Agenda item

Briefing note of the Director of Finance and Resources.

The Finance and Corporate Services Scrutiny Board (1) received a Briefing Note of the Director of Finance and Resources which provided the Board with information on Council’s processes for undertaking procurement activity, the corporate controls in place and information on the forthcoming Procurement Act 2023 and the changes being implemented.

Scrutiny Board 1 had requested further understanding on the procurement processes that the Council was subject to and updates regarding the Procurement Act 2023 including changes to the Contract Procedure Rule (“CPRs”).  The CPRs which formed part of the Council’s Constitution were the framework that governed the Council for making and entering into contracts on behalf of the Council.  The CPRs set clear rules for the procurement of goods, services and works and ensured a system of openness, fairness, transparency and accountability. The Council was subject to multiple Regulations in relation to procurement activity.  The Regulations set out the various procedures to be followed when undertaking procurement activity that was deemed ‘above threshold’.

Council’s main objective when undertaking procurement activity was to achieve Value for Money and the preferred option must provide full, fair, transparent and open competition and be identified as the most advantageous tender.  The Council also sought to ensure bidders/tenderers were of sufficient technical and financial competency to undertake the requirement of the contract.

The Procurement Act 2023 (PA2023), was a new set of rules governing the procurement of goods and services and/or works in the public sector and was due to come into force on 24 February 2025.  The PA2023 replaced the existing procurement rules although transitional arrangements confirmed that any contracts entered into, or tenders commenced prior to the go live date of 28 October 2024, would be subject to the requirements of the current legislation and the local authority would be managing contracts under two sets of legislation for a number of years.

In considering the briefing note, the Board questioned officers, received responses and discussed matters as summarised below:

·  Light touch services were defined by common procurement vocabulary codes – previously relating to health care and education eg home to school taxi support/provision of music tutors and tended to be those services delivered by smaller organisations.

·  Changes to procurement rules would help to reduce the risk of investment in companies such as ISG, which went into liquidation however, in this case, due diligence was undertaken and as it was a Tier 1 contract, monthly reviews were undertaken.

·  The proportion of contracts awarded to SME’s would be published on the council website in April 2025.

·  Social value was considered in every procurement process and companies were asked for a commitment.  Work was being undertaken relating to priorities in terms of delivering social value.

·  SME’s may pass on the cost of the social value portal to the council, which was prohibitive for them.

The Board requested the following:

·  Once published on the Council website, data on the proportion of contracts this financial year (and previous financial years) being awarded to SME’s to be circulated to the Board.

·  Procurement Governance documents to be circulated.

·  Member involvement at each stage of value to be included in the Procurement Procedures chart.

RESOLVED that the Finance and Corporate Services Scrutiny Board (1):

1)  Notes the procurement processes that the Council is subject to in line with public sector procurement legislation and internal Contract Procedure Rules as outlined in Paragraph 3 of the report.

2)  Notes the corporate approach utilised by the Council to deliver value for money and quality assurance through commissioning and procurement.

3)  Notes the forthcoming changes with the introduction of the Procurement Act 2023 as outlined in Paragraph 4 of the report and appended presentation.

4)  The Procurement Refresh Strategy to be brought to the Board.