A report about Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) procurement practice and specifically bylaw review consultants ZQN.7, requested by Mayor Jim Boult, has reinforced the need to modernise guidelines and tighten training, as well as do a review of procurement policies established in July 2020.
A Procurement Process is the processes that are required to get products or services from requisition to purchase order and invoice approval.
The report said: “We did not find any misalignment between the way ZQN7 was engaged and the Procurement Policy. However, in several instances, the engagement of ZQN7 did not meet the requirements of the Procurement Guidelines.
“From a delivery perspective, ZQN7’s work was successful. However, the cost of the work, and the way ZQN7 was engaged, has been questioned,” the report said.
Boult confirmed that while practice was aligned with the current QLDC Procurement Policy, misunderstanding existed about the application of the guidelines.
“The ZQN.7 situation was exacerbated by key staff leaving, the scope of work increasing and the extended process of working through the reviews with Councillors. Along with this several staff in the organisation unintentionally misunderstood the procurement process about a decision-making threshold of $50k.
“The Council engages a significant number of suppliers. That is simply a necessity given the scale of the programme of work we’re dealing with. While procurement practice amongst staff is generally in keeping with the guidelines, especially with the larger multi-million dollar contracts, the report has shown that there is a common misconception regarding lower value contracts.”
Many staff believed it was ok to directly appoint suppliers without a competitive process not appreciating the total value of the work to be
completed,” said Boult.
“Where the procurement process has deviated, the report is clear that there is no unlawful intent, or desire to furnish mates with work.
“Furthermore, where the process has deviated in the under $50k procurement the right attributes have been considered when commissioning work (such as competency and price) and outcomes have still been delivered.”
Councillors reviewed the report in a workshop on Monday February 15 and accepted the content, findings and recommendations.
One recommendation was to expedite (make happen more quickly) the review of the guidelines and policy which was committed to at a meeting of the Audit, Finance & Risk Committee on July 2 2020.
Boult added that one of the reasons for the review of the policy and guidelines was to make sure they were fit for purpose and reflected current best practice.
Read edition 1015 of the Wānaka Sun here.
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