Procurement Governance

This section focusses on the governance landscape within KFRS as it relates to procurement. In this context, “governance” refers to the law, rules and oversight bodies that state the way in which we must conduct procurement activity. 

There are 4 primary sources of governance which must be adhered to in relation to procurement matters:

Our legal obligations, principally set out in The Procurement Act 2023 and Procurement Regulations (2024). 

Senior KFRS Boards and Steering Groups. 

  • The KFRS Scheme of Delegation; and
  • The KMFRA Procurement Regulations.

All procurement, regardless of value, must be conducted in accordance with the Authority’s Strategic direction, the KMFRA Procurement Regulations and the UK public procurement principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination, mutual recognition, transparency and proportionality.
 

Legal obligations in relation to Procurement
  • Public sector procurement in the UK is subject to a legal framework which encourages free and open competition and value for money, in line with international and nationally agreed obligations and regulations. The regulations which govern public procurement were passed into national law by The Procurement Act of 2023 and further developed by both the Regulations (The Procurement Regulations 2024) and the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) of 2025. These have been approved by Parliament and enacted into UK Law.  As a public sector body KFRS is subject to the terms of these Regulations and must undertake procurement in accordance with them.
  • Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) maintains its commitment to the elimination of Modern Slavery within its supply chain and publishes an annual Modern Slavery and Transparency in Supply Chains Statement which goes alongside its own Modern Slavery Policy. Furthermore, KFRS is dedicated to ensuring that Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) considerations are integrated into all applicable stages of its procurement activities.
     
Direct Award
  • All procurement activity conducted by KFRS colleagues is subject to the rules set out in the Procurement Regulations (2024). There is a presumption in the national Regulations and KMFRA Procurement Regulations that all public procurement is subject to competition. Additionally, procurement activity (including compliance with this process) is subject to the terms of KFRS’ Code of Ethical Conduct.
  • Procurement of goods and services without competition is known as a Direct Award. In the past such requests within KFRS were known as “Waivers”. The term “Direct Award” will replace both “Single Source” and “Waiver”.
  • All Single Source Procurement requires the publication of a Contract Details Notice, regardless of value. This informs the market publicly that we are not competing the requirement, the value of the contract and the reasons why we are not competing the requirement. This notice also comes with a mandatory 8 working day standstill period where no award or work can happen – and gives the market time to challenge our Direct Award.
  • Formal approval must be gained prior to the award of a contract without competition. Direct Award Procurement will only be agreed in exceptional circumstances, where it has been proven that no viable or appropriate alternative is available. It is incumbent upon the requestor of Direct Award action to make a clear and compelling written justification, backed by evidence, not to compete the requirement openly.  
  • All Direct Award Procurement requires the approval of senior stakeholders (Assistant Directors or above), dependent on the financial value of the proposed spend, prior to the proposed Direct Award action being undertaken. No retrospective approval for direct award action will be given, and in such circumstances the relevant Assistant Director and Director will be informed. Corporate Management Board (CMB) will agree all single source contracts. Therefore, no Direct Award procurement should take place without clear justification and CMB sign off.
  • Approval of direct award action does not release KFRS from its legal obligations under the Procurement Regulations 2024. Colleagues should not knowingly seek approval for direct award action that would breach the law. Corporate Management Board does not accept any single source action requests which involve a breach of Procurement Regulations, particularly any submitted on grounds of urgency in circumstances where requirements are reasonably foreseeable and might otherwise have been avoided (e.g. through earlier action).
  • The process for requesting a Direct Award Procurement and responsibility for completion of each step in the process is as follows:

 

The process for requesting a Direct Award Procurement and responsibility for completion of each step in the process is as follows:
StepActivityResponsibility for completion
0

Engage with Procurement team to outline the request, work through the Decision Tree & options to avoid single source procurement and agree the evidence that must be provided to support the request.

The output of the engagement will be reflected at step 4 (below).

Requesting Official, working
with Procurement Category

Lead

1Completion of Single Source Procurement Request Form (inc supply of evidence supporting the request)Requesting Official
2Assistant Director/ Director and Budget Manager approvalRequesting Official to seek
Assistant Director and Budget Manager approval
for the request
 
3Submission of completed Single Source Procurement Request Form to ProcurementRequesting Official
4Procurement Category Lead reviews the request and if necessary, seeks clarification / further informationCategory lead
5Category Lead makes approve/decline recommendation to the Head of Commercial and ProcurementCategory lead
6.Head of Commercial and Procurement approves or declines the request (and as necessary, passes the request to any subsequent approvers). If the Head of Commercial and Procurement declines the request, it will be passed to the Chief Executive or CMB for a final decisionHead of Commercial and Procurement (on advice from Category Lead)
 
7.If the requirement has a total contract value of £100k or more, the Chief Executive or CMB must approveCEO / CMB (on advice from the Head of Commercial and
Procurement)
 
8.Once all the internal approvals have been sort and gained, Procurement must publish a compliant Transparency Notice, and all parties must wait the requisite 8 working days standstill before progressing any furtherCategory Lead and Procurement Admin

*Where a request is in relation to a requirement supporting a Corporate Project, the Project Sponsor (or Director) must approve the request.

  • The operational demands placed on KFRS are fully recognised by the Procurement team, and in some circumstances procurement action may need to be taken very quickly to support urgent operational needs. The intention of the policy on single source procurement is not to prevent or hinder the acquisition of goods and services needed urgently, and colleagues must contact Procurement at the earliest opportunity to discuss such requirements.
  • CMB is committed to reducing the number of direct award procurements conducted. Use of single source actions will be monitored and routinely reported to CMB and Assistant Directors. Repeated and/or excessive use of single source procurement will be challenged.
  • As the organisation must publish such awards - all requests for direct award procurement must be completed using the form which can be downloaded from the Procurement intranet site here: Transparency Notice request form
     
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