Agenda item

To receive a report detailing progress since the OSC Workstream and future proposals.

Fay Hammond, Executive Director Resources and Claire Reilly, Head of Procurement & Commissioning (Corporate & People) introduced the report.

NOTED:

1.    The report provides an update following on from the former workstream on Procurement Services which was paused due to Covid and then a change in Council Meetings, replacing workstream with the Overview & scrutiny Committee updates.

2.    The reports set out the original workstream and the progress that has been made, and changes that have occurred since the workstream, particularly those driven by Brexit and the opportunities to buy local in the future.

3.    The work undertaken since the workstream is set out in the report including the restructure to make the service more commercial and professional; focussing on a peer review that identified some areas where development and improvements were needed. An example of this is improving Contract Management.

4.    Progress is being made on ensuring that there is a sustainable procurement policy, one of the key areas of this is a focus on small businesses.

5.    The new Corporate Procedure Rules have been implemented.

6.    A draft revised Procurement strategy is currently being refreshed.

7.    It was suggested that further updates on this as it progresses could come either to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee or the Finance & Performance Scrutiny Panel.

Comments, queries and questions:

8.    Councillor Smith as the former Chair of the Procurement Workstream was invited to comment. Councillor Smith provided background on this. A large amount of expenditure each year goes to outside contractors and suppliers, so it is vital that value for money is achieved. The workstream was originally set up following concern that too many call ins were being raised on procurement processes where there had been only one or very few providers responding to the tenders. It was noted that there is a green paper from the government awaited.

9.    Following Brexit, it was queried whether the whole framework process set out by the EU will remain? Officers advised that there is a paper currently out for consultation detailing what is being proposed for procurement law post Brexit. The main thrust of this paper is transparency, accountability and simplification. The paper looks at simplify to one set of regulations and three routes to market; emergency, open and flexible. The department is reviewing the green paper and collectively as a London Heads of Procurement group this is also being reviewed to provide comments on the proposals. It is anticipated that new rules will not come in before January 2022. This means that the Public contract Regulations 2015 still apply, and the thresholds are still set by the EU. Officers agreed to check whether frameworks are referenced in the green paper.

10.With regards to Strategic Lead Management, how are the roles and responsibilities working within the teams and the central management of the process and how can this be improved? It was confirmed that as part of the peer review this is being looked at, going forward looking to lower the threshold value of procurement where the central team supports services.

11.How is Contract Management supervised? It was noted that the report states more resources are required for effective contract management. Officers confirmed that it is recognised that there are pockets of good practice and areas for improvement. A Contract Manager role will be bought in to help facilitate Contract Management with services, providing support on contract reviews, setting KPI’s and measuring contracts throughout their life cycle.

12.What does ethical procurement mean in practice and how is this measured? It was confirmed that the Council is currently looking at bringing in modules to the E-Tendering system to help monitor contracts. This will include KPI’s around ethical procurement and will form part of conversations with suppliers at KPI meetings. A social value portal will also be bought in and this crosses over into some ethical elements of procurement.

13.Given that the Sustainable Procurement policy has expired, and a new policy is due to go to Cabinet in September 2021 for approval. What policy is currently being used? It was confirmed that the expired policy is still being used and the Contract Procedure Rules cover some things such as Social Value. The new policy will be broader reflecting delivering the Council’s Plan through ethical procurement by looking at Climate Action objectives, Fairer Enfield policy and social value.

14.How far is training plan referred to in the report being developed and what does this entail? It was confirmed that the training being developed is to upskill services where they are responsible for contract management. This includes; what is good contract management and types of skillsets and practices that should be followed.

15.The scope of the sustainable Procurement policy has been expanded to include equalities. Councillor Greer requested a copy of the current policy and details of the changes. Officers advised that the previous policy did not any reference to equalities, it only mentioned local economy, supporting local businesses, opportunities through apprenticeships and training and environmental issues. However, this is not in the depth of the climate action objectives. The reason for expanding the policy is to strengthen the equalities element. The idea is that suppliers will be asked about their policies on recruitment, staff wellbeing and what they are doing to promote underrepresented groups.

16.Equality Impact of Proposal and Environment and Climate Change considerations comments queried in the report. It was queried why these and other implications such as financial had not been completed members felt that there would be implications and that there would be positive changes under these sections. Officers advised that all actions being undertaken on procurement will have a positive impact on climate change and equalities. This report is an update report and is not making any recommendations or taking any decisions. The implications part of the report relates to the implications of the decision being made. Therefore, the report does not have comments as it is an update report. Officers noted members comments. Members suggested that if no comments made, reference could be made to other reports where implications had been completed.

17.Are local councils working together on procurement or are there any relationships with outside bodies? What are the challenges on recruitment? It was confirmed that there is a London Heads of Procurement Network where collaboration is explored and there are pan London agreements in place. The council work with external groups for information and learning. With regards to recruitment this is challenging to attract good staff due to pay rates in private sector. There tends to be interims in the public sector as procurement managers are paid more on the interim market rather as opposed to the salary for permanent staff.

18.Social value, what is this and how is this measured? Officers advised that social value is something that has value or meaning to the council but cost the supplier little to deliver. Themes, outcomes and measures (TOM’s) will be used to bring uniformity. Suppliers will bid against TOM’s and be scored and evaluated during the tender process and then measured to deliver them through the lifetime of the contract. It was confirmed that when the strategy goes to Cabinet it will contain a definition of social value.

Officers were thanked for their report.