Contracted suppliers encouraged to seek assistance under Relief Scheme

Orkney Islands Council is encouraging all companies who provide contracted services to the council to apply for assistance under the Supplier Relief Scheme.

Following Scottish Government guidance, support is available for those whose services are not able to be provided or are reduced in the current COVID-19 crisis.

The Supplier Relief Scheme provides for a range of options to provide supplier relief to ensure service continuity such as:

• modifying terms of contracts to offer suppliers’ relief;
• agreeing advance / interim payment proposals;
• accelerating payment practices to ensure suppliers are paid as quickly as possible.

OIC’s head of IT and facilities, Hayley Green, said: “We want to support to all contracted suppliers through this difficult time to ensure that they are able to continue to work with us throughout the crisis, or where that is not possible, to be in a position to resume normal service delivery when the outbreak is over. We would encourage all contracted suppliers to get in touch as there may be support available to them that they are unaware of.

“A simple application and approvals process has been developed with an email contact set up for suppliers to access more information at supplier.relief@orkney.gov.uk which will be monitored by the Procurement Team.”

Further guidance on the application process for suppliers is available to view on the OIC website, within the “procurement” section.