Regional Procurement - September 2013

By: Regional Procurement Coordinator, Steven Cosatto...

FNQROC Procurement Meeting 

The quarterly Regional Procurement Meeting was held at Cairns Regional Council on 2 August 2013 with a presentation by Brendan Macrae, Director of the Queensland Audit Office (QAO).  The presentation provided advice on:

• QAO role and processes;

• What happens with internal audit results;

• Fraud findings within the Queensland Government public sector;

• Highlighting of areas of concern - "red flags";

• Probity audit options, should Councils require them.

It is positive to see a state body being proactive in regional Queensland.  These types of presentations contribute greatly to the professional expertise of our group, and the benefits to the members' respective Councils cannot be measured.

I would like to take this opportunity to officially welcome Lee Rodgers from Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council to the Procurement Group. This was Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council's first attendance and we hope they are able to continue being part of the group.

Sodium Hypochlorite and Liquid Alum

Both of these Water and Waste arrangements underwent their first contract review recently.  The treatment coordinators from participating member Councils reviewed supplier performance, internal audits, the centralised incident register, work place health and safety and identified areas for improvement.  It was agreed that suppliers were currently meeting or exceeding Council expectations and recommended the existing arrangements with both suppliers be extended.

Register of Pre-Qualified Suppliers - road construction and maintenance services

As mentioned in previous newsletters, the reseal Project Steering Committee (PSC) established a Register of Pre-qualified Suppliers. It is pleasing to note this arrangement is already being utilised by some Councils with early supplier responses providing better than expected results, and certainly vindicating the additional effort made by the PSC during the project.

Bitumen Reseals

The FNQ 003 bitumen reseal program (see photographs below) has now been in operation for almost a month, with CRC northern and TRC northern districts being the first Councils involved. I have already been encouraged by the level of cooperation and communication between Councils.