Meeting documents

To be presented by Michelle Granat, Head of Innovation & Commercialisation.

Michelle Granat and Tony Fish attended to present this report.

·         It was summarised that the concept of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) was introduced in 2011. A Contract Management Application (CMA) was also developed in September 2014 to assist Contract Managers and support the new Contract Management Framework (CMF) processes.

·         Significant action was required to effectively manage the risks and improve management controls to monitor service area compliance in uploading contracts and information onto the CMA. A training programme had been established for Contract Managers across the organisation to ensure a consistent approach in managing value and risk with suppliers.

·         In July 2015 accountability for SRM transferred to the Innovation & Commercialisation team and following unsuccessful attempts to recruit a permanent SRM lead the position had been filled on an interim basis by Tony Fish in August.

·         A strategic review of contract management commenced in August, including addressing recommendations of the internal audit report. The CMF would be renamed to become the Supplier Management Policy to reflect the true scope of activity. This policy would also provide guidance on use of CMA and reporting protocols.

·         Tony Fish reported that a great deal of work had been put in to review what was in place and identify areas for improvement. The six bullet points listed at the bottom of page 42 of the agenda pack were explained. The contract self-assessment and improvement programme (bullet point 4) would be rolled out in 2016 and a strategic supplier programme would also be run. It was advised that these recommendations would require time to be implemented.

·         The outline reporting requirements were listed at the top of page 43 of the agenda pack. These included a quarterly reporting cycle; forward plan of upcoming commercial decisions; high level RAG status for high risk/high value suppliers/contracts; exception reporting on contracts where supplier performance is a concern and improvement activities are in place. Subject to implementing the necessary technical changes it was expected that this reporting would start in Quarter 1 of 2016. It was advised that there were costs involved in improving CMA and a business case would require writing.

·         8 priority findings identified by the Internal Audit Report were referred to which could be seen in detail on page 43 of the agenda pack. It was confirmed work was being done to address all points.

·         Page 44 of the agenda pack provided details on the CMA Performance Report which included a table summarising the updated position since the last report to the Regulatory and Audit Committee in June 2015. Tactical actions were now being taken to resolve remaining individual and unique data queries.

Member Questions

Question 1

·         A question was asked whether support had been received from the One Council Board (OCB) to get this culture out across the organisation.

·         Tony Fish advised support had been received and briefing sessions had been held with OCB Members to discuss recommendations. As well as implementing the six point plan it was confirmed that phase 3 of the scope of the review would be to complete an options appraisal of SRM and contract management in BCC.

Question 2

·         A Member asked for clarification on training that had been provided to the Contract Managers.

·         Tony Fish explained that a comprehensive programme had been completed with 120 Contract Managers which involved two day courses of both theory and practical exercises. The course was said to provide enough knowledge to manage a significant contract although it was acknowledged that all contracts differ with some Contract Managers requiring more in depth expertise. Advanced training would be provided where identified as being required. As part of best practice it was said that self-assessment is a process all contract managers would need to go through to identify gaps in knowledge. It was suggested that bronze contract managers may not yet have received training and it was said that training for these low risk, low value contracts could be provided from line manager or another contract manager.

Question 3

·         It was queried whether quarterly reporting would be reported to this committee.

·         It was confirmed that this would happen and segmentations and risks would be detailed. Any contract management issues would be highlighted and assurance provided to the Committee that these were being worked on.

Question 4

·         The question was asked about commercially sensitive information being shared in the public domain at this Committee.

·         It was said that reporting would need to be managed as difficult positions could arise. Options discussed were to give an overview in the Committee and discuss in detail during an exempt session. Another option was to look at the issues during Risk Management Group meetings which can then be tracked by this Committee. Michelle Granat advised that more thought would be given to this and a way to address the issue would be included in the report back to the April Regulatory and Audit Committee.

RECOMMENDATION

1.    Present update to Regulatory and Audit Committee in April 2016

2.    Ongoing update via quarterly reporting from Q1 2016.

DECISION

The Committee agreed to the above recommendations.

The Chairman thanked Michelle Granat and Tony Fish for their report.