Person responsible for managing the assessment

Procurement Team Manager

Name and brief description of the service / policy to be assessed

Procurement;

To support the Council in the appropriate procurement of goods and services.

Objectives of the service/policy to be assessed

• To ensure that equality and diversity issues are embedded into all stages of the procurement process;
• To ensure that EU Public Procurement Regulations and UK Legislation are incorporated into the Contract procedure as appropriate;
• To ensure that the Council and all third parties acting on its behalf adhere to equality standards.

Baseline/monitoring data

Number of suppliers, number of Contracts; see Procurement Spend Analysis attached.

Service/policy outcome evaluation

Organisations providing services to, or on behalf of the Council must carry out their duties in accordance with UK legislation governing race, gender and disability.  Failure to comply with this policy could make the Authority, and in some cases individuals, liable to legal action and prevent organisations from being allowed to tender for Council services and works.

List of main stakeholders/beneficiaries

Employees of contracts, Federation of small businesses, Chamber of Commerce etc.

How representative is the ‘stakeholder’ list above?

Fully.

Who benefits from the service/policy?

Officers, Members, Members of the community, Contractors and Suppliers (no evidence to suggest any group is under or over represented)

In what area are there concerns that the policy could have a differential impact

Race

Disability

Gender

Age

Religious beliefs

Sexual Orientation

Please explain for each of the target equality groups, but in particular race, disability and gender:             

I think the main areas of concern are whether our contract terms and conditions deal adequately with all equality issues, whether contract officers monitor (and record) equality aspects as part of their contract monitoring and whether advertising practices raise any equality concerns.

Areas of concern that the service/policy could have a differential impact  

Communication / language issues;

No access to internet to access information;

Not able to access internet or info due to disability.

Differential impact

Potentially excluded from being able to tender or quote.

Reasons for any differential impact

Unaware of how to find information and language barriers.

Are there any barriers to opportunities or access for some groups?

Language barriers would make communication difficult as all paperwork is currently only in English.

Complaints data

Not aware of any complaints received to date.

Are there disadvantages caused by discrimination?

None identified.

Are there opportunities to better promote service/policy inclusion?

To continue to provide information on our website and via Serving You;

To include Race Equality Standards in any Pre-Qualification Questionnaires to Contractors;

When Contractors tender for contracts or provide quotes for goods/services;

Ongoing throughout the term of a contract, as part of a monitoring process.

Have you undertaken any consultation?

No.

Consultation outcomes

N/A.

Assessment conclusion

In conclusion, at the start of any procurement, the Council will:

a)  Include all equality and diversity requirements in any specification or contract conditions, where appropriate;

b)  Include non-discrimination contract clauses;

c)  Include relevant clauses to promote race equality;

d)  At the point of invitation to tender, state equality evaluation criteria;

e)  At point of evaluation and award, evaluate which offer is best value for money, and can meet all the requirements;

f)  when monitoring a contract, check the contractor’s performance meets equality requirements.

Monitoring timetable

At the end of each contract, review success or failure in promoting equality and note any lessons learned for future contracts.

Please ensure that you have provided as much evidence as possible to support the responses you have given.

Additional Comments

Signed:  Procurement Team Manager                                              (Completing Officer)

Signed: Head of Finance                                                                 (Head of Service)

Date:  Sept 2007