Essex Police signs Procurement Charter

ESSEX Police scored another first when Chief Constable Roger Baker signed a national Procurement Charter.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Procurement Charter demonstrates a commitment to collaboration on acquiring goods, works and services from third parties.

It covers supplies and services, ICT, vehicles, equipment and the acquisition of assets, such as land and buildings, from the identification of need, through to the end of a services contract or end of the useful life of an asset.

The charter supports the ACPO Procurement Strategy agreed earlier this year, which contains six key principles.

Mr Baker was the first Chief Constable across the East and South East Regions to sign up to the charter, with the force's Head of Procurement Sandra Higgins, on Monday, November 17.

Mr Baker said: "People can be very dismissive about strategies but this charter will make a huge difference to the people we are here to serve - collaborating with other forces to procure goods and services could save us millions of pounds.

"Procurement plays a vital role in innovation and the streamlining and improvement of services and, as our own procurement strategy directly refers to the principles contained in the ACPO Procurement Charter, we felt it right to sign it."

And Mrs Higgins pointed out: "If Procurement is involved at the concept stage, we can draw up a procurement strategy that will enable us to structure the contracts to maximise opportunities and efficiencies, exploiting the competitive markets where possible."

In the last financial year, procurement saved the force £2.8million in efficiency savings - equivalent to 70 police officers.

The force's Operation Apex programme director, Rick Tazzini, is also chairman of the East and South-East Police Procurement Committee and represents the region on the national ACPO Procurement Committee.

He is the national lead on delivering the principle of 'increasing further police procurement capacity and capability'.
Mr Tazzini said: "The ACPO Procurement Charter will help us embed collaborative principles at Essex Police.

"Indeed, collaborating with other forces on procurement can help deliver genuine savings for front-line reinvestment, which we are doing under the banner of Operation Apex."

Operation Apex is the force's plan to recruit an extra 600 police officers over the next three to five years. The first 40 recruits are currently being trained at Essex Police College, with another 20 due to start next month.

Earlier this year, Essex and Kent police forces agreed to operate a single Procurement unit, which will procure almost £100million of goods and services a year. A joint head of Procurement is currently being recruited.

The six key principles for delivery of the ACPO Procurement Charter are:

• Increasing further police procurement capacity and capability

• Securing further supplier competition and price leverage

• Shaping user requirements and design specifications

• Developing techniques and practices to reduce costs and risks

• Reducing procurement overheads and the costs of acquisition

• Promoting sustainability and supporting diversity in procurement