13. Purchasing
Last updated: Tue, Sep 20th, 2016 1:32:57 pm
13.1 The Board must establish a set of procedures governing purchasing and should set out the arrangements for buying, receipt of goods and accounting, compliant with public procurement guidelines, regulation and policy.
13.2 A purchasing policy needs to strike a balance between quality and cost, as the cheapest is not always the best, and between cost-effective bulk purchasing and inefficient overstocking. Registers of known suppliers must be built up for frequently required items but occasional comparative checks must be made with prices of other suppliers.
13.3 Government Procurement: The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) was set up in 2013 to optimise value for money across the public service. This office secures savings in the purchase of services and materials by public bodies through centralised tendering. As our schools receive more than 50% of funding from Government we are regarded as public bodies and subject to Department of Public Expenditure and Reform circulars on the issue.
Schools will be notified of the relevant information emanating from the OGP pertaining to Education and schools. The process will be outlined and explained in detail through DES circulars with additional information on the practical supports needed being delivered by ACCS e.g. : Photocopying and Multi-Purpose Office Paper Contract. See Info Bulletin 21/13 on ACCS website. www.accs.ie.
13.4 As an integral strand of the Government’s overall reform programme for public procurement - the Schools Procurement Unit (SPU) has been established within the JMB Secretariat of Secondary Schools. The Schools Procurement Unit (SPU) acts as the central coordinating function for procurement for all schools including schools in the Community and Comprehensive (C & C) sector. The SPU has responsibility for issue of guidelines for all schools and will have a central role in communicating procurement requirements and opportunities to schools, driving and measuring compliance to central contracts and managing procurement data across the school sectors.
Information on the Schools Procurement Unit SPU is contained on the JMB website.
13.5 For Goods & Services not covered by the OGP, evaluation of proposals from third parties must take place to establish:
That the proposal is of clear benefit to the school.
That the expenditure on the proposal will represent value for money.
That the proposal does not expose the school to any undue financial or other risk.
That the third party has the capacity to provide the goods and or/services concerned. In this regard, thorough and robust due diligence must be undertaken prior to entering into a contract.
13.6 Boards must take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that suppliers and contractors engaged are reputable and competent and are registered with the Revenue authorities in the State.
13.7 In the case of all public sector contracts of a value of €10,000 (inclusive of VAT) or more within any 12 – month period, the contractor (and agent as appropriate) will be required either to
Produce a current tax clearance certificate, or,
Demonstrate a satisfactory level of subcontractor tax compliance
See links to Revenue website:
Revised procedures for Tax Clearance in respect of Public Service Contracts, Grants, Subsidies and similar type payments. (Department of Finance Circulars 43/2006) updated 26th July 201 Guidelines for Tax Clearance (July 2016)
eTax Clearance FAQs (July 2016)
See Appendix 4 for further details on Circular 43/2006.
13.8 With effect from January 2012, new requirements were introduced by the Revenue Commissioners in relation to the operation of Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT). RCT is a tax regime applicable to construction contracts in which tax is deducted by a principal contractor from payments due to a contractor for construction operations. School Boards of Management are regarded as “Principal Contractor”. This means that the Board of Management undertaking works funded by the Department will be responsible for complying with RCT requirements and VAT returns when making payments to their Contractor. All filings and notifications must be done online through the Revenue Online System (ROS).
A Guidance Note (August 2016) for Boards of Management outlining the responsibilities of the Board in relation to RCT and VAT is contained on the Revenue Commissioners web-site. In order to ensure compliance Boards should access the relevant related information on the following link. (See Appendix 5 also)
Guidance Note Boards of Management -Relevant Contracts Tax/Value Added Tax
13.9 All purchases excluding routine items such as telephone, ESB and petty cash purchases should be made on foot of an approved order certified by the Principal. Pre-numbered triplicate order books should be used for this purpose. Purchase orders should be completed in triplicate and signed off as approved by the Principal in all cases. The original purchase order should be forwarded to the relevant supplier, the second copy should be associated with the invoices relating to the goods received and the third should remain in the purchases order book.
13.10 Competitive tendering procedures as described in Section 14 below should always be used for the purchase of goods and services.
13.11 Tendering procedures must also apply in the case of once off purchases, see Section 14, paragraph 14.3
13.12 It is accepted that in respect of certain services (e.g. electrical, plumbing) which are required regularly and often at short notice that it may be more practical to select one/two contractor(s) whose services are called upon as required without the need to seek advance quotations for each task. In these cases, periodic comparison of prices and quality of service between a number of contractors in the area will suffice.
13.13 A file containing evidence of the tendering and quotation procedures actually followed must be retained for inspection if required.
13.14 Other considerations are:-
procedures for issuing and authorising orders
safekeeping of order books
special requirements in relation to the authorisation of major purchases.
• assignment of responsibilities for checking supplier’s invoices and statements, goods returned, maintaining records and authorising invoices for payment.
the need to check individual invoices both as regards quantity and pricing before being authorised for payment. Checking would involve examination and cross referencing of the invoice to the purchase order, goods delivery note, evidence as to quantity and the condition of goods delivered and evidence that service has been supplied to a satisfactory standard.
13.15 Board members and all other staff with responsibility for purchasing/procurement must complete an annual Declaration of Interests form Appendix 6. A register of interests should be maintained by the Board of Management in order to avoid conflicts of interest arising.
13.16 It is recommended that an overall quotation, rather than an hourly rate, be sought from any service provider. All payments for travel costs should be calculated on the basis of distance travelled rather than on time spent