Regional Procurement Group - July 2012
As David advised, should the CMC be required to conduct an investigation into a particular procurement process then part of their initial review would include an assessment of the respective Council's procurement policy, as these differ from Council to Council.
He also advised that due to ever changing requirements policies require periodic review and updating to:
- reflect Councils current policies;
- comply with current legislation;
- simplify current policy which may be onerous;
- enable Council staff to deal with specific situations ie. emergency situations;
- provide Council staff with the flexibility to deal with goods and services currently available ie sole supplier.
The Committee actioned that through FNQROC each Council's Procurement Policy would be made available for a peer review and points of difference would be discussed at the next meeting with the aim of enhancing current policies if required.
Committee members also pooled information to evaluate potential procurement activities of Council's Works Departments against specific selection criteria.
The initial evaluation identified:
- similar procurement arrangements of goods and/or services;
- aligned contractual timeframes;
- where there was a combined regional spend of more than $1 million.
The committee further refined the evaluation process to identify those arrangements which had:
- common suppliers and/or
- where Councils were actively competing against each other for a service or supplier.
The Committee identified six arrangements which meet the selection criteria. The Committee also considered that due to the increasing volume of outsourcing of contractors that they would also nominate that a contract/project management collective arrangement be researched.
I presented this information to the FNQ Road Regional Technical Committee (FNQRRG TC) at its meeting on 25 May 2012. The FNQRRG TC agreed that four arrangements warranted further market research so an assessment of potential opportunities can be made. Two projects were prioritised where it was identified that Councils were competing against each other for the same service and were adjusting their work schedules to work in with the same supplier.
I would like to acknowledge the proactive approach and the additional effort of Council officers to date in identifying areas within Councils' current processes where there may opportunities for direct financial savings or other benefits to be gained.
Latest Minutes
- Meeting held on 4 May 2012, please contact Steven Cosatto for a copy.
Next Meeting Date
- Friday 14 September 2012, Cairns Regional Council (agenda will be posted here just prior).