Ensuring full compliance with policy & practice by staff and suppliers. Equality Analysis Report Template (2014)

Transcription

1 Equality Analysis Procurement Ensuring full compliance with policy & practice by staff and suppliers 1 Title of policy Procurement Policy Equality Analysis Report Template (2014) 2 Who does the policy, provision, procedure or practice affect? All staff required to purchase goods, services or works on behalf of the University using University funds. This includes both operational expenditure and research funding. 3 Sources of evidence used See section 1.6(3) of Guidance Notes A full copy of the University s Procurement Policy is available at the following link: Section 2 Procurement Procedures has the greatest relevance from an Equality and Diversity perspective. This section relates to the processes and procedures the University uses to source new suppliers, including accessibility to new opportunities and the methods employed to select successful bidders. 4 Analysis of impact of policy, provision, procedure or practice See section 1.6(4) of Guidance Notes Public Sector Procurement is subject to EU Directives that are subsequently adopted as UK legislation and then adopted within the University s Procurement Policy and associated processes. The core principles of the EU Directives include: Transparency - contract procedures must be transparent and contract opportunities should generally be publicised;- Equal treatment and non-discrimination - potential suppliers must be treated equally; Proportionality - procurement procedures and decisions must be proportionate; Mutual recognition - giving equal validity to qualifications and standards from other Member States, where appropriate.

2 Advertising: All contract opportunities that exceed the relevant value threshold are made available to the entire business community via the University s chosen e-tendering portal which automatically publishes contract notices to the relevant Business Information Publications as required under EU & UK legislations. No restrictions are placed on the type or origin of business that can respond in accordance with legislation. Sourcing: To ensure compliance with the EU & UK legislation a structured Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) is used when selecting prospective suppliers. The PQQ is completed by each potential tenderer. The PQQ is designed to ensure that a business applies the correct standards and ethics to its dealings with the University as a contracting authority. The answers to each question is evaluated by the relevant staff within the University ensuring that any responses that may be a cause for concern are dealt with appropriately. Examples of the questions used at this stage that relate to equality and diversity include 1 : How does your company ensure it does not directly, or indirectly, discriminate on the grounds of colour, race, nationality, religion, disability, sex, age or sexual orientation? Has any finding of unlawful racial discrimination been made against your organisation in the last three years? Has your organisation been the subject of a formal investigation because of alleged unlawful discrimination in the last three years? What does your organisation do to ensure that equality and diversity are embedded within your organisation? Do you actively promote good practice in terms of eliminating discrimination in all forms through: Instructions to your employees concerned with recruitment, training and promotion? Do you actively promote good practice in terms of eliminating discrimination in all forms through: Making guidance or policy documents concerning how the organisation embeds equality and diversity available to employees, recognised trade unions or other representative groups of employees? Do you actively promote good practice in terms of eliminating discrimination in all forms through: Appropriate recruitment advertisements or other literature? If we asked, could you provide relevant examples of the instructions, documents, recruitment advertisements or other literature? 1 Example questions taken from the tender documentation used to procure the University s new Customer Records Management system. 2

3 Responses to the questions above are evaluated for each prospective bidder, for each bidding process, and a proportionate weighting is given that contributes to the overall score achieved by each bidder. Contract Delivery: The University s standard terms and conditions of contract stipulate that each contractor is obliged to comply with Equalities Act 2010, as well as taking all reasonable steps to ensure that sub-contractors employed in the execution of the contract also comply. Additional Information: To promote the methods employed by the University when carrying out procurement exercises, information is published on the University s website detailed the type of information required by prospective new suppliers. The University also attends relevant supplier events to improve its profile and communication with the supplier community. Information such as a guide on How to do business with the University is used to help educate prospective suppliers. 3

4 Procurement policy EA.docx 5 Assessment of potential impact on protected groups (see section 1.6(5) Characteristic Good practice identified Risk of adverse impact [Please tick] High Medium Low Age Disability Gender Marriage and civil partnership Pregnancy and maternity Race Religion and belief Sexual orientation Transgender status Comments on the assessments given: The level of impact for each characteristic within each procurement exercise may vary dependant on the nature of goods/service/works being procured. 4

5 Procurement policy EA.docx 6 Commentary on good practice identified Have you identified good practice that could benefit other Departments/Faculties? If so, please describe it below. An online training package is under development that aims to educate all University requisitioners and budget managers on the University s Procurement Policy and their respective responsibilities to comply with it. Within the training package there is an opportunity to include content related to equality and diversity within procurement. 7 Actions to mitigate actual or potential adverse impact If you identified a risk of adverse impact in Section 4 above, please specify here what action will be taken to mitigate this. For each action, state the timescale for introducing any change to policy or practice, and who is responsible for ensuring this is completed. Action Timescale Responsibility The Procurement Policy should be reviewed regularly to ensure that it reflects the University s obligations related to procurement legislation and equality and diversity. Annually Head of Procurement Staff involved in the purchasing process should receive relevant training on the Procurement Policy including content related to equality and diversity within procurement. Training programme to commence during the f/y. Head of Procurement 5

6 Procurement policy EA.docx Where relevant, suppliers bidding for new contract opportunities will be asked to provide a copy of relevant policy documentation. For major contracts the Equality and Diversity Manager will assist in checking the policy documents and any other relevant information related to equality and diversity within the bidders response. Immediately Head of Procurement 8 Name of reporter Tony Brett Head of Procurement 9 Date 23/10/15 6