PURCHASING PROCEDURES - University of Central Lancashire

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1. Foreword The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to those members of staff involved in the difficult task of hiring external consultants to undertake work on behalf of the University. The following check lists, procedures and principles will provide complete assurance in the safety of the placement of a consultancy contract (legal contract “Standard Contract for the Purchase of Consultancy” available from www.uclan.ac.uk/information/services/finance/purchasing/terms_and_conditions.php. Do please note that travel expenses listed under Appendix 1 are intended as a guideline only and should be checked for any revisions. Please remember the Purchasing Office are always available to assist and contact should be made with the Head of Purchasing on ext. 2220 in the first instance if any member of staff wishes to take advantage of their expertise in this matter. The aim of this document is to improve the quality of consultants‟ reports as a management tool by laying out the University‟s expectations, highlighting best practice and documenting the risks associated with consultant reports and presentations. In general terms, as part of a broader management framework, consultant reports, like all other elements of such a framework, must be subject to and demonstrate value for money, risk awareness, audit ability and a connectedness to corporate planning and strategic priorities. In specific terms the outputs of such consultant contributions should demonstrate objectivity, rigour, validity, reliability, coherence and focus. These general and specific considerations are directly related. A consultant‟s report which lacks validity will lack value for money. Similarly a review which lacks objectivity is unlikely to contribute satisfactorily to risk assessment or mitigation processes. The cost of ineffective or flawed consultancy is potentially not just the fee paid for the consultancy work but the business cost of poor decisions made on the basis of such consultancy. All consultants‟ reports are different and the commissioning conditions and briefs can vary significantly. There is no single correct way to carry out effective consultancy. However, the University is committed to maximising the quality of decision making generally and is focused therefore on establishing best practice in relation to those reports it commissions. The following set of principles indicates a set of expectations to which all consultants and commissioning mangers should adhere. Promotion of these principles and raising awareness of the issues they address, both internally and to potential consultants, is designed to raise standards of consultancy reports and improve decision making. Purchasing Procedures December 2011
POLICY 2.0 Principles 2.1 All consultancies will be expected to adhere to a professional Code of Practice This will be either the MCA (Management Consultancies Association) Code of Professional Conduct or equivalent 1 . Additionally all consultancies shall adhere to the University‟s policies on diversity and equal opportunities in all work and not just such work which has diversity as an explicit element of the brief. 2.2 All consultancies will be appropriately commissioned. This means that all commissions will be consistent with the University‟s Financial Regulations and will normally incorporate the model contract for consultants issued by Financial Services. 2.3 All consultancies will have a clear brief This means that all consultancies will have as a minimum a written statement of The scope of the work with relevant terms appropriately defined The methodologies and instruments to be used (e.g. survey, interview, focus group etc) In the case of survey work the population from which the sample will be drawn and the sampling frame. A stated link to University Strategy (e.g. Corporate Plan, Risk Register, VFM schedule or equivalent), and previous relevant documents and research work where known. Who is commissioning the consultancy and to whom the outputs should be delivered in the first instance The nature of the outputs (reports, presentations etc) The time frame for final report and any intermediate drafts to be delivered Utilising the Standard Contract for the Purchase of Consultancy will cover all of the above requirements. 2.4 All quantitative surveys will be reliable, valid and appropriately executed and reported. This means that Survey questions will adhere to social science good practice and questions or items should be both reliable and valid. Appropriate confidentiality and informed consent must be exercised. Statistical analysis should be decided prior to data collection. 1 http://www.mca.org.uk/MCA/AboutUs/CodeOfConduct.aspx Purchasing Procedures December 2011
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PURCHASING PROCEDURES INTRODUCTION
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PURCHASING PHILOSOPHY The Universit
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PURCHASING PROCEDURES 1: SERVICES T
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3: AUTHORITY TO ORDER The responsib
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4: REQUEST TO PURCHASE The Buyers G
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6: INVITATIONS TO TENDER/QUOTE The
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A public service contract is one wh
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2.1 Public Supply and Public Servic
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4 TENDERING PROCEDURES Tenders may
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problems of incompatibility or disp
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6 TIMESCALES In each of the procedu
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The technical specification should
Page 25 and 26: at worst, a legal challenge to the
Page 27 and 28: 9: DEALING WITH SUPPLIERS All deali
Page 29 and 30: test or documentation; state the cr
Page 31 and 32: 12: PURCHASING CONSORTIUM The Unive
Page 33 and 34: 14: LEAD PURCHASERS' GROUP An infor
Page 35 and 36: 16: SUPPLIER APPRAISAL It is an obj
Page 37 and 38: 18: PURCHASING CARDS 1. Overview 2.
Page 39 and 40: 2. Procedures and Regulations 2.1 R
Page 41 and 42: 2.5 Payment of Goods/Services order
Page 43 and 44: When you buy online with Company Ba
Page 45 and 46: Remember to update your transaction
Page 47 and 48: A.2. Problems with Supply of Goods
Page 49 and 50: A.4. Dealing with the Purchase Card
Page 51 and 52: APPENDIX B Quick Reference Guide fo
Page 53 and 54: 19. CORPORATE CARD PROCEDURES 1. Ov
Page 55 and 56: 2. Procedures and Regulations 2.1 R
Page 57 and 58: 2.3.1 VAT Guidelines Some expenses
Page 59 and 60: 2.7 Security Company Barclaycard wi
Page 61 and 62: 2.8.6 Check for a secure connection
Page 63 and 64: APPENDIX A (Flow Charts) A.1 Purcha
Page 65 and 66: A.3. Dealing with the Corporate Car
Page 67 and 68: A.5 Checking of the VAT Invoice Res
Page 69 and 70: APPENDIX C Corporate card log Purch
Page 71 and 72: 3. Meeting - Discussion Commencing
Page 73 and 74: 21: PURCHASING GUIDANCE NOTES WHEN
Page 75: 22. CONSULTANCY GUIDANCE FOR THE PR
Page 79 and 80: 2.7 All qualitative surveys and ass
Page 81 and 82: 3.0 Financial Regulations POLICY 3.
Page 83 and 84: 4.0 The Process: Hiring of Consulta
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Page 87 and 88: 5.9 Monitoring of Consultancy It is
Page 89 and 90: Appendix 2 Advice on Differentiatio
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PURCHASING PROCEDURES - University of Central Lancashire

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