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Police and Fire
Network
E-alert:
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Recent announcements
Coronavirus Bill
The Coronavirus
Bill was published
yesterday, giving emergency tools and powers to government,
devolved governments, services and agencies such as schools,
hospitals, police forces etc. The Bill covers a whole raft of
emergency provisions including registration of health workers and
social workers, health service indemnities, registrations of deaths,
amendments to the Mental Health Act, investigatory powers, food
supply, schools and childcare providers, the criminal justice
system and the postponement of local elections (including PCC
elections). I will be producing a briefing on the Bill which will
be on the Police and Fire Network webpage.
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Changes to 2019/20 Statutory
Audit Date (England)
On 16 March it was confirmed by Secretary of State
Robert Jenrick that, in response to the challenges caused by
Covid-19, a number
of measures will be put in place
to ease the strain on local authorities.
This includes deferring the audit date for the 2019/20
local authority accounts from 31 July to 30 September, which would
also apply to police and fire bodies in England. The are also
considering legislation to remove the requirement for annual
council meetings to take place in person and allowing council
committee meetings to be held virtually for a temporary period.
CIPFA is highlighting the need for some flexibility in
respect of the 31 May draft accounts and AGS deadlines and we will
endeavour to keep you informed if there are any further changes or
updates that would be of interest and assistance.
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Procurement Policy Note PPN –
1/20
The Cabinet Office have issued a Procurement Policy
Note PPN –
1/20 in response to the
Covid-19 crisis. It states that in these exceptional circumstances,
authorities may need to procure goods, services and works with
extreme urgency. Authorities are permitted to do this using
regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The
options include:
- direct award due to
extreme urgency
- direct award due to
absence of competition or protection of exclusive rights
- call off from an
existing framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
- call for
competition using a standard procedure with accelerated
timescales
- extending or
modifying a contract during its term.
The PPN states that contracting authorities may enter
into contracts without competing or advertising the requirement
provided they can meet certain conditions. Please refer to the PPN
for more details or contact mohamed.hans@cipfa.org.
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CIPFA and Network News
CIPFA has released a statement on its website
confirming how it is protecting the health and safety of students,
members, customers and staff in these unprecedented times. As
things currently stand, all previously scheduled training events,
conferences and panel meetings from 23 March to 31 May 2020 are
affected. Most are being delivered digitally and some will be
rescheduled for later in the year.
All customers booked on to our courses and events are
being updated with further information once revised arrangements
are in place.
I would like to wish all subscribers good health in
these challenging times ahead.
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The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and
Accountancy, 77 Mansell St, London, E1 8AN
Registered with the Charity Commissioners of England and Wales No.
231060 and with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
No.SCO37963 © CIPFA 2020. All rights reserved.
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