Contact: Jacky Barnes, ext 6453

1 Summary

1.1

1.2 It is necessary to revise financial regulations and contract standing orders to meet the requirements of the new constitution regarding the roles of members and chief officers. The opportunity has also been taken to bring the documents up to date to reflect issues such as Best Value, partnership arrangements and risk management.

2 Background

2.1 The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy has recently published a model set of financial regulations and these have been extensively used to draft the revised financial regulations for Hampshire County Council. The model suggests that financial regulations should be at a summary level concentrating on the roles of members, the finance officer and the other chief officers and that more detailed guidance should be contained in a set of financial procedures (these are subject to further consultation amongst finance heads of profession and chief officers, and with schools).

2.2 The opportunity has been taken to revise contract standing orders in terms of both content and style. The content has been simplified and modified to include reference to Best Value and in particular the awarding of contracts where tenders are evaluated using qualitative as well as financial criteria. At the same time detailed guidance about European Union (EU) Directive requirements, conditions of contract and tendering procedures have been removed (the EU requirements on the grounds that these are undergoing a period of change). The thresholds for procurement requirements under EU directives will still have to be adhered to but detailed guidance will be contained in practice notes. These will be drafted by the Head of Corporate and Legal Practice during the next few months and will replace the current Code of Practice for Contracts. A procurement manual will also be provided by County Supplies before the end of the financial year setting out appropriate practical guidance.

2.3 Financial regulations and contract standing orders are drafted in plain English and will be submitted to the Plain Language Commission for accreditation.

2.4 The major changes are summarised in two tables, attached as Appendix 1.

2.5 The revised draft financial regulations and contract standing orders are attached as Appendices 2 and 3. These need to be submitted for approval to the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) before the County Council can operate its new constitutional arrangements of Leader and Cabinet from 1 September 2001. They may be subject to further guidance and review. It would in any event be appropriate to review how they operate in practice after say six months, reporting back to Cabinet and the Standards Committee as necessary.

Recommendation

1 That the revised financial regulations and contract standing orders be approved to support the operation of Leader with Cabinet from 1 September 2001.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works.

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None

rjp2461

Appendix 1