Following an internal audit of procurement activity at the University of Kent (UoK), a recommendation was made to ensure all contracts at UoK are stored centrally.
Whilst the Procurement department maintain a University of Kent Contracts Register, this only holds those contracts with which Procurement either had some involvement or were subsequently made aware of.
Procurement is therefore reaching out to all Schools and Departments requesting all and any current contracts they may hold as part of a ‘Contract Amnesty’. This information will then be recorded on the Contracts Register.
During this Contract Amnesty, Procurement will be looking to obtain the details of each contract and any associated paperwork to upload a copy to our own database. At this stage, Procurement are less interested in how these contracts were entered into, whether via a compliant or non-compliant process. The aim will be to raise awareness, improve the visibility of contracts at UoK and maintain compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations.
To confirm, a contract will mean a formal written agreement between UoK and another supplier(s) / organisation(s) that involves the commitment to provide goods / services / works to / on behalf of the University. A rolling purchase order is not considered a formal contract and so Procurement do not require details of these.
Why is this important and what are the benefits?
Not only is this a legal requirement but there are also many benefits by having all of our contracts centrally stored in one place.
- Contracts will stay organised so you can find them when you need them
- Help facilitate an improved contract management process
- Ability to proactively monitor contract expiry dates, renewals milestones and other obligations
- Improved transparency and compliance
Current Contract Database Information
All staff and departments are encouraged to review all of the contract information currently held in the University’s Contracts Database that relate to their department to confirm that all information is correct or make the Procurement team aware if anything is missing or incorrect.
How to respond to our Contract Amnesty
If you believe that you may be in possession of a contract that Procurement are not aware of, currently not on our Contracts Database, or where current information is incorrect, please email: Procurement@kent.ac.uk with the following information:
- The name of the contract
- The details of the supplier including contact details
- Details of the contract period
- All of the supporting contract documentation
This is only required for contracts with a lifetime value of £25k or greater.
Deadline
The Contract Amnesty will be in place until 30th April 2024. After this, all schools and departments will be required to liaise directly with Procurement before entering into any new contractual agreements.