In accordance with the Council’s adopted Procurement Strategy, the report seeks Cabinet approval for the Procurement Procedure Rules for Essex Procurement Partnership to be recommended onto Full Council for adoption, replacing the Council’s current Procurement Procedure Rules, contained with the Rules of Procedure set out in Part 5 of the Council’s Constitution.

The report also provides an update of the activity within the Essex Procurement Partnership and the Local Government Reorganisation for Greater Essex, Procurement and Contracts System Working Group.

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

(a)     approves in principle, the draft Procurement Procedure Rules, as set out in Appendix A to report A.1, as developed by the Essex Procurement Partnership, of which Tendring District Council is an active Member Authority, for recommendation onto Full Council for adoption;

(b)     authorises the Corporate Director (Law & Governance), being the responsible Officer for the Council’s corporate procurement function and the Council’s statutory Monitoring Officer, to make any necessary minor amendments and to produce a final draft of the Procurement Procedure Rules, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Assets and Community Safety, for Full Council to consider;

(c)     recommends to Council that the final draft Procurement Procedures Rules be adopted, replacing the Council’s current Procurement Procedure Rules, as contained with the Rules of Procedure set out in Part 5 of the Council’s Constitution;

(d)     endorses the review to be undertaken by both Internal Audit and the Audit Committee to ensure the Council’s corporate governance requirements continue to be maintained through the new Rules and lessons learnt have been captured;

(e)     notes the update of the activity within the Essex Procurement Partnership and the Local Government Reorganisation for Greater Essex, Procurement and Contracts System Working Group; and

(f)       notes Officers will present the outcome of the detailed analysis of the Council’s Contracts Register in due course in readiness for the transition phases of LGR.

In accordance with the Council’s adopted Procurement Strategy, Cabinet considered a report of the Assets & Community Safety Portfolio Holder (A.1) which sought Cabinet’s approval for the Procurement Procedure Rules developed through Essex Procurement Partnership to be recommended onto Full Council for adoption, thereby replacing the Council’s current Procurement Procedure Rules, contained with the Rules of Procedure set out in Part 5 of the Council’s Constitution. The report also provided a high-level update of the Local Government Reorganisation for Greater Essex, Procurement and Contracts System Working Group.

Members were aware that Tendring District Council (TDC) formed part of the Essex Procurement Partnership (EPP) (Cabinet 21 February 2025 minute no. 128 referred) through its agreement to enter into a Collaboration Agreement for the delivery of joint procurement services for a three-year period together with:

·      Braintree District Council

·      Castle Point Borough Council

·      Epping Forest District Council

·      Essex County Council

Those Parties had agreed through the Collaboration Agreement to create common procurement documentation including common tender documents, a shared set of procurement rules and a procurement strategy. Following Cabinet’s recommendation, Full Council had adopted the Procurement Strategy on 25 March 2025 (minute no. 132 referred).

The Parties had also agreed, at the time as an interim measure, to adopt the EPP Procurement Rules where they were not in conflict with the Constitution of each Party.  The Parties had agreed with the objective of moving to formal joint procurement procedure rules to be embedded within their organisations over the period of the Agreement.

Cabinet was informed that reducing duplication was included within the rationale for collaboration both within the Collaboration Agreement and Procurement Strategy, as:

“Both in terms of procurement activities but also in documentation and adherence to procurement rules, allowing the Parties to focus on additional cost saving activity.  This will also provide benefit to the entire supplier community, particularly Small to Medium Enterprises and Voluntary sector organisations, reducing the time to understand bid documents.”

Through its decision making in 2025, Cabinet and Council had been informed that following adoption of the Procurement Strategy, a review of the Procurement Procedure Rules which had commenced and was in progress, would follow for approval, to meet the partnership’s collaborative objectives.

Cabinet recalled that the Portfolio Holder for Assets and Community Safety, being the Executive member responsible for procurement, represented this Council at the Member Advisory Group (MAG) with elected members from each local authority.  The MAG had been established in September 2023 and provided executive member oversight of the EPP by reviewing the performance of EPP in delivering against its objectives and acting as both critical friends and champions of the partnership. 

It was reported that the MAG had met in January 2026, when Officers had informed Members that the draft Procurement Procedure Rules had been designed to provide a framework of best practice for all procurement activities to deliver against the Procurement Rules and support the Councils in achieving value for money and delivering the Councils’ corporate objectives.  The draft documentation, at that time, were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 140