Purchasing Policy

The school adheres to the Wokingham Borough Council Financial, Procurement and Contract Regulations and the Scheme for Financing Schools.

The school also has procedures which detail how these policies operate within school.

This policy aims to achieve the best value for money from all purchases, whether they are of goods or services. In this context, value for money is about getting the right quality at the best available price. It also attempts to protect individuals and to ensure that public money is spent without any personal gain.

  • The school should always consider price, quality and fitness for purpose when purchasing goods or services.
  • Prior approval from the governing body should be obtained for all unbudgetedexpenditure above £2000.
  • Three written quotations should be obtained for all expenditure above £2000 unless it is impracticable to do so. In such circumstances, the reasons for not doing so should be reported to the governing body.
  • Where a quotation other than the lowest is accepted, the reasons for this decision must be reported to the governing body and included in the minutes of the relevant meeting.
  • All purchases estimated to exceed £20,000 should be put out to tenderin accordance with WBC regulations.
  • Contract specifications should define the service to be provided in terms of its nature, quality standards, information and monitoring requirements and contract review procedures.
  • The school should not enter into any financial agreement with capital implications without the approval of the LEA or appropriate body.
  • Official orders should be used for all goods and services except utilities, rents, rates and petty cash payments. Where urgency requires an oral order, this should be confirmed by a written order.
  • Orders should be used only for goods and services provided to the school. Individuals must not use official orders to obtain goods or services for their private use.
  • All orders must be signed by a member of staff approved by the governing body and the school should maintain a list of such staff.
  • The signatory of the order should be satisfied that the goods or services ordered are appropriate and needed, that there is adequate budgetary provision and that quotations or tenders have been obtained if necessary.
  • When an order is placed, the estimated cost should be committed against the appropriate budget allocation so that it features in subsequent budget monitoring.
  • The school should check goods and services on receipt to ensure they match the order and the order should be marked accordingly. This should not be done by the person who signed the order.
  • Payment should be made within time limits specified in law for the payment of debts and only when a proper invoice has been received, checked, coded and certified for payment.
  • A member of staff approved by the governing body should certify invoices for payment. This should be neither the person who signed the order nor the person who checked the receipt of goods or services.
  • The school should maintain a list of staff authorised to certify invoices for payment. These staff must be made aware of this policy, the WBC regulations and the schools financial procedures.
  • Staff will only be reimbursed by cheque for purchases where prior approval has been received from the Head or School Support Manager. This is subject to a maximum of£100 per single purchase.
  • The school has a trade account with Travis Perkins for building materials. This is subject to a maximum expenditure of £500. This is used when normal purchasing procedures would not be available and allows recovery of VAT. All purchases must be approved in advance by the Head.
  • The School Support Manager has a procurement card which has an expenditure limit of £1000. This may be used for ad-hoc and online purchaseswhen normal purchasing procedures would not be available, to obtain value for money and to allow recovery of VAT. All purchases must be approved in advance by the Head.
  • All orders, invoices, contracts and tender documents must be securely stored for the statutory period.

Responsibility: Staff & Finance

Reviewed: Triennially

Author: CS

Last Review: March 2011

Next Review: March 2014

Ratified: 19/05/11