Head of Procurement post

Dear Dean Smith,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST
Head of Procurement post - Bexley - our reference 10/320

I acknowledge your request for information received on 11th May 2010.

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information
requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined
by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not
being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions, which may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the
information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the
case, including your rights of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not
to release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the
case.

There may a fee payable for this information. This will be considered
and you will be informed if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must
be paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working
day time limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact the Local
Studies Librarian and Freedom of Information Officer, Bexley Local
Studies and Archive Centre, Central Library, Townley Road, Bexleyheath,
Kent DA6 7HJ.

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at: Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

John Grosvenor
Local Studies Librarian and Freedom of Information Officer
London Borough of Bexley
Local Studies and Archive Centre,
Townley Road,
Bexleyheath,
Kent. DA6 7HJ
Tel: 020 8303 7777 ext 3369
DDI 020 8836 7369
Fax: 020 8304 7058
[email address]

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Smith

Thank you for your freedom of information request concerning the interim
management of our Procurement function.

Your request has been handled in accordance with the terms of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.

The Council identified a need to engage specialists to transform
procurement across the organisation with particular focus on strategic
sourcing. To ensure value for money and competitive options, the Council
tendered and subsequently awarded a contract to Northgate Public Services
using a framework competitively tendered through the Official Journal of
the European Union (OJEU) of which Northgate Public Services were one of
the 8 framework partners. The details of the framework is available on the
Council's contract register available on our website.

Following the commencement of the procurement transformation programme,
the Head of Procurement, was not available due to personal reasons, and
the Council therefore asked the retained temporary staffing agency (Reed
Employment) to provide candidates to fill the role on an interim basis.
The agency was unable to fill the position and the Council therefore asked
the incumbent transformation partner to increase their on-site resources
to provide line management of the Procurement and Payments team for an
initial 3 months to cover the absence and support the change programme.
The resources to cover these additional responsibilities are charged at
£10,000 per month on 2 months notice.

As part of a wider review, the Council's General Purposes Committee have
since approved a re-organisation of the Directorate of Finance with the
deletion of the Head of Procurement post and the redesignation of a second
existing Deputy Director's post to take over responsibility for
Procurement and Exchequer Services, therefore strengthening the
procurement function at Deputy Director level. The post is a Member
appointment and will be subject to external advertisement. The Council
have therefore extended the interim arrangements for line management
responsibility until a new Deputy Director is appointed.

With reference to the contract detail and the report on the Organisational
Review of Directorate of Finance; Section 21 of the Freedom of Information
Act exempts the Council from complying with the duty to supply you with
this information on the grounds that it is already in the public domain.
Should you have difficulties in accessing this information by the means
listed above please do not hesitate to contact me again. There is a public
interest in making this information available. The information about the
works, goods and services contracts are regularly updated on the Council
website for the public to view.

Individual emails pertaining to the recruitment of a permanent member of
staff contain confidential HR information and are therefore exempt under
Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act as its disclosure would
contravene the data protection principles in the Data Protection Act 1998.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact,
Chris Loynes, Head of Citizenship and Member's Services, Room 338 London
Borough of Bexley, Civic Offices, Broadway, Bexleyheath, DA6 7LB.

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane, Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF 
Telephone: 01625 545 700
Internet: www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Trevor Mogg

Procurement Manager

London Borough of Bexley

[1][email address]

Direct dial 020 8294 6422

show quoted sections