Procurement policies, procedures and responsibilities

The Procurement team is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the council’s procurement activities. 

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) on procurement activities. For information on how this might impact you, read the procurement and local government reorganisation questions and answers.

They work alongside functions and service areas to develop category strategies for major spend categories. They will lead on designing, building and running tenders as well as managing contracts and supplier relationships.

Service offer and procurement team structure

Find out more about the procurement service offer (PPTX, 1MB).

View the Procurement team structure chart (PDF, 248KB). 

The Procurement category chart (PDF, 182KB) shows the procurement specialists responsible for each area of procurement.

Specification template

View the Standard specification template (DOC, 233KB) which is used for our procurement activities. Guidance on how to fill out the template is available in Appendix 2.

Responsibilities when spending council money 

While the Procurement team is responsible for all sourcing activity with a value of £100,000 (one hundred thousand) or more, all employees should be familiar with the procurement policy and procedures documents and ensure they operate within the rules. 

Procurement policy and procedures 

The Procurement policy (DOCX, 105KB) sets out the council’s procurement policy and procedures which support delivery of the organisation's commercial strategy. 

It also forms part of the council’s code of governance and standing orders, and all employees have a duty to make sure they have fully understood the information before buying goods and services. 

Supplier charters

Our supplier charters tell suppliers what our organisation expects from them. 

• Supplier charter (PDF, 29KB)
• Supplier sustainability charter (PDF, 414KB)

Online training courses

Back to basics procurement

This 30-minute course is for anyone procuring goods, works or services or managing contracts. It covers the end-to-end process in line with our procurement strategy, policies and procedures.

Start the back to basics procurement course

Procurement budget holder training

This 30-minute mandatory course is for all budget holders. It builds on the 'back to basics procurement' course and delves into more detail about the stages of procurement process. 

Start the Procurement budget holder training course

Payment arrangements

This document explains when to use grants, donations or contracts for paying others. It provides guidelines to make sure these arrangements are used correctly and legally within the organisation.

Working with businesses: grants and contracts guidance (DOCX, 69KB)

Procurement strategy 

The Procurement strategy (PDF, 700KB) defines our organisational approach to procurement and has been developed to support everyone within the council that has a role to play in delivering services within the external market. 

Social value policy 

Social value is the view beyond price that looks at the additional value organisations can bring to our communities. We want to work our suppliers to produce wider benefits for Essex. 

To understand our approach and learn more about social value and how it applies to your buying activities, read about our social value priorities on Essex.gov.uk. 

Modern Slavery Act 2015 compliance 

We expect our suppliers to comply with the regulations in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.  

Our our modern day slavery and human trafficking statement which further explains how we deal with modern slavery risks in our supply chains. Read about compliance with the Modern Slavery Act on Essex.gov.uk.