envisaged that the approach will be amended at this stage, and/or setting up a monitoring/evaluation system to review a policy’s impact over time.

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT TEMPLATE: Stage 2:

(To be used where the ‘screening phase has identified a substantial problem/concern)

This stage examines the initiative in more detail in order to obtain further information where required about its potential adverse or positive impact from an equality perspective. It will help inform whether any action needs to be taken and may form part of a continuing assessment framework as the initiative develops.

Q1. What data/information is there on the target beneficiary groups/communities? Are any of these groups under- or over-represented? Do they have access to the same resources? What are your sources of data and are there any gaps?

Q2. Is there a potential for this initiative to have a positive impact, such as tackling discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity and good community relations? If yes, how? Which are the main groups it will have an impact on?

Q3. Will the initiative have an adverse impact on any particular group or community/community relations? If yes, in what way? Will the impact be different for different groups – e.g. men and women?

Q4. Has there been consultation/is consultation planned with stakeholders/ beneficiaries/ staff who will be affected by the initiative? Summarise (bullet points) any important issues arising from the consultation.

Q5. Given your answers to the previous questions, how will your plans be revised to reduce/eliminate negative impact or enhance positive impact? Are there specific factors which need to be taken into account?

Q6. How will the initiative continue to be monitored and evaluated, including its impact on particular groups/ improving community relations? Where appropriate, identify any additional data that will be required.

Guidelines: Things to consider

An initiative may have a positive impact on some sectors of the community but leave others excluded or feeling they are excluded. Consideration should be given to how this can be tackled or minimised.

It is important to ensure that relevant groups/communities are identified who should be consulted. This may require taking positive action to engage with those groups who are traditionally less likely to respond to consultations, and could form a specific part of the initiative.

The consultation process should form a meaningful part of the initiative as it develops, and help inform any future action.

If the EIA shows an adverse impact, is this because it contravenes any equality legislation? If so, the initiative must be modified or abandoned. There may be another way to meet the objective(s) of the initiative.

Further information:

Useful Websites www.equalityhumanrights.com Website for new Equality agency www.employers-forum.co.uk – Employers forum on disability www.efa.org.uk – Employers forum on age © MDA 2007 EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT TEMPLATE: Stage One: ‘Screening’