Procurement for Schools

 

Procurement accounts for a significant portion of schools’ budgets and from a national perspective involves billions of pounds of public money spent each year. 

 

Not all schools or trusts can employ a procurement expert, and so purchasing is often undertaken by someone who is wearing many hats. This is complex enough, but from October 24 the new Procurement Act 2023 kicks in which has important reforms for schools.

 

The aim of this training course is to give a clear understanding of procurement in schools including the a look at the implications of the new Procurement Act.

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Course Topics

 

Introduction to procurement.

 

General Principles for procurement – Value for Money, Public/social benefit, Modern slavery. Separation of duties. Conflicts of interest. Understanding your local procurement policies.

 

The Procurement Act 2023 – objectives, who applies to, exemptions – including VfM and Conflict of interest changes, Transparency & integrity,  Treating suppliers fairly and equally including duty to SMEs.   Register or suppliers & Central Digital Platform – single procurement system.

 

Understanding  Public Contract Regulations and thresholds.

Lower value purchases – catalogues, searches, quotes, choosing.

Medium value purchases – framework agreements & dynamic markets.

Higher value purchases – the business case, who to involve, writing specifications, whole life of contract, assessing the market, prior information notice, open v restricted, invitation to tender, assessing bids, awarding contracts – new mandatory contract award notices & exemptions. Get help Buying for Schools from DFE.  When / if to use Direct Awards – the new Procurement Act clauses.

 

Reports – spend analysis & comparison with budgets, category analysis and benchmarking,  whole-life  reporting.

 

Supply Chain resilience – three steps to optimal resilience – firefighting, integrating and streamlining operations, achieving structural resilience.

 

Contract management – contract management process, record keeping & retention, contract register & how to create one and keep it up to date.