Officers from Aberdeenshire Council and Aberdeen City Council are due to begin the first phase of the joint procurement initiative. The programme focuses on sharing and benefiting from each authority’s expertise on procurement.
The team is also due to roll out an electronic system that will support and make the process easier for everyone involved in procuring and ordering goods and services across both councils.
Aberdeenshire Council Chief Executive Alan Campbell said: “This project will be instrumental in delivering our council efficiency goals, strengthening collaborative working between our councils and furthering the shared services agenda.”
Aberdeen City Council Chief Executive Douglas Paterson said: “Across both Councils the level of expenditure on goods and services approaches £500 million per year. The opportunities for releasing savings are therefore enormous - and must be achieved to meet executive targets.”
Procurement is a significant activity within the Council; accounting for spends in the region of £250m per annum per authority.
The recent publication of the McClelland report has brought the issue into the spotlight and highlighted the need for ‘advanced procurement practices and more collaboration’.
A Scope and Readiness Assessment identified that both councils were ready and would benefit from the implementation of an eProcurement system.
