Issue - meetings

This report sets out the breaches of Financial Regulations (the Regulations) and four circumstances described in Part G, Paragraph 5 (para 5), that are now recorded within Procurement Decision Records (PDRs) (previously separately recorded as waivers) which have occurred during the 2024/25 financial year.

Circumstances described in Financial Regulations paragraph 5 are:

i.               Accelerated procurement where the Council would suffer significant negative impact if the full operational or strategic procurement approach is applied.

ii.              Unable to invite or obtain 3 bids or competition absent for technical reasons

iii.             Payments in advance for goods, services or works

iv.            Propose not to use an available Corporate Contract

An analysis of breaches and PDRs highlights the following:

Whilst no breaches of Financial Regulations is the preferable position, the relatively low number of breaches again suggests a good level of understanding of the requirements amongst managers and officers in the majority of service directorates and has resulted in general compliance with the Regulations.

Whilst full compliance can never be guaranteed and ‘under-reporting’ of breaches, in particular, is an inherent possibility, arrangements were in place to detect instances of non-compliance.

There were 212 PDRs approved during 2024/25 totalling approximately £200m and of these 28 were circumstances as described in Financial Regulations Part G Paragraph 5 which require reporting to this committee.

An effective and transparent breaches and PDR governance process maximises the chances of the Council achieving value for money and complying with UK Procurement Legislation (Public Contract Regulations 2015 & Procurement Act 2023).