Council wins National Procurement Award

Launched in 2010, The National Procurement Awards provide a much-needed platform to recognise and celebrate the most impressive and transformative procurement projects over the past 12 months and the teams who drive them.

The tenth annual National Procurement Awards ceremony took place at the Ballsbridge Hotel, Dublin. The awards ceremony saw trophies being awarded to some of Ireland’s most deserving procurement teams with 70 finalists from both the private and public sector competing in 15 awards categories. Fingal County Council was shortlisted as a finalist in three awards categories.

Ms AnneMarie Farrelly, Chief Executive said: “The Central Procurement Unit team has been commended by the Council’s Executive Management Team for successfully establishing itself in early 2019 and delivering a number of significant contracts on behalf of the organisation in a very short timeframe. The establishment of a Central Procurement Unit has also improved our Corporate Governance structures and has received a positive response from the Audit Committee and Local Government Auditor. It is a model that other local authorities will be interested in.”

Mr John Quinlivan, Director of Services, Corporate Affairs & Governance, Human Resources and Information Technology said: “The Central Procurement Unit team have been very proactive to the needs of the Council’s Departments working collaboratively across the organisation on a number of strategically important procurements such as supply of electric vehicles, solar bins, an ICT Digital Transformation project and various professional services. The collaboration has also extended to working closely with the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) and the Local Government Operational Procurement Centre (LGOPC) on numerous procurement projects.”

In February 2018, FCC undertook to review the existing procurement model, structures and processes to ensure sufficient capacity and capability to deliver its Corporate Procurement Plan. The review findings were presented to and approved by the Executive Management Team in November 2018 who approved the establishment of a dedicated procurement team to deliver a centralised procurement approach across the entire organisation. On February 1, 2019, the new unit went live and has grown in strength in its inaugural year. The Central Procurement Unit (CPU) are now managing key procurement processes resulting in improved procurement practices and compliance. Fingal County Council is the first local authority to move to a centralised model with full tender process support provided from the centre led by a Procurement Officer operating as a Head of Procurement Services.

Mr Brian Murray, Procurement Officer, said: “We are delighted to be recognised by our peers in the procurement profession for our work in improving procurement within the local authority. The establishment of a Central Procurement Unit was a major internal collaborative project across all Council Departments and this award reflects the contribution played by all internal stakeholders.”