In 2009 national government agreed to the
procurement of electricity and gas via flexible purchasing in
accordance with the recommendation of the Pan-Government Energy
Project and recommended all public sector organisations adopt
aggregated, flexible and risk managed energy procurement through a
recognised Central Purchasing Body, such as YPO. Lancaster City
Council is an associate member of YPO.
Flexible purchasing means buying the annual requirement for gas in
regular amounts in advance. This enables purchases to be timed to
avoid unusual market price spikes and also spreads the risk of
price fluctuations. It does not guarantee that all energy is
purchased at the lowest possible price available during a
particular period but experience during the current contracts has
shown that overall this approach has resulted in procurement at
below average prices.
The Council’s current contract with British Gas is due to
expire on 31 March 2017. Due to the requirement under flexible
purchasing for the contractor to buy gas in advance, it is
necessary to put in place a new contract well before the end of the
current contract to allow sufficient time for the benefits of
flexible purchasing to be realised. Consequently YPO has undertaken
an OJEU compliant procurement process to identify a supplier for
the next contract period.
Decision type: Key
Reason Key: Financial Threshold;
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Wards affected: (All Wards);
Notice of proposed decision first published: 27/05/2016
Department: Resources (Property Group)
Contact: Sarah Price, Capital Projects and Facilities Manager Sarah Price, Capital Projects and Facilities Manager, 01524 582083, Email: sprice@lancaster.gov.uk Email: sprice@lancaster.gov.uk Tel: 01524 582083.
Documents submitted to the decision maker for consideration: None at the time of publication.