Part 5 – RULES OF PROCEDURE
PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE RULES
Issue Control
Version
Date
Description
1
August 2025
First draft in line with council and EPP
versions
2
December 2025
LH TDC review
3
February 2026
Response to comments with additional
drafting
4
March 2026
Clean version with flow chart
5
April 2026
Updated
waiver/exemption
detail
following comments from Karen Hayes
(TDC)
6
April 2026
LH TDC review for Cabinet Report
7
April 2026
Amendments approved through EPP
ready for Reports and Governance
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Introduction and Purpose of this Document
Following adoption of the Procurement Strategy, these Procurement Procedure Rules have
been created for the members of the Essex Procurement Partnership (‘EPP’). This is a
collaboration of a number of Councils who have one collective approach to undertaking
procurements on their behalf.
The Councils remain the Contracting Authority in all cases and the decision makers with
regards to procurement activity and contract management.
The Procurement Procedure Rules apply to each member of the Partnership, following
approval and adoption by the Councils, with the exception of Essex County Council whose
Procurement Policy closely mirrors these Procurement Procedure Rules.
These Rules apply to the procurement activity and do not contain all the Council’s Policies
and Procedures, which are set out elsewhere in the Constitution. Anyone referring to this
document should ensure that they understand the totality of the corporate governance
framework when commencing procurement and committing the Council. Procurement can
only take place where budgetary provision is available to fund the goods, works or services
required.
The Rules apply to the procurement of ALL goods, works or services. The approved electronic
ordering system will be used for all procurement, except where otherwise detailed within these
Procurement Procedure Rules.
This document sets out the dos and don’ts when spending the Council’s money on third party
goods, services and works.
Part 1 of this document details the rules applicable to all Council Officers and Members when
conducting procurement activity, Part 2 is specifically for the EPP.
The Procurement Procedure Rules (The Rules) form part of the Council’s Constitution so
apply to all Council Officers who should familiarise themselves with the content of this
document prior to commencing any procurement-based activity.
The EPP has a suite of process documents known as the “Procedures” which supports
delivery of these Procurement Procedure Rules, the Council’s Procurement Strategy and
Social Value Policy.
These Rules reflect the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) which sets out the
UK Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement and explains how contracting
authorities must support their delivery. The NPPS is a statutory requirement under section 13
of the Procurement Act 2023, the latest version came into effect on 24 February 2025.
These Rules mirror the NPPS in focus on the following key strategic priorities:
• Delivering Value for Money
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• Driving Economic Growth (includes strengthening supply chains by giving SMEs
and VCSEs a fair chance)
• Enhancing Social Value (includes working in partnership across organisational
boundaries)
• Supporting Net Zero and Environmental Goals
• Improving Supplier Access and Market Diversity
• Commercial Capability and Innovation (includes standards are in place for to
procure and manage contracts effectively and to collaborate with other authorities
to deliver best value)
Contracting Authorities (the Council) must consider the NPPS in all procurement decisions
and document how NPPS objectives influence their choices, and align processes with
growth, social value, and capability goals.
One of the main objectives of the Rules is to ensure that the Council’s tenders are carried
out in accordance with legislation which, for the purpose of this document is defined as
including the:
• Public Contract Regulations 2015
• the Procurement Act 2023 supported by the Procurement Regulations 2024
• Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012; and
• the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023.
In particular, applying the principles of value for money, public benefit, transparency,
integrity, fair treatment, consideration of SME, equal treatment and non-discrimination.
These principles apply to both procurements above the UK public procurement thresholds
and those below. The legislation and NPPS requirements will be kept under review and
these Rules may be amended under the Monitoring Officer’s delegated authority as set out
in Article 15 of the Council’s Constitution, following consultation with the Section 151 Officer
and relevant Portfolio Holder(s) responsible for the corporate procurement function and
governance responsibilities.
The Rules are designed to provide a framework of best practice for all procurement activities
which support the Council in achieving value for money and delivering the Council’s corporate
objectives. This document will clarify who should conduct the activity and the appropriate
methodology to be used.
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PART 1 - Who is this document for?
A. The Role of elected Members
The role of elected Members is based on their four-fold responsibility for policy shaping,
decision-making, governance and scrutiny. Their responsibilities are to be administered
in a manner consistent with the Constitution of the Council. The primary responsibilities
in relation to procurement are to:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
(viii)
Set the strategic direction of the Council’s Procurement Strategy.
Align procurement activity with the Council’s Budget and Corporate Vision/Plan,
priorities and objectives.
Members are decision makers for the activity being authorised.
Make decisions on awarding contracts in accordance with these Rules following
the procurement process and evaluation conducted by Officers.
Monitor and review the corporate performance of the procurement function via
the Cabinet Member/Portfolio Holder for Procurement.
Individual Portfolio Holder responsibility for Service Areas.
Scrutinise contract management and co-operate with any scrutiny relating to
procurement which relates to a particular portfolio of a Cabinet Member.
Audit Committee – Overseeing the effective development and monitoring of key
Council policies and internal control arrangements which includes the
procurement strategy and wider associated governance arrangements. This
extends to considering such arrangements and supporting any necessary
actions to ensure compliance with its own and other published standards and
controls.
B. The Role of Officers
(i)
(ii)
All Council Officers should familiarise themselves with the content of this
document prior to commencing any procurement-based activity.
Before undertaking any procurement, Departments should satisfy themselves
that:
• The works, goods or services are required and a need can be demonstrated
• There are no reasonable alternatives e.g. sharing or utilising spare
capacity/inventories elsewhere within the Council
• They are aware of the current statutory contract value thresholds in accordance
with the legislation (as amended) as shown on the Council’s Intranet.
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• Where relevant, they have considered the requirements of the Public Services
(Social Value) Act 2012 and have recorded/evidenced the outcomes against the
associated requirements:-
❖ how what is proposed to be procured might improve the economic, social and
environmental well-being of the relevant area
❖ how, in conducting the process of procurement, it might act with a view to
securing that improvement.
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
If you intend to engage an approved third party, such as a consultant, company,
or contracting agent to procure goods, services or works on behalf of the Council,
you must engage with the Council’s in-house procurement support or EPP first
and ensure that the third party is aware of and complies with the Rules and
requirement to declare any potential Conflicts of Interest.
Resources and capacity are required to undertake procurement activity in a timely
manner therefore, Service Areas need to engage early with procurement teams
to ensure the activity is captured on the Council’s procurement project pipeline so
that the necessary resources and support can be planned appropriately.
The Rules do not apply to:
(a) Contracts of employment.
(b) The acquisition, lease or disposal of buildings or land save where those
buildings or land form part of a development agreement.
(c) Non trade mandatory payments to third parties, including insurance claims,
pension payments and payments to public bodies.
(d) A declared emergency as determined by the Minister of the Crown.
(e) Awarding of grants – note grant expenditure may be subject to a tender
process and subsidy control requirements.
Council Officers should seek advice from the Council’s relevant directorate
responsible for the corporate procurement function/service if they are unsure
whether these Rules apply or not. For Tendring District Council, this is Law &
Governance.
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(vi)
(vii)
(viii)
(ix)
(x)
(xi)
(xii)
Any failure to comply with these Rules will be treated as a serious matter, which
may lead to disciplinary action in the case of an Officer or a complaint to be
investigated by the Monitoring Officer in the case of a Councillor.
Where an Officer becomes aware of a failure to comply with the Rules that cannot
be remedied after seeking advice from the relevant Procurement Specialist or if
an act of non-compliance gives rise to, or is likely to give rise to illegality, then the
matter must be notified to the Council’s Monitoring Officer at the earliest
opportunity.
Any questions relating to the application of Rules, or where further procurement
guidance and support is needed, should be directed to the EPP in the first instance
with support sought from Legal Services where required.
The Chief Finance Officer is responsible for ensuring the proper administration of
the Council’s financial affairs and integral to decisions on procurement activity
using Council funds, value for money considerations, the exemption process and
supporting the audit function.
The Senior Responsible Officer for procurement is required to ensure adherence
to these Rules by the Service Areas and procurement team, working with senior
colleagues across the Councils. Essex Procurement Partnership support the
Councils to ensure these Rules are known and embedded.
Senior Officers within each Council, with responsibility for Directorates,
Departments or Service Areas are responsible for ensuring those officers within
their Service Areas know the Rules, are competent in applying them to their
service requirements and are complied with.
A Service Area Officer should be appointed to each procurement activity with
ultimate responsibility for compliance with the Council’s Rules and Procedures,
delivery and risk management.
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(xiii)
(C)
All Officers must comply with the latest legislation which applies to public
procurement activity.
The Role of the Contracting Service Areas
(i)
In addition to the general responsibilities for all Officers, referred to above, the
primary responsibilities for any Officer within a Service Area wishing to externally
procure services and/or works, are to:
(a) Follow the Rules contained within this document.
(b) Ensure the budget is available and compliance with the Council’s Financial
Procedure Rules.
(c) Ensure skills and resources are available within the Service Area to specify the
service’s requirements, support relevant documentation, evaluations,
assessments and contract management etc.
(d) Ensure that the appropriate governance/decision making is in place to proceed
to tender and advice has been sought on the type of contract being used.
(e) Write a specification for the services to be commissioned – ensuring that the
specification does not favour any one supplier to ensure fair competition and to
cover the entire procurement & contractual requirement in order to negate
foreseen contract variation.
(f) Complete the necessary decision making to award contracts giving reasons
following an evaluation process.
(g) Ensure that contracts are managed in accordance with the guidance relevant
to value (see section entitled Contract Management) and that due diligence
checks are undertaken in relation to insurance requirements and up to date
policies throughout the life of the contract.
(ii) In line with Table 1, it is the Service Areas Responsibility to undertake RFQ’s up
to £50,000 for the life of the contract. The Officer within the Service Area should
ensure that any awarded Request for Quotations are notified to the EPP to be
logged onto the Council’s Contracts Register and the relevant notices are
published for any contract over £30,000 (excluding VAT) for the whole life of that
contract.
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D. The Role of the Essex Procurement Partnership
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
Essex Procurement Partnership (EPP) is a collaboration of Local Authorities in
Essex which has been formed with the aim to enable effective and professional
procurement, maximising the value for every pound spent by local authorities
across Essex to the benefit of local residents. EPP is made up of officers from
across the member Councils who, as one team, work as part of each council as
their procurement resource within that council’s own governance arrangements.
EPP is responsible for supporting the Council’s Contracting Service Area with the
procurement sourcing activity with a value of £50,000 (excluding VAT) or more over
the life of the contract on behalf of the Council (see section entitled Contract
Management).
EPP:
(a) Works alongside Service Areas to develop and implement strategies for major
projects and key areas of the Council’s third party spend, including business
cases and option appraisals.
(b) Provide support, advice and guidance to the Service Area to be able to initiate
a tender exercise.
(c) Provide support, advice and guidance to the relevant decision maker to
commence re-procurement of, or exit from, a contract.
(d) Undertakes market engagement and analysis of available markets,
(e) Supports Councils to develop suitability of frameworks.
(f) Manage the development of supplier markets in both the private and third
sector.
The responsibilities of EPP include:
(a) Consulting the Service Areas and subject matter experts to develop for
Member approval, implement and manage delivery of the Council’s
Procurement Strategy.
(b) Developing and maintaining the framework within which procurement activity
is conducted, including provision of:
o The Procurement Procedure Rules and Procedures.
o Guidance and templates to support procurement processes.
o Electronic tools to enable an efficient and transparent process.
o Supports the Council governance process for the award of contracts and
decision making.
o Measures and reporting processes.
o A procurement learning and development plan.
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o Create and maintain processes and documentation for self-service
activity.
o Ensure guidance and training for the wider organisation is available to
support service users and self-service delivery.
o Identification and production of future policies
o National benchmarking – analysis once published, identification of
training requirements and further actions to develop the EPP offering
(link to policy production above)
o Social value reporting
(c) Implementing sustainable approaches which support delivery of the
Council’s corporate objectives.
(d) Providing market intelligence to identify opportunities for collaboration
and to leverage supply market opportunities.
(e) Providing professional procurement expertise, support and advice to
Officers and Members to deliver value for money and compliance with
legislation, National Procurement Policy Statement and these Rules.
(f)
Leading sourcing processes as applicable detailed in Table 1.
(g) Supporting the Council to maintain its Corporate Contract Register for all
sourcing activity over £50k.
(h) Providing professional advice to non-procurement Officers within the
Councils.
(i)
Leading the development of markets.
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Spend Thresholds
When there is no alternative available and there is a requirement to spend money, the total contract value (exclusive of VAT below
threshold value) and extension options, where applicable, is used to determine the process to be followed (see below guidance on
total contract value). Tender activity should commence only where, following assessment, any applicable existing arrangements or
frameworks have expired, elapsed or are deemed to be unsuitable for the requirement.
Prior to selecting the sourcing activity, Officers must ensure that they have the required governance and approvals in place, the Table below
determines the route not the prior approval process.
All sourcing activity is assigned a classification in accordance with Table 1. This determines the correct process and establishes who
leads the procurement process. The spend threshold is the first factor considered but Officers will need to consider the complexity of the
requirement. If the requirement involves significant resources to implement, deliver, or manage for example, then spend alone may not be the
determining factor and advice should be sought from the EPP.
Where any requirement involves any of the specialised terms and conditions listed below, the value-based assignment of procurement approach
in Table 1 does not apply and the Procurement Specialist with the Head of Service will allocate a risk tier to the contract. Officers must not
undertake any activity on procurement for any of the following, without advice from EPP to ensure the correct considerations are given to how
to procure. Specialised terms and conditions include:
• Transfer of Staff (TUPE)
• Information Governance (Data Processing).
• Contracts where a supplier will be receiving payment from users of a service or works rather than, or as well as, the Council.
• Technology-related tenders.
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Value
Classification
Total value
including
any
extensions
Procurement
Method
How should I
approach the
market?
Should I
use
Electronic
Sourcing
Tool?
Who is
authorised to
carry out this
procurement?
Must the
contract be
formally
advertised?
What type of
contract is
required?
Who must
approve
the
contract
award
Who signs
the contract
on behalf of
the
Council?
Contract
Award
Notice
needed?
Very low value
£0 to
£10,000
(excluding
VAT)
Pcard (if
used); or
Raising of
Purchase
Order through
the Councils
recognised
ordering
system; or
Mandatory
Corporate
Contracts
At least one
written quote
with Value for
Money
evidenced (an
alternative
price is
preferable)
No
Any authorised
officer, within
Service Area
with budget
holder approval
No
As a minimum a
written
statement
(included within
PO) of what the
contract is for &
required to do to
ensure it is clear
what is being
purchased and
write down
requirements in
case of dispute
Budget
Holder or
someone
authorised
on their
behalf in
accordance
with
Financial
Procedure
Rules
If there is a
written
contract it
should be
signed in
accordance
with Article
14 [by or on
behalf of the
budget
holder]
No
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PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE RULES
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Value
Classification
Total value
including
any
extensions
Procurement
Method
How should I
approach the
market?
Should I use
Electronic
Sourcing
Tool?
Who is
authorised to
carry out this
procurement
?
Must the
contract be
formally
advertised?
What type of
contract is
required?
Who must
approve the
contract
award
Who signs
the contract
on behalf of
the Council?
Contract
Award
Notice
needed?
Low Value
£10,001 to
£49,999
(excluding
VAT)
Request for
Quotation
(RFQ)
Minimum of
three written
quotes
(preferably
invite five
people to
ensure that
three are
received).
Prioritise local
SMEs where
possible
No - RFQ
Template is
available on
EPP
Sharepoint
site
For 10,001 to
£49,999 - Any
authorised
officer within
Service Area
with budget
holder
approval
No
Standard
Council T&Cs
must be used
Head of
Service or
delegated
manager – In
line with the
financial
delegations
or Scheme of
Delegations
Written
contract it
should be
signed in
accordance
with Article 14
following
published
recorded
decision
[by or on
behalf of the
budget holder
PO sent out
with T&Cs
following
award.]
Yes
(send
RFQ form
to EPP
EPP will
enter into
the
system
and
publish
notice
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PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE RULES
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Value
Classification
Total value
including
any
extensions
Procurement
Method
How should I
approach the
market?
Should I use
Electronic
Sourcing
Tool?
Who is
authorised to
carry out this
procurement
?
Must the
contract be
formally
advertised?
What type of
contract is
required?
Who must
approve the
contract
award
Who signs
the contract
on behalf of
the Council?
Contract
Award
Notice
needed?
Low to
Medium Value
£50,000 to
£100,000
Request for
Quotation
(RFQ)
Minimum of
three written
quotes
(preferably
invite five
people to
ensure that
three are
received).
Prioritise local
SMEs where
possible
No - RFQ
Template is
available on
EPP
Sharepoint
site
For £50,000 to
£100,000 the
Service Area
is required to
consult the
relevant
Portfolio
Holder before
referring to
EPP.
No
Standard
Council T&Cs
must be used
Head of
Service or
delegated
manager – In
line with the
financial
delegations
or Scheme of
Delegations
Written
contract it
should be
signed in
accordance
with Article 14
following
published
recorded
decision
[by or on
behalf of the
budget holder
PO sent out
with T&Cs
following
award.
Part 5 – RULES OF PROCEDURE
PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE RULES
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Value
Classification
Total value
including
any
extensions
Procuremen
t Method
How should I
approach the
market?
Should I use
Electronic
Sourcing
Tool?
Who is
authorised to
carry out this
procurement
?
Must the
contract be
formally
advertised?
What type of
contract is
required?
Who must
approve the
contract
award
Who signs
the contract
on behalf of
the Council?
Contract
Award
Notice
needed?
Medium Value
£100,001
(excluding
VAT) to
relevant
Procurement
Act 2023
Threshold
(inclusive of
VAT)
Simplified
Tender
Process or
Enhanced
Request for
Quotation or
RFQ +
Tender or
Quotation
Giving regard
to SME
requirements
Yes EPP
Enhanced
Quotation –
No
Simplified
Tender
Process -
Yes
Council’s
Standard
Terms and
Conditions for
Medium Value
Contracts
Goods and
Services -
Budget
Holder/
Or
Authorised
Officer within
delegations
(general
scheme or
specific)
In accordance
with Article 14
following
published
recorded
decision
[in line with the
financial
scheme of
delegation]
Yes, as
required
by
legislation
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PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE RULES
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Value
Classification
Total value
including
any
extensions
Procuremen
t Method
How should I
approach the
market?
Should I use
Electronic
Sourcing
Tool?
Who is
authorised to
carry out this
procurement
?
Must the
contract be
formally
advertised?
What type of
contract is
required?
Who must
approve the
contract
award
Who signs
the contract
on behalf of
the Council?
Contract
Award
Notice
needed?
High Value
Over
Procurement
Act 2023
Threshold
(inclusive of
VAT)
Legislation
compliant
process
Tender
Giving regard
to SME
requirements
Yes EPP
Yes, as
required by
legislation
High Risk
T&Cs
Formal
governance
will
determine
approver
In accordance
with Article 14
following
published
recorded
decision
[Sealed as
deed via the
Council legal
team]
Yes, as
required
by
legislation
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PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE RULES
Contract Management
Notices
Contract Management is undertaken within each Council by Officers within the service area.
It is the service areas responsibility to undertake contract management and assess
performance of suppliers against Key Performance Indicators where they are contained within
the contract
It is the responsibility of the officers within the Service Area to advise EPP where;
• any contract changes have been made
• the contract has terminated, including where the contract has ended at the conclusion
of its term
• a dynamic market is opened to enable bidders to apply
• The contract is over £5m, with the responsibility to share performance annually on at
least three Key Performance Indicators.
this is to enable EPP to publish the required notices as required under the Procurement
Regulations 2024.
Due Diligence throughout Contract
It is the responsibility of the officers within the Service Area to check up to update insurance
cover, policies and consents required through the specification.
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Part 2 - The Rules for all Tenders and Request for Quotations
Procurement Process Flow Chart
1. General
1.1.
1.2.
All Officers must comply with the Council’s Code of Conduct when
undertaking a procurement process.
Directors and Managers must ensure that all their staff involved in the selection of
suppliers, award and management of contracts comply with the Council’s:
(a) Procurement Strategy,
(b) these Rules,
(c) Social Value Policy
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(d) the EPP Procurement Procedures, and
(e) decision making requirements,
in addition to the Council’s Budget and Policy requirements and legislation and
receive the appropriate procurement training to enable them to do so including,
training on Modern Day Slavery and the Prevent Duty.
1.3.
1.4.
1.5.
1.6.
1.7.
1.8.
All Officers shall ensure that all procurement activity is undertaken in accordance
with these Rules, Council’s policies and procedures and the Council’s Financial
Regulations.
All Officers conducting tenders must ensure that all activity is undertaken with the
aim of:
• Achieving the best value for money reasonably possible,
• maximising public benefit,
• acting in a transparent way and with integrity,
• treating suppliers fairly
• giving appropriate consideration as to how to make opportunities attractive to
small and medium sized enterprises and how to remove barriers to SME’s in
bidding for these opportunities
• Considering how social value can be maximised through the contract
The approved electronic ordering system will be used for all procurement,
except where otherwise detailed within these Procurement Procedure Rules.
The electronic sourcing tool must be used to conduct all competitive tender
processes over £100,000.
Where a contract has a value of over £10,000
(a) Officers must record and keep a record of prices obtained and of the decision
taken.
(b) Officers must send Request for Quotation (RFQ) award notification forms to
EPP via the form on the EPP Sharepoint site which can be accessed via the
Procurement pages on the Council’s intranet site. This process to be
followed so that EPP have sight of the end information in order to be able to
publish under the requirements of the Act.
Contracts must be in writing; oral contracts are not allowed, and all contracts must
clearly specify what the contractor is required to do.
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1.9.
No contract may provide for money to be paid to a third party on terms which require
money to be held by the third party and then paid out on the Council’s instructions
unless there is a clear justification for this action agreed by the Section 151 officer,
a clear purpose for the spending and a transparent process for releasing funds. Use
of subcontractors is permitted as set out in the terms and conditions but must be in
accordance with the quotation or tender documentation.
1.10. When buying services that involve the contractor in some form of processing
personal information on behalf of the council, Officers must seek guidance from the
Council’s Information Governance Officer
1.11. Budget holders must ensure that they are properly trained to undertake tender
activities and that anyone else undertaking such activities on their behalf are trained.
1.12. Officers must ensure that all procurement activity is based upon business needs
which must be carefully specified in any procurement documents. Officers should
be mindful that inaccurate specifications may lead to a contractor not being required
to meet the Council’s needs or a misunderstanding or confusion amongst potential
bidders, or a tender which is not priced to reflect the council’s actual requirements.
1.13. In addition to the general principles in paragraph 1.4 Officers must ensure that:
1.13.1. Requirements are specified based on the desired outcome rather than
how the outcome is to be met, thereby encouraging flexibility and
innovation wherever possible.
1.13.2. appropriate records are kept so that the reasons for decisions can be
evidenced.
1.13.3. Ensure that Conflicts of Interest are declared using the Declaration of
Interest forms and no one may take part in a procurement if they have
an identified conflict of interests unless they have the prior written
permission of the monitoring officer and comply with any conditions
attached to that permission.
1.14. All procurement activities undertaken by the Council must be properly
authorised in accordance with Council’s Constitution.
1.15. Suppliers invited to respond to an invitation to submit a bid must be given an
adequate period in which to prepare and submit a compliant tender, consistent
with the complexity and urgency of the Council’s requirement.
1.16. Officers must ensure that all notices required by law are published in line with
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procurement legislation.
2.
2.1.
2.2.
2.3.
3.
3.1.
Total Contract Value
The total contract value must be used to determine the appropriate spend
threshold and sourcing activity process, as classified in accordance with Table
1. Spend cannot be disaggregated to artificially lower the contract value. The
total contract value must be calculated as the total of:
2.1.1. The total anticipated spend under the contract over the entire contract
period, assuming that any contractual extension is exercised which the
Council pays AND
2.1.2. The total value of all similar contracts which could reasonably have been
tendered together with the proposed requirement. Contracts must not
be split or shortened to artificially reduce the value of individual contracts
AND
2.1.3. The estimated value of all contracts where a single requirement for work
of the same or a similar kind involves more than one contract.
Where the value of the quotes or tenders received exceeds the threshold in
Table 1 above for the process used the contract may not be awarded unless
(a) it is lawful and (b) in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer and
Monitoring Officer.
The contract documentation must be appropriate to the type of contract being
procured, its value, the Council’s standard terms and conditions or those
agreed with Legal Services and signed or executed for completion in
accordance with Article 14 of the Council’s Constitution.
Framework or Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)
Where
(a) The Council has established a framework agreement, dynamic purchasing
system (DPS) or dynamic market, or
(b) there is another such arrangement which is available for the Council to use
and
(i)
Officers have satisfied themselves that the Framework created by
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other organisations are appropriate and lawful (taking advice where
necessary);
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
which and meets the business requirements in terms of the
suppliers on the framework and the prices quoted; and
it has been procured in a way which complies with the relevant
procurement legislation; and
the Service Area has taken into account the terms and conditions
of the Framework Agreement, The Council’s compliance
requirements including the Call-Off Agreement.
due diligence of the Framework or DPS will not routinely be
conducted by the Council’s Finance Department, and only upon
exception where concerns are raised.
this should normally be considered as the preferred route to market for all
spend over £100,000 (excluding VAT). Nothing in this rule requires the Council
to use a framework of doubtful legality.
3.2.
3.3.
4.
4.1.
Where an Officer wishes to use a framework agreement, DPS or Dynamic
Market which has been set up by another organisation they must check that
the Council is permitted to use the framework. Advice about the use of
framework agreement, DPS or Dynamic Market should be sought from EPP.
EPP and the relevant Service Area will discuss the benefits of framework call
off vs open tender. Following advice, the final decision on which route to take
will be recorded as the procurement approach for that procurement, alongside
advice given.
Direct Award
Direct awards can only be made where:
4.1.1. The value falls below £10,000 (excluding VAT), or
4.1.2. A Framework Agreement allows for this procedure and the Council’s
relevant Officer, agrees that there is justification to not compete, or
4.1.3. The goods or services are procured from an in-house team, or
4.1.4. For the engagement of Counsel by the Corporate Director – Law and
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Governance, or
4.1.5. Where a partnership arrangement has been entered into with a
contractor or a supplier as a result of competitive tendering, and the
proposed procurement is within or related to the documented scope of
that partnership arrangement. In such cases the Corporate
Director/Head of Department must be able to demonstrate that the
proposed procurement through such a partnership arrangement is
advantageous to the Council (e.g. continuity of service or product supply
or extension of existing arrangements).
4.1.6. It is lawful to award the contract in this way, legal advice has been sought
and a waiver has been granted with the necessary decision being
recorded.
4.1.7. The Council is under a non-discriminatory obligation when making direct
awards above or below Procurement Act 2023 threshold and compliance
must be demonstrated.
4.2.
Where a direct award is permissible, a transparency notice must be published
before a contract is directly awarded if the contract is valued above the
procurement legislation threshold.
4.3. Direct award exemptions are available for extreme circumstances or in a
matter of urgency as determined by the appropriate Corporate Director
following consultation with the responsible Portfolio Holder or Leader of the
Council, Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer, with the necessary
decision being recorded.
5.
5.1
5.2
Concession Contracts
A concession contract is an agreement in which a public authority grants a private
operator the right to deliver and manage a service or asset, allowing the operator to
earn revenue—often from users—in return for investing in, operating, and
maintaining that service or asset.
Where a service is seeking a Concession Contract, Officers must seek advice from
EPP.
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6.
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
7.
7.1.
7.2.
Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable procurement is the practice of acquiring goods, services, and works in a
way that delivers value for money while minimising environmental impact, supporting
social wellbeing, and promoting long-term economic sustainability.
Tenders must be designed having regard to the needs of Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs).
Template documents and processes must be drafted to be kept as simple as possible
to ensure SMEs are not disadvantaged.
When using the Request for Quotation process, or directing below-regulation spend,
focus must be given to targeting local SMEs.
When agreeing the award criteria for a contract valued over £100,000, Social Value
must be included for all tenders, up to 20% weighting, in line with the Social Value
Policy adopted by the EPP Councils except where an exemption has been approved
by the Strategic Officer Group Authority Representative.
An Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) must also be completed for any requirement
classified as Medium or High Value.
Business Continuity Planning must be considered for all tenders valued High (over
the legislation threshold) or where the service is identified as critical to the Council or
as determined through the Council’s Risk Management.
Collaborative Working/Partnerships
Where the Council is collaborating with another body which is acting as the
procurement lead organisation, other than ECC as the Accountable Body of EPP,
the Officer must ensure that the Council does not enter into any arrangements
unless satisfied that the Council will achieve value for money and be capable
of maintaining proper control that is consistent with the Council’s Procurement
Procedure Rules and Procedures.
Officers must seek financial and legal advice before proceeding with
collaboration with another body.
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8.
8.1
8.2
9.
9.1.
Local Authority and Other Delivery Vehicles
Any partnership arrangement which involves the creation of or participation in
separate legal entities such as joint ventures, trusts or limited companies
requires the prior agreement at Cabinet to ensure all of the necessary
governance arrangements have been considered, various options taken into
account and reasons for the decision are properly set out and recorded.
No agreement may be entered into if it means that the Council will act as
guarantor for a third party or accountable body unless the prior written agreement
of the Director of Finance has been obtained following legal and financial advice.
Any such agreement must also comply with the Council’s Financial Regulations.
TUPE
If there is any doubt as to whether a procurement exercise might be impacted
by TUPE, the Officer must always seek advice from Legal Services and EPP.
10. IR35
10.1. Before purchasing consultancy or the services of interim staff who work
through their own intermediary, officers must undertake appropriate checks as
to whether off-payroll working rules (IR35) apply. Officers can check if the off
payroll working rules apply using the Check employment status for tax service
website.
10.2. Consultancy arrangements are contracts for services and the normal values
and thresholds apply.
11.
Negotiation
11.1. Officers must not conduct post-tender negotiations without the prior agreement
of the EPP. Only undertaken where it is lawful to do so relating to the
procurement route taken and the contract terms & conditions (if awarded).
11.2. Notwithstanding 11.1, Officers may, as part of the tender, seek and receive
clarifications from bidders or submit clarifications to all bidders involved. The
clarification process during a tender is a means by which both bidders and
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Officers are able to seek further information, either in respect to the content of
a tender or in relation to a bid that has been received, e.g. something in the
specification, pricing model, an element of response is missing or the bidder
has forgotten to provide an additional document referenced in their response.
12. Evaluation and Award Process
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5
12.6
12.7
12.8
12.9
All procurement exercises must follow a fair, transparent, and non
discriminatory process. Evaluation must be based solely on the Published
Evaluation Criteria and applied consistently to all bidders.
The Evaluation Criteria is developed by the Service Area with support from
EPP.
For Low Value procurements one evaluator from the Service Area will assess
the returned RFQ documentation –
For Low to Medium Value, if the price is the sole criteria for selection, one
evaluator can assess the returned RFQ documentation, should non-financial
criteria be included, a second evaluator is required.
For Medium Value and above procurements, the Service Area will allocate at
least three evaluators (the Panel).
The Service Area will agree suitable Evaluators who must evaluate in line with
the Published Evaluation Criteria using objective, proportionate criteria with
clear weightings. Evaluators will score independently before consensus.
In evaluating Quality evaluators will assess methodology, experience and
social value at a minimum. Scoring will be against the Council’s scoring matrix
with full justification given by evaluators for each score against this matrix
In evaluating Social Value, EPP with the Service Area will evaluated using the
Themes and Outcome Measures in line with the Social Value Policy, with this
score included as part of the quality evaluation
In evaluating Price, a transparent price evaluation must be applied via lowest
price, total cost of ownership, or scoring formula agreed by the Service Area
ahead of the tender or RFQ. EPP will check accuracy and compliance with
the pricing criteria set out in the tender.
12.10 In undertaking the Moderation and Consensus of Medium Value procurements
and above. All evaluators will review individual scores and the
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rationale for those scores with those discussions resulting in an agreed
consensus score. Full notes and rationale for the final agreed score must be
kept for a full audit trail. Average scores cannot be used.
12.11 Using the scores from the moderation and consensus session alongside Price
and Social Value, EPP will determine in a robust and transparent way the Most
Advantageous Tender. Award will be to the highest combined Price and
Quality (including Social Value) score.
12.12 Following the identification of the Most Advantageous Tender, necessary due
diligence checks will be undertaken by EPP with support which may include
financial vetting (undertaken by the Finance team of the Council), reference
checks and the verification of legal or accreditation requirements according to
the requirements of the procurement.
12.13 The Service Area, with support from EPP, will produce the Award Decision
Report and gain any necessary governance approvals. EPP will, on
agreement with the Service Area, notify bidders and issue standstill letters
where applicable.
12.14 EPP will finalise the contract (together with Legal Services) after standstill
where required, notify bidders and issue standstill letters where applicable.
12.15 EPP with the Service Area must maintain a full audit trail including scores,
clarifications, decisions and communications
13. Contract Variations
13.1. No contract may be varied unless it is lawful to do so. Advice from Legal
Services and EPP should be sought before amending or agreeing to amend
any contract which value is low to medium, medium, high or very high-value,
as there are legal requirements and financial considerations for contract
variations.
14. Purchase Orders
14.1. Unless specifically agreed by the Section 151 Officer, all contract spend,
unless using one of the other specified options for Very Low Value (see Table
1), must be confirmed via a Purchase Order using the Council’s approved
official ordering system.
Where a requisition is raised, the details of or copies of the applicable contract
(and any Procurement Waiver) must be sent with the requisition
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15. Terms and Conditions
15.1. For all tender processes, the terms and conditions of contract must be
available as part of the tender documents when the requirement is published.
16. Waivers/exemptions -
16.1. Officers may be exempt from the need to obtain competitive quotations/prices
as set out in these Rules by following the Procurement Waiver process.
16.2. Advice from EPP and the Council’s Legal Service must be sought with
sufficient time to allow these Rules to be applied to any procurement activity,
before a waiver decision is taken by the relevant decision maker. Failing to
programme procurement activity in accordance with the Council’s
arrangements, capacity and resources is not a reason to seek a procurement
waiver/exemption.
16.3. A Procurement Waiver/Exemption should be sought and completed in line with
the Waiver/ Exemption process in place within the Council.
16.4. Any Procurement Waiver/ Exemption should demonstrate how value for
money is being achieved. A Waiver/Exemption will not be granted unless
Value for Money is demonstrated.
16.5. The following Table describes the approval levels required for waivers:
TDC Estimated total
value of contract (aligning
with Spend Thresholds in
Table 1)
TDC Approval needed
Very Low Value
(£0 to £10,000)
Approval of the relevant Corporate Director in
consultation with the Chief Financial Officer
(Section 151 Officer). Procuring Service Area must
produce and publish an Officer Decision to record
this.
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Low Value
(£10,001 to
£50,000)
Approval by Chief Financial Officer (Section 151 Officer) in
consultation with the Corporate Finance and Governance
Portfolio Holder. Procuring Service Area must produce and
publish an Officer Decision to record this.
Low to Medium
Value
(£50,001 to
£100,000)
Approval of the CFO in consultation with Portfolio Holder(s) for
Corporate Finance and Governance and Corporate
Procurement and Monitoring Officer. Procuring Service Area
must produce and publish an Officer Decision to record this.
Medium Value
(below
threshold)
£100,001 to
relevant
Procurement
Act 2023
threshold
Portfolio Holder(s) for Corporate Finance and Governance and
Corporate Procurement following consultation with the Chief
Financial Officer (Section 151 Officer) and Monitoring Officer.
Procuring Service Area must produce and publish an
Executive Decision to record this.
High Value
(above
threshold)
Over relevant
Procurement Act
2023 threshold
Approval by Cabinet with detailed report prepared by the
Procuring Service Area with necessary advice included,
specific focus on exemptions with the legislation being relied
upon and why.
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16.6. The waiver process and/or any other applicable governance must be
successfully completed prior to an order being placed or contract being entered
into with a supplier.
16.7. Where a waiver is granted, the procurement may go ahead without complying
with the specific rule for which a waiver is granted but no contract may be
entered into without the requirements being clearly specified.
16.8. All Waivers are required to be registered and reported to the Council’s Audit
Committee.
17. Contract Management
17.1. Contracts must manage the contract in accordance with the guidance provided
by EPP.
Part 2 - Rules for the EPP
These rules are for EPP. Certain procurement activities must only be performed by
Procurement Officers with the appropriate level of experience and who are authorised to do
so.
18. Defining the Need
18.1. Prior to commencing a tender, unless already approved through formal
decisions, Procurement Officers will ensure there is an appropriate critical
friend challenge to the Council’s requirements to ensure that such
requirements are actually required and consider whether alternative methods
of meeting these needs could be utilised including where appropriate,
mandated contracts (listed on the Intranet), recycling or re-use of existing
resources.
19. Types of Contract
19.1 Ensure the Service Area or EPP directly engages with the Council’s Legal
Services (or as authorised by the Council’s Monitoring Officer) to ensure that the
appropriate type of contract documentation has been discussed and agreed upon
for the type of services or works to be procured.
19.2 The necessary Contract Data has been complied by the Service Area in
consultation with Legal Services prior to advertising or publication of notices.
19.3 The Council’s approved Standard Contract and its terms and conditions
must not be varied without prior approval, following justification being
provided to Legal Services.
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19.4 Framework Agreements, Call-Off contracts and use of any industry
specific terms and conditions advice must be sought from the Council’s
Legal team to avoid the Council being exposed to unnecessary risk.
19.5 Where a contract contains a mix of supplies, works and/or services the following
must be applied:
19.5.1 Where a contract covers both services and supplies, the classification must
be determined by the respective values of the two elements.
19.5.2 Where a contract covers works/supplies or works/services, it must be
classified according to its predominant purpose.
19.5.3 Where a contract provides for the supply of equipment and an operator it
must be regarded as a services contract.
19.5.4 Contracts for software must be considered to be for supplies unless the
majority of the value of the contract is the cost of configuring the system or
tailoring the software to the purchaser’s specification, in which case they are
services.
20. E-Sourcing Tool
20.1. Where the E-Sender tool is used, all communication between the Council and
bidders must be conducted through the tool.
20.2. In exceptional circumstances where the E-Sender tool is not used or where
another procurement authority’s E-Sender tool is used, a record of all
communications and decisions with detailed rationale must be recorded for
audit purposes and to demonstrate proper conduct in accordance with the
regulations and Procurement Policy and Procedures.
General Principles Across all Medium and High- Value Risk Tenders
21.
21.1
Pre Market Engagement
Pre-Market Engagement is the process through which the Council interacts with the
market before formally beginning a procurement, enabling Officers to understand
current industry capabilities, market conditions, innovation opportunities, and
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potential delivery models. It supports the development of well-informed specifications
and evaluation criteria, helping to ensure that procurement routes are proportionate,
competitive, and attractive to suppliers—particularly SMEs and voluntary sector
organisations.
21.2
21.2
Before undertaking Pre Market Engagement, Officers with the support of EPP must
ensure the requirements to undertake the procedure are fulfilled, for example, a
Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is published on the Central Digital Platform.
In undertaking this Officers should ensure the Pre-Market Engagement is open,
transparent, and non-discriminatory, offering equal access to information for all
potential bidders and avoiding any activity that could distort competition or provide an
unfair advantage.
22. Advertising
22.1. All Medium and High Value classified tenders must be appropriately advertised
(including Light Touch Services), in line with the relevant legislation.
22.2. The Central Digital Platform must be used to advertise all tenders with a total
contract value in excess of £100,000 (excluding VAT). This is through a
Tender Notice. Where the RFQ+ process is used, the requirement does not
need to be advertised.
22.3. The Central Digital Platform must also be used to advertise the outcome of any
procurement over £30,000 (inclusive of VAT).
22.4. Where required, High Value contracts must be the subject of a call for
competition by publishing the relevant Notice using the Central Digital
Platform.
23. Selection and Award Criteria
23.1
Officers must define and publish all tender documents at the time of publication
including the selection criteria (i.e. the criteria used at the pre-qualification
stage – High Value procurements only) and assessment criteria (i.e. the criteria
for the tender stage).
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23.2
Processes and documents must be appropriate and proportionate to the risks
of the tender and designed to secure an outcome that will provide best value
for the Council, based on the following principles:
23.2.1 ‘Highest price’ if payment is to be received by the Council; or
23.2.2 ‘Most advantageous tender’ where payment is to be made by the Council and
consideration other than price applies.
24. Invitation to Tender (ITT)
24.1. The ITT must state that the Council is not bound to accept any tender and may
decide not to award any contract and, in such circumstances, bidders will be
wholly liable for their bid costs.
24.2. All organisations invited to tender must be issued with the same information,
at the same time and be subject to the same conditions.
25. Managing Tenders
25.1. All requirements covered by the Procurement Act 2023, Public Contract
Regulations 2015 and Procurement Regulations 2024 or Health Care Services
(Provide Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 must follow the time periods
specified in the Regulations.
25.2. Should only one bidder participate in a Medium Value process then no contract
may be awarded without consultation with the Council’s Section 151 and
Monitoring Officers (for TDC).
25.3. Should fewer than five eligible bidders request to participate in a Competitive
Flexible Procedure then no contract may be awarded without the written
permission of the Monitoring Officer
26. Contract Award
26.1. For High Value Tenders officers must provide an assessment summary to
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each supplier at the same time and before the Contract Award Decision Notice
is published.
27. General Principles Across High Value Tenders
27.1. Officers involved in High Value tenders must familiarise themselves and
remain up to date on current interpretation of the legislation to ensure the
Council is not exposed to avoidable risk.
27.2. Officers must ensure that they are familiar with the current legislation to ensure
that all tenders subject to their requirements are let in a compliant manner.
28. Standstill Period
28.1. Notwithstanding the Contract Award Decision, where required under the
legislation, the contract must not be awarded until a mandatory ‘standstill’
period of eight working days beginning with the day the contract award notice
is published.
29. Framework Procedures
29.1. Framework requirements will differ depending upon the terms and condition of
the Framework Agreement and call-off arrangements as set out in the
Framework Agreement must be adhered to.
29.2. Call-offs from a framework will either be via a direct award process (where this
meets legislative requirements) or further competition.
29.3. The scoring methodology is pre-described and should be adhered to unless
express provision is made in the framework that this can be altered. This will
be subject to any necessary approvals and governance.
29.4. Awards under a Framework must be published on the Central Digital Platform.
29.5. Framework terms and conditions will not be altered where a direct award
process is being used.
29.6. The necessary governance and notice requirements must still be complied
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with.
30. Execution of Contract
30.1. Unless otherwise advised by the Monitoring Officer, or their nominated
delegate, all contracts (including framework agreements) in excess of £50,000
(for TDC) £1,000,000 must be executed under the Common Seal of the
Council.
30.2. Outside of the above criteria all contracts must be signed in accordance with
Article 14 of the Constitution (which covers Finance, Contracts & Legal
Matters) (for TDC) the relevant section of the Scheme of Delegation.
30.3. All contracts should be executed by the supplier and by the Council before the
contract may commence.
31. Contracts Register
31.1. Procurement Officers must ensure that all contracts, tendered by the EPP and
awarded above £50,000 (including VAT) are recorded on the Council’s
contracts register within one month of the contract commencement date.
31.2. Where a Request for Quotation has been completed by the Service Area EPP
must ensure that they log the award on the Council’s contracts register once
notified by the relevant contract owner.
32. Records
32.1. Contracts and Records must be retained for audit purposes for a period of
seven years from conclusion of the contract, or twelve years where the contract
is under seal.
32.2. All correspondence is automatically stored on the Council’s e-Sourcing
platform where that tool is used.
32.3. Records of any challenges and outcomes must be fully documented and
retained.
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33.
Contract Management of Tier 1 and Tier 2 Contracts
33.1. Workflows should be followed unless a formal deviation is submitted for
approval to the relevant Council Director in whose service the contract sits.
33.2. Records must be kept ensuring that transparency requirements can be met.
33.3. Modifications and variations must be carried out in accordance with legislation
and transparency requirements must be followed.
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Agreed by full Council, the Tendring District Council Constitution is the over-arching rule book for procedure at the council.
This is Part Five. Other sections can be found elsewhere on TED, overall the index is:
Please note: to comply with formatting and accessibility, some sections which appear as (a) (b) or (i) (ii) and so on in the written Constitution may appear here in a different style. In all cases the document version (available to download) is the master.
The Council considers that Local Government derives an important part of its authority and influence from the trust and confidence of the individuals and communities it serves. Access to Information in respect of decision making is a necessary prerequisite for generating that trust and confidence.
Informed members of the local community are better able to contribute to, and take part in, the work of Local Authorities. Access to information is central to this process and requires Local Authorities to establish the appropriate balance between:
Rules 1 to 11 outline the rights of members of the public and apply to all meetings of the Council, the Overview and Scrutiny Committees, Cabinet, Audit Committee, Human Resources and Council Tax Committee, Licensing and Registration Committee (and its sub-committees), Planning Policy & Local Plan Committee, Planning Committee, Standards Committee and the Town and Parish Council Standards Sub-Committee, collectively called meetings.
Rule 12 relates to recording of Decisions by Officers.
Rule 13 deals specifically with Cabinet’s schedule of key decisions by which future major decisions of the Council are publicised.
These rules do not affect any, more specific, rights to information contained elsewhere in this Constitution or the law for example the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Members of the public may attend all meetings subject only to the exceptions to these rules.
Any person is permitted to film or record any meeting of the Council, a Committee, Sub-Committee or the Cabinet, save where the public have been excluded for consideration of exempt or confidential business. The rules, as prescribed by legislation, will allow for the reporting of meetings via social media of any kind. The Council will provide reasonable facilities to facilitate reporting.
Any person exercising such rights must not disrupt the proceedings. Examples of what will be regarded as disruptive include, but are not limited to, moving outside the area designated for the public, making excessive noise, intrusive lighting/flash or asking a Councillor to repeat a statement. In addition, members of the public or the public gallery should not be filmed as this could infringe on an individual’s right to privacy, if their prior permission has not been obtained.
Any person considered being disruptive or filming the public will be requested to cease doing so by the Chairman and may be asked to leave the meeting.
The Council will give at least five clear working days’ notice of any meeting, except where an urgent meeting is convened, by making the agenda and reports publicly available at the Town Hall, Station Road, Clacton-on-Sea, CO15 1SE (the “designated office”) and on the Council’s website.
The Council will make copies of the agenda, accompanying reports and background papers that are open to the public available for inspection at the designated office and on the website at least five clear working days before the meeting. If an item is added to the agenda after publication the revised agenda will be open to inspection from the time the item was added to the agenda.
Copies of the agenda and accompanying reports will be sent to the Councillors who serve on the decision-making body in question.
Agendas, reports and background papers listed within Cabinet reports are available to view on the Council’s website. The Council will on request, and for such reasonable charge as is from time to time agreed, supply copies of:
In addition to publishing information on the Council’s website, the Council will make available, upon request copies of the following for six years after a meeting:
In every report a list will be included of those documents (called background papers) relating to the subject matter of the report which in the report author’s opinion:
The Council will make available for public inspection, for four years after the date of the meeting, one copy of each of the documents on the list of background papers.
Public reports must include not only a list of background papers but at least one copy of each of the documents in the list for public inspection. Arrangements for inspection should be made through the Council’s Committee Services at the Town Hall and on the Council’s website.
In the case of reports to Cabinet, the background papers will be published on the Council’s website, subject to Rule 10 below.
The Council may now charge “a reasonable fee” for access to background papers to be inspected at the Council’s offices.
A written summary of the public’s rights to attend meetings and to inspect and copy documents will be kept and be available to the public at the Town Hall, Station Road, Clacton-on-Sea.
The public will be excluded from meetings whenever it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, or the nature of the proceedings, that confidential information would be disclosed.
Confidential information means information given to the Council by a Government Department on terms which forbid its public disclosure or information which cannot be publicly disclosed by Court Order.
The public may be excluded from meetings whenever it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, or the nature of the proceedings that exempt information would be disclosed which falls into one of the seven definitions of information that is exempt from disclosure to the public and press.
Where the meeting will determine any person’s civil rights or obligations, or adversely affect their possessions, Article 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 establishes a presumption that the meeting will be held in public unless a private hearing is necessary for one of the reasons specified in Article 6.
Exempt information means any information falling within the following seven categories (subject to any condition) as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended):
Notes:
Information falling within any of categories 1-7 is not exempt by virtue of that category if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority can grant itself planning permission under Regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992.
Information which:
Regulation 14 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005 presumes that hearings shall take place in public. However, the licensing authority may exclude the public from all or part of a hearing where it considers that the public interest in doing so outweighs the public interest in the hearing, or that part of the hearing, taking place in public. For that purpose, a party and any person assisting or representing a party may be treated as a member of the public.
If the Proper Officer (Monitoring Officer) thinks fit, the Council may exclude access by the public to reports which, in their opinion, relate to items during which, in accordance with Rule 10, the meeting is likely not to be open to the public. Such reports will be marked “Not for publication” together with category of information likely to be concerned. The report will also include a Review Date at which time the contents of the report will be re-assessed in order to determine whether the report can now be placed into the public domain.
A written record must be produced, as soon as reasonably practicable, after a decision has been made, which was delegated to an Officer by Council, a Committee or Sub-Committee either:
The written record must be in the prescribed format approved by the Monitoring Officer and Committee Services Manager and contain the following information:
The Officer making the decision must ensure that the written record and background papers are made available for inspection by the public and published on the Council’s website.
Rules 13 to 21 apply to the Cabinet, any decisions taken by the Leader, Cabinet Members or Officers under the Scheme of Delegation. If any of these decision makers intend to take a key decision then it must also comply with Rule 13 unless Rule 15 (general exception) or Rule 16 (special urgency) applies. A “key decision” is defined in Article 13.03 of this Constitution.
Subject to Rules 14 and 15 below, a key decision or a decision that would involve the disclosure or likely disclosure of confidential information must not be made until a notice has been published on the Council’s website (under Forthcoming Decisions) for at least 28 clear days, containing the following details:
A “Key Decision” is an executive decision that meets the description of a Key Decision set out in Article 13.03 of the Constitution.
“Confidential” and “Exempt” information are defined in, respectively, Access to Information Procedure Rules 10.2 and 10.4.
Subject to Rule 15, if publication under Rule 13 above is impracticable, a key decision may only be made:
Decisions taken under the General Exception procedure are still subject to call in unless an exemption has been granted or an exception applies under the provisions set out in Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 18.
If the general exception rule is impracticable, due to the date by which a key decision must be made, the key decision can only be taken if the decision-maker has received the agreement of the Chairman of the relevant overview and scrutiny committee, or if they are unable to act, the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Council and has published a notice on the Council’s website, stating that the making of the decision is urgent and the reasons why it cannot reasonably be deferred.
Decisions taken under the Special Urgency procedure are automatically exempted from call- in.
If the relevant overview and scrutiny committee thinks that a key decision has been made and was not:
The Committee, by resolution at one of its meetings, may require the Cabinet to submit a report to full Council, within such reasonable time as the Committee specifies. The report to Council must include details of the decision, the decision maker and reasons why the Cabinet are of the opinion that the decision was not a key decision. The power to require a report rests with the Committee but may also be exercised by the Proper Officer on receipt of a written request, providing valid reasons to do so, from five members of the Committee.
The Leader will submit a report to the next practicable ordinary meeting of the Council on Cabinet decisions or executive decisions taken by individual Portfolio Holders or Officers where the making of the decision was agreed as urgent in accordance with Rule 15 since the last such report. The report will include the number of decisions made, the particulars of each decision made and a summary of the matters in respect of which those decisions were made.
A written record must be produced, as soon as reasonably practicable, after a Cabinet (executive) decision has been made, including where Cabinet Members have made individual decisions and Officer’s decisions have been made exercising executive functions in accordance with the Responsibility of Functions – Delegated Powers contained within Part 3 of this Constitution.
Each record must be in the prescribed format approved by the Monitoring Officer and Committee Services Manager and contain the following information:
The Record of the Executive Decision will be published on the Council’s website together with any report considered at the meeting or by the individual Portfolio Holder or Officer and must be available for inspection, as soon as reasonably practicable. Any background paper must also be listed and one of each of the documents available for public inspection and published on the Council’s website.
At least 28 days before a private meeting of the Cabinet:
The Notice under 18.1 must include a statement of the reasons for the meeting being held in private.
At least five clear days before a private meeting, a further notice of the intention to hold a meeting must be available and published on the Council’s website. This will form the Cabinet agenda for the meeting.
All Members of the Cabinet will be served notice of, and are entitled to attend, all private meetings of the Cabinet or Committees of the Cabinet.
The Chief Executive, the Chief Financial Officer, the Monitoring Officer (or Deputies) and the Corporate Directors in the light of items to be discussed, or their nominated representatives, at the discretion of the Chief Executive can attend.
Upon request from a member of an overview and scrutiny committee, the Cabinet must make available any document which contains material relating to any business transacted at a public or private meeting of the Cabinet and any decisions made (whether by individual Cabinet Members or Officers).
This request must be complied with and the documentation provided as soon as reasonably practicable, but no later than 10 clear days after the request is made.
If the Cabinet determines that material will not be provided, it must provide the member of the overview and scrutiny committee with a written statement, setting out its reasons for that decision.
The member of an overview and scrutiny committee will not be entitled to:
All Members will be entitled to inspect any document that is in the possession of, or under the control of, the Cabinet and contains material relating to any business previously transacted at a private meeting unless it contains exempt or confidential information, or the advice of a political adviser or assistant.
All members of the Council will be entitled to inspect any document (except those available only in draft form) in the possession or under the control of the Cabinet, which relates to any key decision unless paragraph 21.1 above applies.
These rights of a Member are additional to any other rights they may have.
The Council will be responsible for the adoption of its Budget and Policy Framework as set out in Article Four. Once a Budget or Policy Framework is in place, it will be the responsibility of the Cabinet to implement it.
The process by which the Policy Framework shall be developed is:
Subject to Rule 4 of these Procedure Rules, the process by which the Budget shall be developed is:
The Cabinet will publicise on the Council’s website a timetable for making proposals to the Council for the adoption of the budget and the Cabinet’s arrangements for consultation after publication of those proposals. The Chairman of each Overview and Scrutiny Committee will also be notified.
Prior to making any budget proposals in paragraph 3(a) above, the Cabinet will draw up a draft Financial Strategy/Forecast setting out the basis on which the budget proposals are intended to be formulated. The Cabinet shall consult the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the draft Financial Strategy/Forecast. The consultation period in this instance shall be not less than 3 weeks. At the end of that period the Cabinet shall agree the Financial Strategy/Forecast having regard to the response from that Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The Cabinet shall draw up and consult on proposals for the budget having regard to the draft or agreed Financial Strategy/Forecast. If the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee wishes to respond to the Cabinet in that consultation process then it may do so. The consultation period shall be not less than two weeks.
At the end of that period, the Cabinet will then draw up firm proposals having regard to the responses for that consultation. The Cabinet will take any response from an Overview and Scrutiny Committee into account in drawing up firm proposals for submission to the Council, and its report to Council will reflect the comments made by consultees and the Cabinet’s response.
Once the Cabinet has approved the firm proposals, the Chief Financial Officer will report them at the earliest opportunity to the Council for decision.
In reaching a decision, the Council may adopt the Cabinet’s proposals, amend them, or substitute its own proposals in their place.
If it accepts the recommendation of the Cabinet without amendment, the Council may make a decision that has immediate effect. Otherwise, it may only make an in-principle decision, unless the Leader of the Council having consulted the Chief Financial Officer indicates at the meeting Cabinet’s acceptance of the amended budget. The Chairman of the Council will adjourn the meeting to allow the relevant consultation to take place. In either case, the decision will be made on the basis of a simple majority of votes cast at the meeting.
Where the Council makes an in-principle decision, the Committee Services Manager shall immediately inform the Leader of any objections which it has to the Cabinet’s proposals and shall give him instructions requiring the Cabinet, within five working days beginning on the day after the date on which the Leader receives those instructions, to reconsider in the light of those objections, the proposals submitted to it.
An in-principle decision will automatically become effective at the end of five working days beginning on the day after the date on which the Leader receives those instructions referred to in sub-paragraph (h) above, unless within that time the Leader:
In that case, the Chairman of the Council will call a Council meeting to be held on a date within six working days of receipt of the revised proposals or the Cabinet’s disagreement. The Council will be required to re-consider its decision and to take into account the revised proposals, the Cabinet’s reasons for any amendments made to the proposals, any disagreement that the Cabinet has with any of the Council’s objections and the Cabinet’s reasons for any such disagreement.
The Council may by a simple majority of votes cast at the meeting:
The decision shall then be made public in accordance with Article 4, and shall be implemented immediately.
In approving the budget, the Council will also specify the extent of virement within the budget that may be undertaken by the Cabinet. Any other changes to the budget are reserved to the Council.
In the event of the Cabinet submitting their firm proposals for the budget to Council before 8 February in any financial year and the Council has any objections to those proposals, the actions set out in Schedule 2 of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001 shall be followed.
Subject to the provisions of Rule 3(l) the Cabinet, individual members of the Cabinet and any officers discharging Cabinet functions may only take decisions which are in line with the Budget and Policy Framework. If any of these bodies or persons wishes to make a decision which is contrary to the Policy Framework, or contrary to or not wholly in accordance with the budget approved by full Council, then that decision may only be taken by the Council, subject to Rule 6.
If the Cabinet, individual members of the Cabinet and any officers discharging Cabinet functions want to make such a decision, they shall take advice from the Monitoring Officer and/or the Chief Financial Officer as to whether the decision they want to make would be contrary to the Policy Framework, or contrary to or not wholly in accordance with the budget. If the advice of either of those Officers is that the decision would not be in line with the existing budget and/or Policy Framework, then the decision must be referred by that body or person to the Council for decision, unless the decision is a matter of urgency, in which case the provisions in Rule 6 shall apply.
The Cabinet, an individual member of the Cabinet or Officers discharging Cabinet functions may take a decision which is contrary to the Council’s Policy Framework or contrary to or not wholly in accordance with the budget approved by full Council if the decision is a matter of urgency. However, the decision may only be taken:
The reasons why it is not practical to convene a quorate meeting of full Council and the Chairman of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s consent to the decision being taken as a matter of urgency must be noted on the record of the decision. In the absence of the Chairman of that Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the consent of the Vice-Chairman of that Overview and Scrutiny Committee will suffice. In their absence the Chairman of the Council’s consent will suffice, and in their absence the consent of the Vice-Chairman of the Council.
Following the decision, the Leader will provide a full report to the next practicable ordinary meeting of the Council explaining the decision, the reasons for it and why the decision was treated as a matter of urgency.
The Council’s budget can only be varied by the Council except as provided for in the Financial Procedure Rules. These rules make provision for:
These rules specify the limits and procedures governing approval of these budget variations and may be varied from time to time by the Council to meet changing service and portfolio operational needs.
The responsibility for agreeing the Budget and Policy Framework lies with the Council, and decisions by the Cabinet, an individual member of the Cabinet or Officers discharging Cabinet functions must be in line with it. No changes to any plan or strategy that make up the Policy Framework may be made by those bodies or individuals except those:
Where an Overview and Scrutiny Committee is of the opinion that either a proposed decision or a decision which has been called-in under the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules is or would be, contrary to the Council’s Budget and Policy Framework, or contrary to or not wholly in accordance with the Council’s budget, then it shall seek advice from the Monitoring Officer and/or Chief Financial Officer.
The call-in procedures set out in Rules 13 and 17 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules must be adhered to.
If, having had regard to the advice of the Monitoring Officer and/or Chief Financial Officer, which will be summarised within the Report, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee considers the decision is contrary to the Budget or Policy Framework; the Committee may refer the matter to the next practicable meeting of the Council, subject to the provisions of the Council Procedure Rules.
Council will receive a written report of the decision or proposals and the advice of the Monitoring Officer and/or the Chief Financial Officer. The Council may either:
The Council will have two Overview and Scrutiny Committees (“the Committees”), which together will perform all overview and scrutiny functions on behalf of the Council. They will each consist of nine members, who will be appointed by the full Council (normally) at its annual meeting. Their terms of reference and functions will be as set out in Part 2, Article 6 of the Constitution.
All Councillors except Cabinet members may be members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees. However, no Member may be involved in scrutinising a decision in which they have been directly involved in making.
Each Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall be entitled to appoint people as Co-opted Members (without voting rights) as considered appropriate to enable them to perform their overview and scrutiny functions. The duration of the appointment will be determined by the Committee. In addition, the Council may determine which groups or bodies should be represented on a particular Committee by Co-opted Members (without voting rights).
Meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees will be held in accordance with the programme of meetings approved at the Annual Meeting of the Council. In addition, extraordinary meetings may be called from time to time as and when appropriate. An Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting may be called by the Chairman of the relevant Committee, or by the Head of Democratic Services & Elections, if considered necessary or appropriate.
Programmed meetings may also be cancelled, following consultation with the Committee’s Chairman, where the business to be transacted would not warrant the holding of the meeting as originally envisaged.
The quorum for the Committee shall be as set out in Part Four (Council Procedure Rules)
The Chairmen of the Committees shall be appointed as set out in Part Four (Council Procedure Rules).
The Chairmen of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees will meet with the Head of Democratic Services & Elections and relevant officers to co-ordinate the business of the relevant Committees and determine which Committee will assume responsibility for any particular issue. In consultation with the Chairman of the two Committees, it may be proposed that a joint Panel or Group to be established by the Committees.
Each Overview and Scrutiny Committee will submit a work programme for the year ahead and a review of the previous year’s activities to the Council for approval. In addition, it will be responsible for co-ordinating and prioritising its work programme on an ongoing basis.
In preparing, co-ordinating and prioritising its programme, each Overview and Scrutiny Committee will take into account:
Any member of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall be entitled to give notice to the Head of Democratic Services & Elections that they wish an item relevant to the terms of reference and the functions of the Committee (but with the exception of matters relating to crime and disorder) to be included on the agenda for the next meeting of that Committee.
Such notice must be given by delivering it, in writing (or by personal e-mail) to the Head of Democratic Services & Elections no later than midday seven working days before the day of the meeting. On receipt of such a notice the Head of Democratic Services & Elections will ensure that the item is included on the agenda.
Any such request by Members will be considered at the next available meeting where the Committee will decide if the item should form part of the work programme.
The Leader of any political group may request that an item be included on the Overview and Scrutiny work programme. The relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee will consider the request on the agenda and determine at its meeting, whether the item is appropriate for inclusion on the work programme.
The relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee will respond, as soon as their work programme permits, to requests from the Council and if it considers appropriate, the Cabinet to review particular areas of Council activity. Such referrals will be accompanied by Council/Cabinet’s view on the matter under consideration to assist the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee in effective investigation of the matter. Where they do so, the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall report their findings and any recommendations back to the Cabinet and/or Council. The Council and/or Cabinet shall consider the report at its following meeting.
In addition to the above any member of the Authority who is not a member of the Council’s designated crime and disorder committee (i.e. the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee) can refer any local crime and disorder matter to that committee for its consideration in accordance with the legislative requirements. Such a reference must be given by delivering it, in writing (or by personal e-mail) to the Head of Democratic Services and Elections no later than midday seven working days before the day of the meeting. On receipt of such a notice the Head of Democratic Services & Elections will ensure that the item is included on the agenda. Any such reference by a Member will be considered at the meeting concerned where the Committee will decide how to proceed with the reference (within the legislative requirements).
The Councillors Call for Action is an additional means for Councillors to raise issues of local community concern, for consideration by the Council’s overview and scrutiny function, on behalf of residents. A Councillors Call for Action should only be raised where other means of resolving the matter have been exhausted.
Any Member of the Council may raise a Councillors Call for Action, which should be sent to the Council’s Head of Democratic Services & Elections.
Once the Councillors Call for Action is received, the matter must be considered by the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee, whose terms of reference the matter falls within and they must endeavour to consider the matter within a reasonable timescale. Where the matter falls within the terms of reference of more than one Committee, the Chairmen of the Committees will determine the most appropriate Committee to deal with the matter, except where the matter relates to a crime and disorder issue where all such matters must be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee responsible for crime and disorder matters.
If a Councillors Call for Action is deemed not to be valid, a letter will be sent to the Member concerned informing them of the reasons for this. Where the issue has been deemed not to be valid because other methods of resolution have not been exhausted, the Call for Action may be re-submitted, if necessary, once the Councillor concerned has pursued the matter further.
The Committees shall consider the following business:
Where an Overview and Scrutiny Committee undertakes researched and evidence reviews on a specific topic, on a task and finish basis (e.g. with a view to policy development), the relevant Committee may also ask people to attend to give evidence at the Task and Finish Group meetings that are to be conducted in accordance with the following principles:
Following any Task and Finish review, the Committee shall prepare a report, for submission to the Cabinet and/or Council as appropriate and shall make its report and findings public.
The role of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in relation to the development of the Council’s Budget and Policy Framework is set out in detail in the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules within this Constitution.
In relation to the development of the Council’s approach to other matters not forming part of its Budget and Policy Framework, each Overview and Scrutiny Committee may make proposals or act as consultee for the Cabinet for developments in so far as they relate to matters within their terms of reference.
Each Overview and Scrutiny Committee where relevant to their terms of reference, may undertake enquiries into the available options for future direction in policy development and may appoint advisers and assessors to assist them in this process. Enquiries may involve Councillors going on site visits, conducting public surveys, holding public meetings, commissioning research and doing all other things that they reasonably consider necessary to inform their deliberations. They may ask witnesses to attend to address them on any matter under consideration and may pay to any advisers, assessors and witnesses a reasonable fee and expenses for doing so (subject to the appropriate budget being available)
To assist Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees to develop appropriate approaches to individual enquiries (and support officers in their role for individual enquiries), the Head of Democratic Services & Elections may (from time to time) issue practice guides on such approaches.
Where resources permit, each Overview and Scrutiny Committee may establish, task and finish groups to undertake the matters in (c) above and to gather the evidence in the ways set out. Likewise, enquiries may also be conducted through informal meetings of the Members of the Committee, scrutiny days and off agenda briefings. Joint task and finish groups (which may be styled panels) may be formed, where necessary, by two Overview and Scrutiny Committees in agreement to examine subjects that are, in part, in both of the terms of reference for those Committees.
Membership of task and finish groups will not be limited to members of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee(s). While they are not subject to the political balance rules that apply to formal Committees/Sub-Committees of the Council, from among the nominees for a particular task and finish group regard will be given to the broad overall political balance of the Council when determining the membership of the group.
All enquiries undertaken away from a formal meeting of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee will conclude with a final report to that Overview and Scrutiny Committee. It will be for that Committee to determine the finalised report and recommendations arising from the enquiry. An enquiry can identify the need for an interim report, ahead of the final report, and this too will be subject to consideration by the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
If Full Council has directly requested a report on that matter then the final report will be submitted to Full Council for its determination.
Specific evidence based reports from an Overview and Scrutiny Committee that contain recommendations on proposals for development, will be submitted formally for consideration by Cabinet (or to Full Council directly (if appropriate) from the “crime and disorder committee” or otherwise if Full Council has directly requested a report on that matter). If the proposals would involve a change to the existing Budget and/or Policy Framework, the Cabinet will consider the matter and make a recommendation to Full Council. The report will be drafted by Officers and agreed by the relevant Chairman in respect of the proposals from the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The Cabinet shall consider the report from the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee at the next meeting of the Cabinet for which the agenda has not yet been published.
In addition to making recommendations on specific proposals for development, the Overview and Scrutiny Committees may make more general comments/suggestions regarding matters they have considered, which they would like the relevant Cabinet Member to consider and take appropriate action. In such instances, a copy of the relevant minute will be sent to the Cabinet Member.
Where specific evidence-based recommendations on proposals for development from the Overview and Scrutiny Committees relate to matters that are the responsibility of Partner Authorities and organisations, notice in writing by way of a formal report will be provided to the relevant Partner Authority or organisation requiring them to have regard to the recommendations. The Partner or organisation will be requested to respond to the relevant Committee within two calendar months setting out action, if any, that is to be taken in response to the recommendations.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committees will, at their ordinary meetings, review the new and/or amended forthcoming decisions relevant to their terms of reference. If they wish to enquire into any forthcoming decisions, such an enquiry might consist of questioning members of the Cabinet and Officers, and seeking the views of local stakeholders and/or other interested parties. The Cabinet will take into account any recommendations expressed by the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees when determining the final decision and record their response within any report and/or decision.
Matters may only be raised on the forthcoming decisions at Committee meetings where the Member has notified the Head of Democratic Services and Elections in writing (or by personal email) of the question they wish to ask, no later than Midday, two working days before the day of the meeting.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall also be provided with a list of decisions by Cabinet/an individual Portfolio Holder taken since the Committee’s last ordinary meeting and which that previous meeting had not itself had notice of in the record of forthcoming decisions. As such, if after preparation of the agenda for an ordinary meeting of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee notice of a proposed decision is given and the decision then is taken prior to the following ordinary meeting of the Committee, that second meeting of the Committee will be advised of the decision. This list is for the purposes of completeness and to inform the work programme discussion of the Committee. Other than informing this process the Committee may only note the list.
In addition to their rights as Councillors, members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in fulfilling their functions have the right to documents, and as provided for in Access to Information Procedure 20 (Rights of Overview and Scrutiny Members).
This would not prevent more detailed liaison between the Cabinet and any Overview and Scrutiny Committee as appropriate.
It shall be for the relevant Management Team member to determine which Officers attend to provide advice to Overview and Scrutiny Committees, subject to each Committee being able to supplement this as thought necessary through (b), (c) and (d) below: However, the Chief Executive, Chief Financial Officer and Monitoring Officer have the right to attend, speak on an item of business, provide representations and present a report to discharge their statutory and constitutional duties whenever necessary. In such instances, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will give due regard of the relevant advice provided. The decision and minutes of the meeting will record the advice, how it was taken into account and reasons for any departure.
Any Overview and Scrutiny Committee may scrutinise and review decisions made or action taken in connection with the discharge of any Council functions. As well as reviewing documentation, in fulfilling the Overview and Scrutiny role, it may require any Cabinet Member, or any Senior Officer to attend before it to explain in relation to matters within their remit:
Where any Cabinet Member or Senior Officer is required to attend a meeting of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee, at least seven working days’ notice of the meeting at which they are required to attend shall be given. The notice will state the nature of the item on which they are required to attend to give account and whether any papers are required to be produced for the relevant Committee. Where the account to be given to the Committee will require production of a report, then the Member or Officer concerned will be given sufficient notice to allow for the preparation of that document.
Where, in exceptional circumstances, the Cabinet Member or Senior Officer is unable to attend on the required date, the Chairman of the relevant Committee, shall, in consultation with the Member or Officer, arrange a substitute or an alternative date for attendance.
Participation by any Cabinet Member(s) in the general debate of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees will be at the discretion of the relevant Chairman (this rule does not apply when the Committee is considering a call-in).
In this paragraph, reference to an Overview and Scrutiny Committee includes enquiries undertaken through informal meeting of the Members of the Committee, task and finish groups, scrutiny days and off agenda briefings etc.
Each Overview and Scrutiny Committee may, in so far as it relates to matters within their terms of reference, invite people other than those referred to in paragraph 15 above to address them, discuss issues of local concern and/or answer questions. It may for example wish to hear from residents, stakeholders and Members and Officers in other parts of the public sector and may invite such people to attend. Attendance by those invited is entirely optional but encouraged in the spirit of partnership working and community engagement.
All such invitations will be made through the Head of Democratic Services and Elections, in his capacity as the Council’s designated Scrutiny Officer (Article 12 of the Constitution), so that a consistent and co-ordinated approach to invitations can be maintained. All such requests from individual Members shall be referenced to the Head of Democratic Services & Elections. This approach shall be followed in respect of less formal overview and scrutiny enquiries (such as through task and finish groups).
When a decision is made by the Cabinet, or an individual member of the Cabinet, the decision is published, normally within five working days of being made. The Chairman of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be sent copies of the records of all such decisions within the same timescale, by the person responsible for publishing the decision. Decisions will also be sent to all Members.
That notice will include the date on which it is published and will specify that the decision will come into force, and may then be implemented, on the expiry of five working days after the publication of the decision, unless the decision is called-in.
The rules applying to call-in are:
Those seeking to call-in a decision shall be required to state their reasons, in accordance with the criteria set, in the call-in notice form based on one or more of the following seven assessment criteria. These seven criteria are as follows:
The submission of a call-in notice shall have the effect of suspending the implementation of the decision pending consideration of the matter by the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee, who must meet to consider the matter within 15 working days from the date following receipt of the call-in notice.
If the relevant Committee does not meet within this period, the decision shall take effect on the expiry of the 15 working day period. The Chairman of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee is under an obligation to ensure that the meeting is held within 15 days.
If the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee has already commented or made recommendations on the specific matter which has been called-in prior to the decision being made then it will be deemed to be pre-determined on the matter and the call-in will be considered by another Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
At the meeting to consider the call-in notice, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall limit its consideration to the reasons stated in the call-in notice.
It should be noted that, although a decision may be deemed to meet the criteria for call-in, this does not automatically mean the matter should be referred back to the decision-maker. There may be compelling reasons for the decision being made and all evidence should be heard before determining what action should be taken.
Participation in the general debate will not be permitted but the callers-in and relevant Cabinet Member may answer questions or points of clarification arising through the debate, at the discretion of the relevant Chairman.
On considering the matter, the Committee will decide whether or not to ask the decision-maker to reconsider its decision.
If, having had regard to the advice of the Monitoring Officer, which will be summarised within the Report, the Committee considers the executive decision is contrary to the Budget or Policy Framework; the Committee may refer the matter to the next practicable meeting of the Council, subject to the provisions of Council Procedure Rules.
If the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee decides to ask the decision-maker to reconsider their decision, the decision-maker shall be required to do so within 15 working days following the meeting of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee, unless the decision maker was an Officer in which case it will be referred back to the Leader of the Council or relevant Portfolio Holder for consideration. In that circumstance the Leader of the Council or relevant Portfolio Holder shall be required to reconsider the decision within 15 working days.
If the Overview and Scrutiny Committee decides that it does not wish to refer the matter back to the decision-maker or to Council, the decision shall be confirmed and take effect immediately following the meeting of the Committee.
If the matter is referred to Council, who do not object to the decision, the subject of call-in, no further action is necessary and the decision will be effective on the date of the Council meeting. If Council does object, it only has authority to make decisions where it is considered contrary to the Budget and Policy Framework. The Council must refer any decision relating to Cabinet Functions, to which it objects, back to the decision-maker, together with the Council’s views on the decision. The decision-maker shall, within a further 15 working days, choose whether to amend the decision or not before reaching a final decision and implementing it.
The comments and views provided by Council or the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee when referring a decision back for reconsideration shall be final and no further representations shall be made to the decision-maker. The decision-maker will send a report to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee, once a decision has been reconsidered, and that report should include the reason why the decision-maker has either reconfirmed the original decision or why the decision has changed.
A request to call-in a decision may be withdrawn in writing (or by personal email) at any time by one of the Members making the request.
The call-in procedure set out above shall not apply in respect of Cabinet decisions regarding the following:
A decision will be urgent if any delay likely to be caused by the call-in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s or the public interests. The record of the decision, and notice by which it is made public, shall state whether in the opinion of the decision-making person, or body, the decision is an urgent one and why, and therefore not subject to call-in.
The Chairman of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee must agree that the proposed decision is reasonable in all its circumstances and that it should be treated as a matter of urgency. In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman’s consent shall be required. In the absence of both, the Head of Paid Service or his/her nominee’s consent shall be required.
Decisions taken as a matter of urgency must be reported by the Leader to the next practicable ordinary meeting of the Council, together with the reasons for urgency.
The operation of the provisions relating to call-in and urgency shall be monitored in accordance with Article 15 of this Constitution and a report submitted to Council with proposals for review if necessary.
Subject to meeting any requirements contained in the Key Decision Rules and the Decision Making Rules, the Council will conduct its financial affairs based upon its Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules, together with these Financial Procedure Rules and the Procurement Procedure Rules. These Financial Procedure Rules set out the responsibilities and management arrangements that will be followed to ensure that the Council, Members and its Officers exercise due probity and accountability for the public monies for which they have responsibility. These rules and the Procurement Procedure Rules apply to all financial transactions of the Council either for itself or where it is acting as the Accountable Body or Agent.
The Chief Financial Officer shall keep under review these Financial Procedure Rules and the Procurement Procedure Rules and ensure that they are appropriate to the running of the Council. Any proposed changes must be recommended to the Cabinet and subsequently agreed by the Council.
The Financial Procedure Rules are set out as follows:
Section two: Definitions
Section three: Responsibilities
Section four: Financial Planning and Budget approval
Section five: Authority to Incur Expenditure
Section six: Changes to budgets after approval by Council
Section seven: Financial management of budgets during the year
Section eight: Final accounts, out-turn and Statement of Accounts
Section nine: Financial administration
Section ten: Write-Offs of Sums due to the Council
Section 11: Insurances
Section 12: Inventories stocks and stores
Section 13: Banking Arrangements
Section 14: Investments, Loans and Borrowing
Section 15: Land and Property transactions
Section 16: External Funding
Section 17: Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (anti-money laundering)
Section 18: State Aid
For the purpose of these regulations the following definitions will apply:
The Leader, each Portfolio Holder and Head of Department shall consult with the Chief Financial Officer, in advance, in respect of any report/proposal which seeks provisional or final approval to any proposed revenue or capital expenditure or service investment or income which is not included in the Council’s approved budgets (without reservation). The Chief Financial Officer will bring all such matters to the immediate attention of Management Team.
The Chief Financial Officer shall be responsible, under the general direction of the Cabinet and Management Team for the financial administration of the Council’s activities.
The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for ensuring that the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder is informed of and consulted on all significant financial issues.
The Chief Financial Officer shall inform and advise Management Team about the Council’s finances and financial performance of its activities, who will in conjunction with the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder ensure that the Leader, each Portfolio Holder, Committees and Council are advised appropriately.
The Chief Financial Officer shall ensure that adequate and prudent financial planning, including annual budgets and longer-term forecasting, is undertaken by the Council to protect its finances.
Any requirement in these Financial Procedure Rules and the Council’s other procedures to obtain approval for or to report to the Council, Committee, Cabinet or Portfolio Holder, on any action shall include the requirement to consult with the Chief Financial Officer where Council finances are concerned.
The Chief Financial Officer has a duty to ensure that the financial implications of decisions made by Heads of Department in respect of services are not to the detriment of the Council as a whole.
The Chief Financial Officer, their Deputy or the Chief Executive is authorised to deal with any General Fund Revenue or HRA virement on exceptional grounds of urgency, such as civil emergencies. If this exemption is replied upon, the relevant Officer must provide a report to the responsible decision maker as soon as practicably possible.
In accordance with the timetable and format determined by the Chief Financial Officer, Heads of Department will prepare:
The information prepared by the Heads of Department will be collated and checked by the Chief Financial Officer.
Each financial year, and in accordance with the agreed Financial Strategy/Forecast determined in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rule 3, the Chief Financial Officer will submit to Management Team for their consideration:
Management Team will then, in the light of the Chief Financial Officer submission in 4.3 above, and in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rule 3, make recommendations to the Cabinet setting out proposed draft budgets.
The Cabinet will, in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rule 3, draw up firm proposals for consideration by the Council.
In submitting the budget to the Council the Cabinet may attach a reservation to any item and, subject to the approval of the Council, no avoidable expenditure shall be incurred in respect of any such item until the Council has withdrawn the reservation.
In relation to all expenditure both revenue and capital, however funded, and in accordance with delegated powers an approved scheme is one where there is:
For any expenditure to be incurred the necessary budget must also be in place. Where the necessary budget is not in place then amendments to the budget agreed by Council can only be made in accordance with section six below.
A supplementary estimate will increase the Council’s net expenditure and will, if it relates to revenue expenditure, result in a reduction in the Council’s reserves. If it relates to capital expenditure it will either increase the Council’s use of capital receipts, increase the amount needed to be borrowed or, as in the case of revenue expenditure, reduce the Council’s reserves. Therefore a supplementary estimate is needed in all cases of increased overall net expenditure, whether capital or revenue.
A supplementary estimate should not normally be considered unless the matter is essential and unavoidable and all other options for applying a virement have been considered.
Once the Council Tax for any financial year is set any subsequent increase in items (a) to (d) below for that same year will require a supplementary estimate. This does not have to be approved before a commitment is made, if in the opinion of the Chief Financial Officer, the matter is urgent. The Chief Financial Officer shall report any increase in the Council’s overall net expenditure to the Cabinet at the earliest opportunity and recommend to Cabinet whether the increased expenditure should be financed by virement or supplementary estimate. If the supplementary estimate is outside the scope of the Cabinet’s authority appropriate recommendations will be made to Council.
No specific supplementary estimate approval is required at any time for the following:
A supplementary estimate can be approved as follows:
Where a Head of Department wishes to apply for a supplementary estimate a report shall be made, following consultation with the Chief Financial Officer, to Management Team. Management Team will then make a recommendation where appropriate to the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder or Cabinet. Cabinet must recommend to Council any request for supplementary estimates that requires the approval of Council.
A negative supplementary estimate (having the effect of reducing an otherwise available budget) with the specific purpose of reducing the Council’s net expenditure may be approved based on the same limits set out in 6.1.5 above.
A virement, unlike a supplementary estimate, will not increase the Council’s overall net expenditure. However to ensure that the budget, functions and service levels approved by Council are not compromised virements can only be undertaken under the following conditions.
Virement rules do not need to be followed in the following circumstances but a scheme will still need to be approved including agreement of what is to be delivered:
Virement rules are required to be followed in the following circumstances:
The conditions for a virement are:
All virements must be made within the terms and limits prescribed in these Financial Procedure Rules (see 6.3.5):
Virement Value: No limit
Approval Required: The Head of Department providing the expenditure does not impose an ongoing commitment on the Council, which has not already been approved and budgeted for.
Virement Value: Not more than £15,000.
Approval Required: The Head of Department
Virement Value: Over £15,000 but not more than £30,000.
Approval Required: The Head of Department, together with the approval of the Management Team together with the Portfolio Holder(s) and/or Committee(s)
Virement Value: Over £30,000 but not more than £50,000.
Approval Required: The Head of Department, with the approval of the Management Team, the responsible Portfolio Holder(s) and/or Committee(s) and the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder
Virement Value: Over £50,000
Approval Required: The Head of Department, with the approval of the Management Team, the responsible Portfolio Holder(s) and/or Committee(s) and Cabinet
Virement Value: Not more than £15,000.
Approval Required: The Head of Department
Virement Value: Over £15,000 but not more than £50,000
Approval Required: The Head of Department, with the approval of the Management Team, the responsible Portfolio Holder(s) and/or Committee(s) and the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder
Virement Value: Over £50,000
Approval Required: The Head of Department, with the approval of the Management Team, the responsible Portfolio Holder(s) and/or Committee(s) and Cabinet
Virement Value: Not more than £100,000
Approval Required: Corporate Director (Operations & Delivery), provided that the total Capital Scheme allocation as approved is not exceeded and provided the Chief Financial Officer advises that no increase to Housing Revenue Account costs results.
Virement Value: Over £100,000
Approval Required: Housing Portfolio Holder provided the total HIP allocation as approved is not exceeded and provided the Assistant Director (Finance & IT) advises that no increase to Housing Revenue Account and General Fund revenue costs results.
Virement Value: (i) Increase in an approved Capital budget
Approval Required: a) When the increase in the cost of the project is a supplementary estimate and must be agreed in accordance with these Financial Procedure Rules.
b) When the financing from an existing revenue budget is a virement between the revenue financing of capital expenditure budget and the revenue budget which is being reduced and normal virement rules as set out in these Financial Procedure Rules are to apply. In these circumstances the Assistant Director (Finance & IT) must agree the expenditure and the financing.
Virement Value: (ii) Increase in an approved capital budget which is to be financed by an increase in borrowing or use of capital receipts
Approval Required: This is a supplementary estimate, which must be agreed in accordance with these Financial Procedure Rules.
Virement Value: (iii) Increase in an approved revenue budget, which is to be financed by a reduction in an approved capital budget which results in a reduction in the revenue financing of capital expenditure sufficient to meet the entire increase in the revenue budget.
Approval Required: This is a virement between the revenue financing of capital expenditure budget and the revenue budget, which is being increased, and normal virement rules as set out in these Financial Procedure Rules are to apply. In these circumstances the Assistant Director (Finance & IT) must agree the expenditure and the financing.
Virement Value: If none of the above circumstances set out in (i), (ii) and (iii) above apply.
Approval Required: A supplementary estimate or virement must be obtained in accordance with these Financial Procedure Rules.
Virement Value: Irrespective of the above in all cases where there is an increase to the General Fund revenue costs.
Approval Required: A supplementary estimate or virement must be obtained in accordance with these Financial Procedure Rules.
The Chief Financial Officer shall ensure that all virements comply with these Financial Procedure Rules and will amend the Council’s financial information systems as appropriate.
The Chief Financial Officer will maintain an up-to-date record of all virements and supplementary estimates that have been actioned to date and make this available to the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder on request.
Once the Council has approved the budget, officers to whom authority has been delegated, may incur expenditure within the amount provided under each head of estimate as varied by any supplementary estimate or virement approved under these Financial Procedure Rules provided that:
Responsibility for the control of capital and revenue expenditure (including the award of grants) and income for a service or function shall rest with the appropriate Head of Department. Each Head of Department shall notify the Chief Financial Officer of any actual or prospective overspending of expenditure or shortfall in income in excess of the budget which cannot be met by virement as set out in these Financial Procedure Rules.
The Chief Financial Officer has a duty under Section 28 of the Local Government Act 2003 to monitor budgets and the underlying assumptions formulating the budget throughout the year. Where an approved expenditure budget is likely to be overspent or there is likely to be a shortfall in an income budget the Chief Financial Officer shall ensure that corrective action is taken. In exercising this duty the Chief Financial Officer may, irrespective of section 6.2 above, examine all budgets and seek explanations from Heads of Department as necessary. The Head of Department shall provide the Chief Financial Officer with any information and explanation requested.
The Chief Financial Officer shall provide Heads of Department with adequate and timely accounting information and reports, in appropriate detail, to enable those Heads of Department to carry out budgetary control of their budgets.
The Chief Financial Officer shall determine the level and detail at which budgets and financial management reports are maintained for use by officers and for reporting to Members.
The Chief Financial Officer shall in conjunction with the Management Team ensure that Portfolio Holders, Cabinet and the Council are fully informed of the Council’s financial position.
An Outturn Report for the previous financial year will be prepared by the Chief Financial Officer, in respect of revenue and capital items (including Housing), in accordance with the timetable necessary to produce the Statement of Accounts by the statutory deadline. The outturn report will seek the approval of the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder for:
The Chief Financial Officer will prepare the Council’s Statement of Accounts in accordance with statutory requirements and will incorporate all decisions approved by the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder in 8.1 above. Any further decisions that may be required following the outturn process, such as allocating money brought forward from the prior year will be made by Cabinet at a subsequent meeting.
All Heads of Department shall supply the Chief Financial Officer with accurate and timely information as may be required for the compilation of the final and other accounts and matters incidental thereto to enable the above requirements to be achieved. That information shall be supplied in a format specified by the Chief Financial Officer.
The designated Head of Internal Audit is the Council’s officer for the purposes of compliance with statutory Section 151 responsibilities in respect of Internal Audit along with any other relevant regulations or standards.
The designated Head of Internal Audit shall ensure that independent internal audit staff examine and audit the expenditure, income and property and other assets of the Council and its officers. To enable the designated Head of Internal Audit to achieve this, Internal Audit shall have the right of entry to all establishments and the right to examine all records, cash, stores and other properties belonging to or appertaining to the finances of the Council and to carry out such checks and require and receive such explanations as considered necessary.
Following completion of each audit a written report shall be submitted to the Head of Department, who must determine and notify the designated Head of Internal Audit of the action they propose to take.
In planning the conduct of these audits, the designated Head of Internal Audit shall arrange, as far as possible, for the views of the Head of Department to be taken into account.
Heads of Department must report any financial irregularity or suspected irregularity, including those affecting cash, stores or property to the designated Head of Internal Audit immediately the irregularity or suspected irregularity becomes known.
The Chief Financial Officer shall determine, provide, and manage the Council’s Financial Information System.
All financial returns to Government, the Council’s Statement of Accounts and all budget monitoring reports will be prepared from the information in the Council’s Financial Information System or such other system that the Chief Financial Officer has agreed can be used to provide the information.
Each Head of Department is required to obtain the approval of the Chief Financial Officer for all accounting procedures and records that are proposed. This shall include any computer-based systems that store, utilise or process any financial information and must be capable of interfacing and/or integrating with the Council’s Financial Information System.
All Heads of Department shall ensure that their approved accounting procedures and records are reconciled to the Council’s Financial Information System and that adequate records are maintained to demonstrate this.
In this respect each Head of Department shall provide the Chief Financial Officer with details of all authorised officers within their department, setting out matters that those officers are authorised to deal with and, where appropriate, the financial limits and shall notify the Chief Financial Officer of those officers’ appointment or departure.
Any officer having in their charge money, equipment, stores or other property for which they are accountable to the Council shall take all reasonable precautions for its safe custody and proper use.
All Heads of Department who services utilise computer installations and software shall be responsible for the security and privacy of all data held in those installations, and for ensuring compliance with all relevant legislation in respect of the licensing and use of that software. This includes taking all necessary action to safeguard against computer viruses or other form of data corruption.
Heads of Department shall also ensure that all necessary registrations are made under the Data Protection Act and that those registrations are regularly monitored and updated where necessary. Staff shall also be reminded of their individual responsibilities under this Act and the Freedom of Information Act.
Similarly, each Head of Department shall ensure that all other relevant computer system legislation is complied with, in particular copyright and patents acts concerning the use of software, scanners and other electronic storage means, for which the appropriate licence fee has not been paid, and the Computer Misuse Act.
All official orders and associated documents shall bear the name and logo of Tendring District Council and shall be in an agreed standard format and produced by the approved ordering system. They shall be issued only by Heads of Department and their authorised staff and be in accordance with these Financial Procedure Rules and the Procurement Procedure Rules.
Invoices for payment by the Council shall not be made out by any officer of the Council, other than in circumstances agreed in advance with the Chief Financial Officer, nor shall an Officer add any item to an invoice rendered by a supplier.
The reasons for any amendment to an invoice shall be recorded and retained in a safe and secure manner in accordance with the directions issued by the Chief Financial Officer.
Any Head of Department who issues an order shall be responsible for ensuring the examination, verification and certification of the relevant invoice(s), except in circumstances as determined by the Chief Financial Officer, and for correctly and promptly recording on the Council’s approved ordering system the receipt of goods, works or services.
Before certifying an invoice the certifying officer must be satisfied, within the tolerances specified by the Chief Financial Officer, that:
Where a grant has been approved, the above should be followed by the certifying officer where appropriate.
It is the responsibility of a Head of Department receiving goods or materials to ensure that appropriate entries are made in inventories, stores or other records.
Wherever practicable the respective duties of ordering, receiving and certifying the relevant invoices for payment of goods, services or work shall not be performed by one and the same officer, and in no case shall an invoice be finally certified for payment by an officer assuming personal control over the goods, works or services to which the invoice relates.
The Chief Financial Officer shall examine, so far as he/she considers necessary, invoices passed for payment and shall make all such enquiries and receive all such enquiries and receive all such information and explanations, as shall be required.
All Heads of Department shall ensure that the Council’s prompt payment of invoices are met.
All arrangements for the collection of monies due to the Council and the issuing of debtor invoices shall be as directed by the Chief Financial Officer.
All monies received shall, without delay, either be paid in as instructed by the Chief Financial Officer or be banked in the Council’s name to the bank accounts designated by the Chief Financial Officer.
Heads of Department must ensure that, where an invoice is to be issued for sums due to the Council that the invoice is issued immediately the sum due is known. Where a large sum is likely to be due, interim invoices are to be issued.
Where an invoice is to be issued the Head of Department issuing the invoice must ensure that the invoice is correct and the sum demanded is properly due to the Council and meets all the legal obligations especially those required to enforce non-payment if such circumstances arise.
Each officer who banks money to the credit of the Council’s bank account shall enter on the paying-in slip, and on the duplicate thereof, particulars of the payment. In the case of each cheque paid in he/she shall record:
Where monies are due to the Council under contracts, leases, tenancy agreements, agreement for the sale of property and any other agreements entered into which involve the receipt of money by the Council, the Head of Department shall provide the Chief Financial Officer with all relevant particulars, as soon as possible.
Each Head of Department who, under arrangements approved by the Chief Financial Officer, is responsible for the collection or recovery of sums due to the Council shall take prompt action to expedite collection. This action shall comply with the Council’s debt recovery procedures as determined and directed by the Chief Financial Officer.
Official receipt forms, receipt books, tickets and other documents of a similar nature used to collect revenue due to the Council shall be in a format approved by the Chief Financial Officer.
Heads of Department stocking such stationery shall ensure that appropriate security is maintained at all times.
Each officer authorised to receive monies on behalf of the Council shall do so only on official receipt forms, tickets or other documents of a similar nature as approved by the Chief Financial Officer, except in respect of payments by cheque or drafts where no receipt is requested, or for payments received by the Assistant Director (Governance) for which he/she is satisfied it is appropriate to give a receipt otherwise than in the official form.
Money received shall not be used to cash personal or any other cheques whatsoever except where, due to exceptional circumstances, the Chief Financial Officer has given prior approval.
Where payment is made to the Council by debit or credit card the Head of Department accepting payment must ensure that all sums due to the Council by the Credit Card or Debit Card Company is received in full by the Council and reconciled.
Heads of Department shall provide the Chief Financial Officer with all appropriate details to enable the payment of all salaries, wages, compensation, gratuities and other emoluments in respect of employees or former employees.
The Chief Financial Officer shall examine, so far as he/she considers necessary all claims for payment of salaries, wages or allowances and subject to that examination, shall make all such payments which are certified by the appropriate Head of Department or other officer authorised by them in writing or in an electronic format approved by the Chief Financial Officer.
The Chief Financial Officer shall make imprest advances to Heads of Department, where appropriate, for the purpose of defraying petty expenses. The use of any alternative means of meeting expenses shall be agreed, in advance, with the Chief Financial Officer.
The amount of each advance and the system of operation shall be determined in consultation between the Head of Department and the Chief Financial Officer.
Whenever an Officer leaves the employment of the Council or ceases to be entitled to hold an imprest advance he/she shall account to the Chief Financial Officer for the unexpended balance of their advance.
All procurements made using a petty cash imprest shall be in accordance with the Procurement Procedure Rules. All procurements must be evidenced by the production, and retention with the petty cash imprest records, of a valid receipt. Where VAT is to be accounted for a valid VAT receipt shall be obtained.
The Council has a duty to collect all sums due to it. However there are occasions when it is not possible or cost effective to proceed with the recovery of the debt. In these cases the debt needs to be written off and the following conditions, delegations, and limits apply. The Head of Department must be reasonably satisfied that recovery action/options have been “exhausted” before proceeding to seek a write off of any debt.
Where a debt has been raised in error or is incorrectly calculated then the debt should either be reduced or cancelled by the issue of a credit note or similar reversal of the original charge. Such reversal must be authorised by a responsible officer other than the one who raised the original debt.
All write-offs of debt must be set against the budget to which the original income was credited or an appropriate provision if one has been made.
If the write-off will result in that income budget not being achieved the Head of Department must advise the Chief Financial Officer immediately.
That part of any debt written off, for which provision has been made in the Council’s bad debt provision at the end of the previous financial year can be written off without further action as set out in 5.4.4(b) of these Financial Procedure Rules.
If the Chief Financial Officer advises that the whole or part of the debt was not included in the Council’s bad debt provision at the end of the previous financial year then the Head of Department must apply a virement or seek a supplementary estimate in accordance with section 5 of these Financial Procedure Rules to finance that part of the debt not provided for within that provision.
The authority to write-off debts is delegated by the Council as follows:
In respect of 1. and 3. above, there should be no other “live” Council Tax or NNDR account in the name of the specific debtor.
Authority to write-off delegated to: The relevant Corporate Director
Authority to write-off delegated to: The Chief Financial Officer on receipt of a written report from the appropriate Head(s) of Department.
Where joint/several liability applies to any of the criteria listed, the criteria applied must be applicable to all parties.
The Chief Financial Officer shall be responsible for the provision of the Council’s insurances. This shall include authority to accept annual renewal terms from the appointed insurer subject to such terms being within the terms of the original contract and the approved budget available. Heads of Department shall be responsible for providing the Chief Financial Officer with all necessary information to do this in the most effective manner.
Each Head of Department shall give prompt notification to the Chief Financial Officer of all new risks, properties or vehicles which require to be insured, and of any alterations affecting existing insurances, indicating the amount or variation in cover required.
Each Head of Department shall also notify the Chief Financial Officer of any other risk which in their opinion should be included within the Council’s insurance cover arrangements.
Heads of Department shall, as soon as they become aware of such circumstances, notify the Chief Financial Officer in writing of any claim or likely claim. Heads of Department shall not admit any liability or take any action that may commit the Council or its insurers in respect of any potential or actual claim.
Each Head of Department shall consult the Assistant Director (Governance) regarding the terms of any indemnity which the Council has been requested to give before authority is sought for the giving of the indemnity.
Each Head of Department shall consult the Chief Financial Officer on any case where, in their opinion, the nature or situation of any equipment, stores or other property for which they are accountable to the Council requires the provision of special security arrangements.
The Chief Financial Officer shall, periodically, provide Heads of Department with full details of the risks insured by the Council so that they may check and review the items for which they are responsible.
Inventories shall be properly maintained by Heads of Department to record appropriate items in the possession of the Council regardless of whether an item has been leased, rented, borrowed or purchased.
Where appropriate a Head of Department shall notify the Chief Financial Officer of any acquisition, disposal or change of an item, which is included in the Authority’s balance sheet or where changes in the Council’s insurance cover may be necessary.
Where there is a net cost of disposal the Head of Department must finance the cost by virement or supplementary estimate in accordance with these Financial Procedure Rules.
Only the Chief Financial Officer shall be authorised to open bank accounts for monies under the control of the Council and these shall be in the name of the Council. Day to day operation of bank accounts shall be determined by the Chief Financial Officer.
The conduct of the Council’s business with their bankers shall be made by, or under arrangements approved by the Chief Financial Officer.
The Council has adopted the CIPFA Treasury Management in Public Services Code of Practice (The Code) 2009.
All securities in the name of the Council and the title deeds of all property in the ownership of the Council shall be held in the custody of the Property Service.
This Council will create and maintain, as the cornerstones for effective treasury management:
The contents of the policy statement and TMPs will follow the recommendations contained in the Code and Guidance from central Government, subject only to amendment where necessary to reflect the particular circumstances of this Council. Such amendments will not result in the Council materially deviating from the Code’s key principles.
The Council will receive reports on its treasury management policies, practices and activities as follows:
The Council’s Chief Financial Officer shall, in accordance with the Council’s TMPs and the Council’s approved Annual Treasury Strategy, be authorised to:
The execution and administration of treasury management decisions is the responsibility of the Chief Financial Officer, who will act in accordance with the Council’s policy statement and TMPs and, if he/she is a CIPFA member, CIPFA’s Standard of Professional Practice on Treasury Management.
All land and property transactions must be undertaken in accordance with the Council’s Property Dealing Procedure.
Any amendments to the Property Dealing Procedure will be made by Full Council as constitutional amendments.
External funding refers to applications to external organisations, including Government departments and agencies for the funding of expenditure. The expenditure may be for the Council’s own services or for those services provided in partnership with other public bodies, voluntary sector bodies or private sector organisations.
In any partnership arrangement the Chief Financial Officer must ensure that there are adequate controls in place in respect of the Council’s own financial liabilities to the partnership and that there are adequate controls in place for the partnership itself.
Any application for external funding to finance or contribute to the financing of a function, investment or activity for which the Council is either the sole provider or is the accountable body must be approved by Management Team following consultation with the Chief Financial Officer to ensure the external funding being sought is in accordance with the Council’s priorities and not an additional impact on resources. Such approval will be recorded with an Officer Decision.
When making application for payment of funds from the body awarding the grant it is a statutory obligation that all figures in the claim be supported by adequate, and comprehensive working papers. All such working papers will be in a format and detail as determined by the Chief Financial Officer.
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 sets out some of the obligations placed on individuals and organisations to report known or suspected money-laundering activities. This means that both the Council itself and individual officers within the Council are bound by this Act. All employees of the Council must report any suspicions. Failure to do so is a criminal offence
It is the Council’s policy to do all it can to prevent, wherever possible, the Council and its staff being exposed to money laundering, to identify the potential areas where it may occur and to comply with all legal and regulatory requirements especially with regard to reporting of actual or suspected cases.
All Heads of Department will ensure that all staff for whom they are responsible and who are involved in financial transactions are aware of the Council’s and their own obligations in respect of money laundering.
The Chief Financial Officer, or officer(s) nominated by him/her will be responsible for anti-money laundering measures within the Council to ensure compliance with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and fulfil the Council’s policy in respect of money laundering.
The following instances could be an attempt at money laundering and should raise suspicions and must be reported to the Chief Financial Officer or nominated officer(s). The Chief Financial Officer will determine the limits and procedures to be followed in the event of these activities arising.
State aid rules are in place to protect the European Community free market by ensuring state resources are not used to distort competition or give an unfair advantage. State aid rules can apply to voluntary and non-profit making organisations. State aid has four characteristics:
If all four characteristics are present the state aid is prohibited, subject to certain exemptions. State aid takes many forms, it relates to a financial advantage of any kind.
Any support given to organisations must not breach state aid rules.
Issues regarding state aid must be checked prior to the award of support and advice sought as appropriate (guidance is available from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills).
Where state aid rules are considered to apply, appropriate approvals must be obtained from the European Commission prior to the award of the support unless specific regulations do not require advance approval, for example they are covered by a block exemption (limits apply) or the de minimis regulations.
If state aid is being given under a block exemption the aid must comply with every condition stated in the block exemption regulation and appropriate procedures for notifying the Commission of the award must be followed.
If state aid is being given under the de minimis regulations all relevant procedures must be followed, in particular:
All aid given must be notified to the Chief Financial Officer and financial records must separately identify any aid given.
Property Deal means the acquisition or disposal by the Council of any interest in land, including freehold, leasehold, by way of tenancy, any rent review, lease variation, lease renewal or any other dealing or proposed dealing with an interest in land or licence to use land.
Members must not engage in negotiations of any kind relating to any Property Deal or proposed Property Deal.
Every request to the Council from any party for a deal within this procedure shall be referred to the Assistant Director (Building & Public Realm), or, by the Chief Executive, to a Corporate Director.
Every Property Deal shall be conducted in accordance with the Property Dealing Procedure, excluding the sale of dwellings under right-to-buy legislation, the sale and purchase of Shared Equity and DIYSO properties, and arrangements for utilities to be provided on Council owned land.
Any Property Deal will be dealt with by appropriate officers in accordance with the Property Office Procedures to be agreed from time to time by the Assistant Director (Building & Public Realm) with the Council’s Section 151 and Monitoring Officers. The Property Office Procedures set out the practice to be followed by any Officer acting under delegated powers.
“Property Office Procedure” means all applicable steps of the Property Office Procedure at the time being.
The Assistant Director (Building & Public Realm) will ensure that adequate office procedures are agreed with the Section 151 and Monitoring Officers and maintained. The Property Office Procedures must include appropriate controls on the conduct of Property Deals. The Property Office Procedure should contain other procedures and guidance on the management of property by other parts of the Council.
In relation to those instances where a Portfolio Holder is the decision maker, the Assistant Director (Building and Public Realm), in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, the Section 151 Officer and the Head of Internal Audit, will ensure that there is an adequate set of formal principles for decision making in place and maintained. This set of principles should be set out in:
It should also enable the Portfolio Holder to demonstrate that they have assessed the deal against the principles. Where the deal is not in accord with the Property Strategy or the Housing Strategy or the Housing Acquisitions Strategy or the Commercial Investment Property Policy, as appropriate, it will be referred to the Cabinet for determination.
In relation to Property Deals and to any appropriation of land the Assistant Director (Building and Public Realm) will carry out or obtain appropriate valuations proportionate to the open market value or rental:
Type of Deal /Valuation(s) Required
The decision to initiate the Property Dealing Procedure will be taken by the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery). In those circumstances where the decision involves a Freehold Acquisition or Disposal that decision to initiate the Property Dealing Procedure will be taken by the Corporate Director in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder.
Where an officer makes a decision a Formal Record of Officer Decision to be completed and published (subject to access to information rules).
Where a Portfolio Holder or Cabinet makes a decision a Formal Report and Record of Decision is required to be completed and published.
Right or interest to be granted/acquired:
Note: The relevant Portfolio Holder will be determined by whether the property sites, or will sit, within the General Fund or the Housing Revenue Account.
[Please note there is an addition to this section to reflect a temporary exemption to the Procurement Procedure process for contracts valued between £50,000 and £100,000 - this does not form part of the Constitution itself, but is included to aid Officers in correctly applying current processes. Additions are noted in square brackets]
1.0 Procurement rules are set out across the following sections:
Before undertaking any procurement, Departments should satisfy themselves that:
Procurement Procedure Rules apply to the procurement of ALL goods, works or services. The Council’s approved computerised ordering system will be used for all procurement, except where otherwise detailed within these Procurement Procedure Rules.
Procurement can only take place where budgetary provision is available to fund the goods, works or services required (see Financial Procedure Rules).
Where the Council contracts with a third party (who is not an officer of this Council) to supervise a contract on its behalf, the Corporate Director/Head of Department entering into that contract will be required to ensure that the third party complies with the requirements of these Procurement Procedure Rules.
Where the Council enters into or administers a contract either as an agent, or on behalf of another public body the Council’s Procurement Procedure Rules will apply unless written instructions have been received by the Council to the contrary.
These Procurement Procedure Rules will not apply where statute or subordinate legislation prescribes otherwise.
Delegation relating to the engagement of consultancy services is set out separately within the “Common to all Portfolio Holders” section of the Constitution. However, for completeness, the Corporate Directors/Heads of Department only have delegated authority for the engagement of consultancy services or specialist professional advice up to the value of £15,000 and procurement rules must be followed. For schemes where fees are expected to exceed £15,000 consultation with the Portfolio Holder or Committee Chairman is required.
Procurement within the Council is co-ordinated by Governance Services and in all cases where catalogues or other pre-negotiated approaches are not used, then consultation with Governance Services should be undertaken to identify potential alternative options or additional procurement opportunities.
Where building works form part of the procurement, then it is expected that Departments will discuss their requirements with the internal surveyor as appropriate.
All Procurement should be in line with the Council’s Procurement Strategy which includes the recognition of the use of local suppliers and providing a fair basis for them to compete for the provision of goods, works and services required by the Council.
The Corporate Directors/Heads of Department shall be exempt from the need to obtain competitive quotations/prices where any of the following circumstances apply:
In all cases where an exemption is applied the Corporate Director/Head of Department shall maintain a record to evidence this.
Further exemption from Procurement Procedure Rules may be sought where a Head of Department can demonstrate that exemption is justified by special circumstances.
Where the Council seeks to implement alternative delivery options, for whole or parts of services, those procurements will be achieved in accordance with the Council’s Procurement Strategy. Such procurements may not necessarily be able to be undertaken within Procurement Procedure Rules given the number and combination of different procurement routes and processes that may be applicable, but must:
All procurement is expected to following the following process/framework taking each step in sequence noting that the overall value of procurement is not the initial consideration. Governance Services should be consulted at the relevant stage of the process as necessary.
This includes:
If the use of any such contract is not considered to offer Value for Money, then the relevant Corporate Director/Head of Department should consult with the Chief Financial Officer and the Assistant Director (Governance) in order to identify the most appropriate/advantageous procurement route.
(a) Disaggregation of any procurement, in order to apply a lower level to each of the parts is not permitted.
(b) Where any procurement spans a number of periods, or years, the total estimated cost will be the cumulative total of all periods, or years covered.
(c) The use of electronic “portals” or other electronic means must be used to widely advertise goods, works or services required by the Council where appropriate, to ensure equal opportunity between local and non-local suppliers.
(d) Procurement up to £50,000 (excluding VAT) – Quotation Rules Apply (Section 4.2).
(e) Procurement over £50,000 (excluding VAT) – Tender Rules Apply (Section 4.3).
[Note a temporary exemption currently applies here, where procurement £50,000 to £99,999 can be done through Quotation Rules. Procurement of £100,000 or above still requires a Tender process. See details here: www.tedtdc.co.uk/tiled-pages/exemption-to-procurement-rules-for-contracts-between-ps50-000-to-ps100-000]
After the appropriate procurement route has been identified by following the framework set out in 3.1 above and if appropriate:
Where procurement is less than £2,500 then value for money should be demonstrated by obtaining two prices where possible.
Where procurement is in excess of £2,500, the seeking of two prices would be expected, with evidence retained by the department.
A minimum of three quotations should be sought by the department in addition to the production of a documented specification to include:
The responsible Corporate Director/Head of Department shall arrange for a secure e-mail address to be set up on the Council’s e-mail system. Access to this e-mail address must not be available until the time of quotation opening. Access to the secure e-mail address shall be controlled by an independent senior member of staff not involved with the project or tender process or a member of the Procurement Service.
Where the lowest quotation received exceeds £50,000 (excluding VAT), Tender Rules shall be followed from that stage as if tenders had been sought.
If the value of the lowest quotation received exceeds the limit of the quotation category applied, then the Corporate Director/Head of Department must seek sufficient further quotations applicable to the level of the value of that lowest quotation.
The Corporate Director/Head of Department is under no obligation to accept any of the quotations. However where they are prepared to accept a quotation, the most financially advantageous quotation should be accepted unless other factors such as quality, local supply, performance and deliverability are also considered as part of the selection process. In accordance with the Council’s overall requirements to demonstrate Value for Money. Evidence is expected to be retained and recorded in an Officer Decision to support such decisions where procurement exceeds £10,000.
After the appropriate procurement route has been identified by following the framework set out in 3.1 above and if appropriate:
(a) Where the total estimated value of a proposed contract over its term is expected to exceed the appropriate current Public Contract Regulations 2015 (as amended) thresholds, such regulations will take precedence over these tender procedures.
The appropriate Corporate Director/Head of Department will determine whether to use Open Competitive Tendering or Selective Tendering as set out separately below.
A notice inviting tenders shall be prepared which should:
Following the expiry of the notice period, Tender documentation will be sent to interested parties in accordance with Section 4.3.5.
Where the Council can access a central/framework arrangement, government sponsored list or a contract negotiated by another public body as set out in Section 3.2 above, more than one supplier may be eligible under such arrangements. If this is the case, tender documentation should be sent to the relevant parties in accordance with Section 4.3.5. In all other cases the following process should be undertaken:
A public notice shall:
Following the conclusion of the evaluation process, Tender documentation will be sent to interested parties in accordance with Section 4.3.5 below.
Invitations to tender shall ensure fair competition and where possible include a mix of local and non-local suppliers and shall be sent to:
Not less than four contractors, with the maximum number as determined by the relevant Corporate Director/Head of Department. (Where less than four suitable contractors have been identified from the selection process, then all shall be invited to tender).
Tenders must:
Unless determined otherwise by the responsible Corporate Director/Head of Department in consultation with Governance Services, all tenders should be requested to be returned electronically by e-mail. However, whatever form of tender response is implemented, all tenders must be submitted in the same manner.
The responsible Corporate Director/Head of Department shall arrange for a secure e-mail address to be set up on the Council’s e-mail system. Access to this e-mail system must not be available until the time of tender opening. Access to the secure e-mail address shall be controlled by an independent senior member of staff not involved with the project or tender process or a member of the Procurement Service.
Tender documentation sent to potential providers must state that tenders must only be sent to the specified e-mail address and that tenders e-mailed to any other Council e-mail address or after the closing date and time will be disqualified.
As soon as practical after the closing date and time, a designated Governance Services Officer will arrange for the formal recording of the tenders submitted. In exceptional circumstances where hard copy tenders are requested, then the email requirement above is replaced by the tender returns being addressed to the Head of Democratic Services and Elections or their designated Officer. Prospective tenderers must be instructed to clearly mark envelopes with the fact that it is a tender submission and that it is not to be opened until after the relevant closing date and time.
Having obtained the necessary password from IT Services, the Head of Democratic Services and Elections (or other officer to whom they have delegated the responsibility) will access the appropriate electronic tenderbox and open, in turn, the Form of Tender document from the Tenderers contained therein. That Officer will also check the “Spam” email box to ensure that no Tendered documents have been misidentified.
That Officer will check that the Tenderer’s email was received before the deadline for receipt of tenders and will record the name of the Tenderer and the amount of the tender. The Officer will then forward, by email, the Tenderer’s email to the relevant Officer who is overseeing the tender process. The Officer will then repeat the process for all of the Tenderers. The Officer will then close down the electronic tenderbox and will then email the password to the relevant officer who is overseeing the tender process so that they can conduct their own checks et cetera.
The Officer will also complete the Record of Tenders Received (containing the information set out in (b) below) and they will also email that document to the relevant Officer who is overseeing the tender process for their records et cetera.
As soon as possible after the relevant closing date and time the hard copy tenders received will be opened in the presence of:
The officer referred to in (i) above will open the tender envelope, locate the form of Tender, record the name of the tenderer and the amount of the tender and initial against the amount on the Form of Tender. The Officer referred to in (ii) above will also similarly append their initials. That process will then be repeated for all of the Tender Envelopes.
The Officer referred to in (i) above will also complete the Record of Tenders Received (containing the information set out in (b) below) and they will produce two copies. One will be kept by that Officer and the second will be handed to the Officer referred to in (ii) above for the records et cetera.
(b) The Head of Democratic Services and Elections, or other officer to whom they have delegated that responsibility, shall prepare and maintain a register of tenders received and shall record in that register the following particulars:
(c) Any tender received after the closing time and date shall, unless Procurement Procedure Rule 4.3.7 (b)(iii) applies thereto, be returned by the Head of Democratic Services and Elections, or their delegated Officer promptly to the tenderer. The tender may be opened to ascertain the name and postal or email address of the tenderer, but no details of the tender shall be disclosed to any other party whether internal or external.
(a) Unless the requirements of Procurement Procedure Rules 4.3.5 (v) have been applied, the most financially advantageous tender to the Council shall be accepted by the Corporate Director/Head of Department (in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder or Committee Chairman).
(b) Where Procurement Procedure Rule 4.3.5 (v) applies, the tenders must be evaluated in accordance with the agreed evaluation process/criteria, and evidence retained to demonstrate this. The tender identified as most advantageous to the Council shall be accepted by the Corporate Director/Head of Department (in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder or Committee Chairman).
(c) In those instances when only one Tender has been submitted but it is deemed advantageous to the Council following the evaluation process, that tender shall be accepted by the Corporate Director/Head of Department, in consultation with the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder and the relevant Portfolio Holder or Committee Chairman.
The Corporate Director/Head of Department will produce a detailed report explaining why this course of action has been pursued and the said report will be circulated, alongside the Officer decision, to all members of the Council.
The Council will undertake a Tender Evaluation Consultation of all tenders, estimated at over £50,000 (excluding VAT) being sought. This should include, where appropriate, any proposed method of evaluation of expressions of interest from prospective contractors. The Consultation will be led by the relevant Corporate Director or their designated officer and will include officers determined by them along with a senior officer from the department letting the contract.
The Tender Evaluation Consultation shall also have the right to include technical assistance/expertise from other departments as considered necessary.
Officer decisions recording the award of contract should include reference to the views/comments identified by the consultees.
An external representation can be accepted into any Tender Evaluation Consultation. In all cases where an external representative is included, they must be asked to declare any potential interests.
Unless an exemption is obtained from the Assistant Director (Governance), the Council’s Standard Contract for Services must be used. The draft Contract must be supplied as part of the tender exercise. When seeking an exemption, the relevant department will identify why an alternative model contract is required or any additional or replacement terms and conditions are necessary for the service being sought. In all cases, contracts must follow any guidance issued by the Monitoring Officer in this regard.
(a) Each Corporate Director/Head of Department is responsible for advising the Chief Financial Officer, in writing, of those officers who are empowered to enter into contracts, or procurement, on behalf of the Council, and any maximum limits on the values concerned.
(b) Each Corporate Director/Head of Department shall advise the Chief Financial Officer in writing, immediately of any changes to those officers so empowered, or their limits.
(c) Only officers so empowered will be provided with a level of access to any computerised procurement system operated by, or on behalf of, the Council, that enables them to authorise official orders within the limits set.
(a) Competitive quotations/tenders shall be sought for the execution of works or for the supply of goods or materials by a nominated subcontractor in accordance with these Procurement Procedure Rules, unless it is considered impractical to do so.
(b) Where the estimated value of the subcontract does not exceed £50,000 the responsible Corporate Director/Head of Department shall determine whether it is practical to obtain quotations.
(c) Where the estimated value of the subcontract exceeds £50,000 and the responsible Corporate Director/Head of Department considers the obtaining of tenders to be impractical the approval of the Leader of the Council, relevant Portfolio Holder or Committee Chairman for the proposed course of action shall be sought.
(d) The invitation to a subcontractor to quote/tender shall include an undertaking that, if selected, the subcontractor will enter into a contract with the main contractor on terms which indemnify the main contractor against their own obligations under the main contract in respect of goods, works or services included in their subcontract.
ALL goods, works or services must be subject to an official order unless an exemption is provided in Section 6.2 below.
(a) All orders shall be placed using the Council’s approved ordering system, unless exempted elsewhere in these Procurement Procedure Rules.
(b) The format of the Council’s approved standard official purchase orders (either hard copy or electronic) and any standard terms and conditions to be applied to each order shall be determined by the. Assistant Director (Finance & IT) and the Assistant Director (Governance).
(c) In the event of the need to issue a variation to an order, this will be by issue of a further order and must clearly identify the order number of the order to be varied.
(d) All orders must:
Verbal orders, orders that are not accompanied by an official order or not exempt as set out below should only be made in special/exceptional circumstances and only after consultation with the Assistant Director (Finance and IT) or their designated officer. In the case of emergencies where an officer needs to take appropriate action to protect the Council’s position or its assets then a verbal order can be made but the Assistant Director (Finance and IT) must be informed as soon as practical thereafter.
Where verbal orders are made they should be followed up by entering the necessary details on the Council’s ordering system in accordance with 6.1 above as soon as possible.
A Corporate Director/Head of Department shall be exempt from the need to raise an official order in the following circumstances:
In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001 (as amended) (“the Regulations”) and subject to the Procedure Rules set out below, the function of appointment and dismissal of, and taking disciplinary action against, a member of staff of the Council must be discharged, on behalf of the Council, by the officer designated under section 4(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (designation and reports of Head of Paid Service) as the Head of Paid Service or by an officer nominated by him. Should any conflict arise between these officer Employment Procedure Rules and the relevant legislation, the latter will prevail.
Nothing shall prevent a person from serving as a member of a committee or sub-committee established by the Council to consider an appeal by –
(a) another person against any decision relating to the appointment of that person as a member of staff of the Council, or
(b) a member of staff of the Council against any decision relating to the dismissal of, or taking disciplinary action against that member of staff.
Where the Council proposes to appoint a Chief Officer (* as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part II of Schedule 3 of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2011 (as amended) and any assistant to political groups) and it is not proposed that the appointment will be made exclusively from among its existing Officers, the Council will:
(a) Draw up a statement specifying:
(b) Make arrangements for the post to be advertised in such a way as is likely to bring it to the attention of persons who are qualified to apply for it.
(c) Make arrangements for a copy of the statement mentioned in (a) above to be sent to the person on request.
2. Where a post has been advertised as provided in 2.1 above, the Council shall –
(a) Interview all qualified applicants for the post, or
(b) select a shortlist of such qualified applicants and interview those included on the shortlist
3. Where no qualified person has applied, the Council shall make further arrangements for advertisement in accordance with 1. above.
(a) Where a committee, sub-committee or officer is discharging, on behalf of the Council, the function of the appointment of an officer designated as the head of the authority’s paid service, Full Council must approve that appointment before an offer of appointment is made to that person.
(b) Full Council will approve the appointment of the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer and Chief Financial Officer following the recommendation of the Human Resources Sub-Committee of the Council. That Sub-Committee must include at least one member of the Cabinet.
(c) Full Council may approve and make the appointment of the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer and Chief Financial Officer only where no valid well-founded objection has been made by any member of the Cabinet.
(a) The Human Resources Sub-Committee of the Council will appoint the, Corporate Directors, Assistant Directors, other such Senior Officers as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part II of Schedule 3 of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2011 (as amended) and any assistant to political groups. That Sub-Committee must include at least one member of the Cabinet.
(b) An offer of appointment to the post of a Corporate Director, or Assistant Director or other such Senior Officer post as defined above, shall be made only where no valid well-founded objection from any member of the Cabinet has been received.
(c) A central record of posts covered by Paragraph 3 of Part II of Schedule 2 of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) Regulations 2001 (as amended) will be held in Human Resources.
(a) An offer of appointment can only be made to an individual by the correct ‘appointer’, being the Council or a committee, sub-committee or authorised nominated officer of the Council discharging the function of appointment on behalf of the Council as determined by the Regulations and these Procedure Rules.
(b) No offer of an appointment shall be made to the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Director, Assistant Director or other such Senior Officer post as defined above until:
(c) The Leader of the Council may object, on behalf of the Cabinet, to the appointment within three working days of the issue of the notice in (a) above.
(d) An offer of appointment may be made if:
The appointment of Officers below the Head of Service is the responsibility of the Head of Paid Service or their nominee, and may not be made by Councillors.
(a) The Human Resources Sub-Committee shall deal with disciplinary action (has the same meaning as defined in the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001 in connection with the Council’s Chief Officers (*) as defined in this Constitution, and any assistant to political groups and resolve any action which it considers appropriate.
(b) With regards to disciplinary issues in connection with the Council’s statutory officers, the Committee can only resolve action short of dismissal. In instances where its recommendation is to dismiss any Statutory Officer it must adhere to the processes set out in these Procedure Rules and the full Human Resources and Council Tax Committee together with the Independent Persons must refer its recommendation to Full Council.
(c) The Council’s statutory officers are those defined as Head of the Authority’s Paid Service, Chief Financial Officer and Monitoring Officer.
Members will not be involved in the disciplinary action or dismissal against any officer below a Deputy Chief Officer. The Council’s disciplinary, capability and related procedures, as adopted from time to time will apply, and may allow a right of appeal to members in respect of disciplinary action.
2.1 In the following paragraphs:
2.2 A relevant officer may not be dismissed by the authority unless the procedure set out in the following paragraphs is complied with.
2.3 The authority must invite relevant independent persons to be considered for appointment to the Panel, with a view to appointing at least two such persons to the Panel.
2.4 In paragraph 2.3 “relevant independent person” means any independent person who has been appointed by the authority or, where there are fewer than two such persons, such independent persons as have been appointed by another authority or authorities as the authority considers appropriate.
2.5 Subject to paragraph 2.6, the authority must appoint to the Panel such relevant independent persons who have accepted an invitation issued in accordance with paragraph 2.3 in accordance with the following priority order:
2.6 The authority is not required to appoint more than two relevant independent persons in accordance with paragraph 2.5 but may do so.
2.7 The authority must appoint any Panel at least 20 working days before the relevant meeting.
2.8 Before the taking of a vote at the relevant meeting on whether or not to approve such a dismissal, the authority must take into account, in particular:
2.9 Any remuneration, allowances or fees paid by the authority to an independent person appointed to the Panel must not exceed the level of remuneration, allowances or fees payable to that independent person in respect of that person’s role as an independent person under the 2011 Act.
(a) Members will not be involved in the dismissal of any officer below Deputy Chief Officer except where such involvement is necessary for any investigation or inquiry into alleged misconduct. The Council’s disciplinary, capability and related procedures, as adopted from time to time, may allow a right of appeal to Members in respect of dismissals.
(b) Where a committee, sub-committee or officer is discharging, on behalf of the Council, the function of the dismissal of an officer designated as the Head of Paid Service, Chief Finance Officer or Monitoring Officer, Full Council must approve that dismissal before notice is given to that person (the statutory procedure set out in 9 above must be followed prior to such dismissal).
(c) Where a committee or sub-committee is discharging, on behalf of the Council, the function of the dismissal of a Chief Officer, at least one member of the executive must be a member of that committee or sub-committee.
(d) Notices of dismissal can only be made to an officer by the correct ‘dismissor’, being the Council or a committee, sub-committee or an authorised nominated officer of the Council discharging the function of dismissal on behalf of the Council as determined by the Regulations and these Procedure Rules.
(e) Notice of dismissal must not be given to the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer, Chief Financial Officer, or Chief Officer post (*) until:
1. The Chairman of the Human Resources Sub-Committee (on behalf of the Sub-Committee) has notified the Assistant Director (Partnerships) of the name of the person the Sub-Committee wishes to dismiss and any other particulars relevant to the dismissal which the Sub-Committee has notified to the Assistant Director (Partnerships).
2. The Assistant Director (Partnerships) has notified every member of the Cabinet of the name of the person who the dismissor wishes to dismiss, any other particulars relevant to the dismissal and the period for objection.
(f) The Leader of the Council may object, on behalf of the Cabinet, to the dismissal within 3 working days of the issue of the notice in (b) above.
(g) Notice of dismissal may then only be made if:
1. The Leader of the Council has notified the Assistant Director (Partnerships) within 3 working days that neither they, nor any other Member of the Cabinet has any objection to the dismissal; or
2. The Assistant Director (Partnerships) has notified the Sub-Committee that they have not received any objection from the Leader in the period specified in (f) above.
3. The Sub-Committee is satisfied that any objection received from the Leader within that period is neither material nor well-founded.
Tendring District Council recognises the importance of petitions as a means of engaging with local communities, enabling the public to air concerns, and as a mechanism for generating service improvements. These pages set out what a petition is, how the public can submit a petition, how it will be dealt with and what the Council can do to respond to the issues raised.
Any communication which is signed by, or sent to the Council by 30 or more people who live, work or study within Tendring shall be treated as a petition provided that such communication has a clear message or instruction upon which it would wish the Council to act.
Any communication which is signed by, or sent to the Council by less than 30 of the people who live, work or study within Tendring shall not be treated as a petition but, where it relates to a matter for which the Council has responsibility for, it shall be forwarded to the appropriate officer of the Council to acknowledge and advise what action, if any, will be taken.
The Council is keen to receive feedback from all residents, visitors and from people working or studying in the Tendring area, through various communication channels. However, only those people who are either (a) permanent residents of Tendring or (b) non-residents who can be clearly identified as either working or studying in Tendring can trigger a formal petition response.
There is no legislation supporting the minimum age requirement for a person to initiate or support a petition. Accordingly, children and young people have the ability to submit a petition as it is deemed they have the same rights and opportunity for their voices to be heard as well as adults. However, it is recognised that in practice, a teacher or parent would oversee the submission of a petition from school children where such children are under 16 years of age.
Whilst the Council welcomes petitions as a means of highlighting concerns within a local area, the lead petitioner has a responsibility to ensure that any petition submitted is done so under the principle of good faith and be decent, honest and respectful.
Any petition submitted must contain the following:
Any petition that does not comply with the above requirements will be deemed invalid.
Petitions can be submitted to the Council in the following ways:
Receipt of a petition will be formally acknowledged to the lead petitioner in writing or by email as appropriate, within five working days of its receipt. In relation to an E-petition the lead petitioner will be informed that the Council will deem the petition to be held ‘in abeyance’ until such time as the end date has passed. At which time the Council will count up and, if necessary, verify the signatures etc. The Council will then action the petition in accordance with the provisions of this Scheme.
The Council will accept any petition on face value but reserves the right to verify the signatures or investigate further, if deemed necessary. The petition must not be vexatious or frivolous or defamatory or offensive. It must not be substantially the same as a Petition previously received and dealt with by the Council within the past 12 months.
It must also relate to a matter for which the Council has responsibility for, subject to the exceptions detailed below:
The Head of Democratic Services and Elections (or, in their absence or other unavailability, the Committee Services Manager) will decide whether a petition is valid and/or acceptable. In making their decision those Officers will consult, if necessary, the Monitoring Officer. If the decision made is to reject the petition as being invalid and/or unacceptable the Head of Democratic Services and Elections (or Committee Services Manager) will inform the Lead Petitioner accordingly, explaining the reasons why the petition cannot be accepted under this scheme and, if appropriate, informing the petitioner that the petition will be forwarded to the relevant department together with a request that they respond directly to the petitioner on the matters raised.
If the issue contained within the petition is not something which the Council would ordinary consider in public as it would require the disclosure of confidential or exempt information (as defined in local government law), the lead petitioner will be informed accordingly, explaining the reasons why the petition cannot be accepted under this scheme and where appropriate, referring the petitioner to the relevant department and advising them as to how their views can be expressed via alternative means.
If the issue contained within the petition does not relate to any functions or responsibilities of the District Council, but does relate to a matter for which Essex County Council or other body or partner is responsible, the petition will be forwarded to that organisation and the lead petitioner advised accordingly.
Each petition received shall be based on a tiered system whereby:
Note: Where the subject of a petition requires urgent action (it cannot wait until the following meeting of the Council) it is proposed that the petition be investigated and a report be presented to the first available meeting of the appropriate committee or Cabinet (if it relates to a matter that is an Executive function under the law)
In the period immediately before an election or referendum the Council may need to deal with petitions differently. If this is the case, the Head of Democratic Services and Elections, having consulted the Monitoring Officer, will explain, in writing, the reasons to the Lead Petitioner and inform them of the revised timescale that will apply.
When a petition is being initially considered by a committee or the Cabinet (or Council, following investigation and a report being brought back), the lead petitioner will be invited to address the committee, Cabinet or Council as the case may be, outlining the reasons for the submission of the petition and what action they would like the Council to take. The lead petitioner (or his or her representative) will have a time limit of three minutes for their speech and the petition will then be discussed by Councillors. A Ward Councillor can, at the request of the lead petitioner, present the petition to the committee, Cabinet or Council, as the case may be, on their behalf and will have a time limit of three minutes for their speech.
Where the lead petitioner requests a representative or a Ward Councillor to speak on their behalf, the lead petitioner must inform the Head of Democratic Services and Elections (or the Committee Services Manager) in writing or by email in advance of the relevant meeting of the name of that representative/Ward Councillor.
Should two petitions be received on the same issue (including if one is in support and one opposing a course of action) then both lead petitioners will be invited to address Cabinet or Council at the same time.
The relevant Ward Member(s), Cabinet Member(s) and officers will be informed when a valid petition covering their Wards and/or areas of responsibility is received and when and how the petition will be considered.
The lead petitioner will be informed, in writing, of the committee’s Cabinet’s or Council’s decision as the case may be and this information will also be published on the Council’s website via the Minutes of the relevant meeting at which the petition was dealt with. If a further meeting is to be held to consider the issues raised in the petition, the lead petitioner will be supplied with the relevant details and will also be given the opportunity to attend and, if so requested by the chairman, address that meeting and/or answer any questions posed at the meeting.
Relevant Officers will be required to attend any meeting to assist in the scrutiny and investigation of issues raised in the petition. As a general principle, the relevant Officers should be at a Head of Service level or above.
Where possible, the consideration of a petition will be held in public but, in exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary for an issue to be considered as a “exempt” item under the Local Government Act 1972, the Access to Information Act 1985 and other relevant legislation. In such circumstances, the lead petitioner, public and press will be excluded from the meeting (or part of it) but the reasons for their exclusion will be clearly communicated to them and will also be included in the Minutes of that meeting.
There are several courses of action available to the committee, Cabinet or the Council (as appropriate) once a petition has been considered, including: