These updates are crucial for maintaining the integrity and efficiency of our financial operations. It is crucial that all staff familiarise themselves with the new regulations and standing orders to ensure compliance and support our collective goal of financial responsibility.
Implementation and training
The updated financial regulations and standing orders are now completed and in force. To assist with the transition, there will be information and training sessions delivered through Derbyshire Learning Online, and we’ll let you know about these shortly. Participation will be mandatory on an annual basis to ensure that everyone is adequately informed and aware of their financial responsibilities.
Key changes to financial regulations:
- virements to have chief financial officer approval
- use of reserves requiring chief financial officer approval
- clarity around budget holder responsibilities
- clarity around audit, risk and Insurance matters
- reference to our ‘no purchase order, no pay’ policy
- several wording changes and clarity in respect of ordering and paying for work, goods and services and debt recovery to reflect current working practices
- the removal of all references to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and replaced with Find a Tender (FTS). The new e-notification service which was launched after Brexit and is used to post and view public sector procurement notices
Key changes to standing orders relating to contracts:
- the removal of reference to European Union (EU) Law and replaced with UK and retained EU requirements
- all references to Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) have been removed and replaced with Find a Tender Service (FTS). FTS replace OJEU as the place to advertise high value contracts in the UK
- protocol 2a has been updated to make it easier to use non-Derbyshire County Council frameworks, with the creation of an approved external framework list
- the creation of a new protocol 4 to accommodate the provider selection regime (PSR) which came into force on 1 January 2024. The PSR is a set of rules for procuring health care services in England by the NHS and relevant authorities
- protocol 7a one off purchasing threshold has been increased from £1,000 to £5,000. The requirement to obtain one written quotation and spend approval remains
- protocol 8 has been updated to ‘award of contract without competition’, rather than ‘sole supplier’
- protocol 9 material changes to contracts and protocol 10 extension of contract beyond originally awarded period or spend have been merged to become a single protocol 10 material variation to an existing contract or our framework
- additional requirement has been added to ensure all contracts with a value of £25,000, are recorded on the council’s central contract register held by county procurement, and in line with the Local Government Transparency Code
- to prevent spend disaggregation, more clarity has been added to standing order 2.7 on the calculation of contract value
- standing order 2.12 updated to include sustainability as well as social value
- standing order 4.7 added to include for Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)
Accessing the updated documents:
The updated financial regulations and standing orders documents are now available. Please take the time to review these documents.
If you have any questions about the new regulations, please contact David Catlow, Assistant Director of Finance or the procurement team, email countyprocurementcompliance.team@derbyshire.gov.uk.
You can also find procurement information and support on Our Derbyshire.