Agenda item

The Committee received a report which provided an updated summary in relation to the compliance with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules (CPR’s) and compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as well as summarising waivers and breaches. It also provided a summary of the current procurement culture and relevant updates for the Council. The reporting period covered the period 1^st October 2021 to 31^st March 2022.

Ms Lindsey Sheen, Commercial Business Partner presented the report and summarised what was classed as a breach and waiver and the appropriate processes each needed to follow. Corrections to the report were highlighted as follows:

-          Page 85, Section 3 – Waiver summary Q3-4 FY21/22 should read that there were a total of 30 Waivers registered in the 6-month period as opposed to 38.

-          Page 87, Summary of all Waivers registered during Q3 – Q4 2021/22 – highest value waiver the total should be £908,733 as opposed to zero.

-          Page 88, Data table 4 – there should be one asterisk alongside the first entry and two asterisks alongside the second entry.

-          Pages 88 and 89, Date table 6 – the total should read 30 as opposed to 32, as there should have been 2 noted for A&H – Integrated Commissioning as opposed to 4.

The Council, as a public body when undertaking procurement exercises and awarding contracts, must comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Regulations placed a great deal of restrictions on the Council in how it was permitted to run procurement exercises and in some cases the Council could be sued by bidders for not following these Regulations. It was noted that it was the relevant service area / directorate that were responsible for undertaking procurement exercises and the management of contracts, not the procurement team. The Procurement team developed the corporate policy, supported high risk/value procurement exercises, and provided training on procurement & contract management.

Points raised during discussion included:

·       Attention was drawn to the training the Procurement team delivered to officers which was unique to the Council with a range of courses offered. Positive feedback was received on the content of the sessions, which not only provided key information and skills but also helped officers understand the contract regulations that had to be adhered to. Training attendance levels had been higher in the previous year, in part due to officers wanting to gain an understanding of new Council processes, following the legacy Councils coming together. The Committee noted that an increasing number of Heads of Service were attending training sessions although commented that thought should be given to making training courses mandatory, as this could lower retrospective waiver numbers. Members noted that training was further important given the legislative changes expected.

·       Members requested that within future reports it would be beneficial to understand what proportion of staff had been reached by the training sessions, to provide greater clarity as to whether the numbers included in the report were positive. Presenting these as a percentage of expected attendance was recommended.

·       Following Brexit there was a move to transform public procurement rules, and a White Paper, on which Buckinghamshire Council had commented, had been presented to Parliament in May this year. Whilst changes were not expected to be seen until mid-2023, there were key principles relevant now on transparency and value for money. The six current procurement procedures were reducing to three which it was hoped would provide more flexibility to local authorities to design processes to best fit their needs. 

·       The Chairman, on behalf the Committee congratulated the Procurement team for having been shortlisted for four awards at the Procurement GoAwards – these included the categories of Procurement Team of the Year, Best Procurement Delivery, Continuous Improvement Award and Individual Achievement of the Year Award for Mr Cael Sendell-Price.

·       The Committee suggested inclusion of historic data in future reports to allow for greater understanding of trends, giving the example that table summaries within the report displayed figures for Q3 and Q4 although had not included Q1 and Q2. This request was noted and the Committee was advised that both the total number of Waivers and Retrospective Waivers had reduced quarter on quarter for 2021/22.

·       The Committee was advised that retrospective waivers were difficult to monitor at times as often the Procurement Team were not aware when these were occurring, although when going through the process of issuing a retrospective waiver, evidence had to be provided as to how the decision was reached so reputational risk was reduced. The Contract Management Application sent contract expiry reports to relevant officers 18 months prior to contract expiry to make officers aware that they needed to take action. The Procurement Team aimed to provide support to service areas as required, and the team would do what it could to reduce retrospective waiver levels, with an ambition to halve the current figure, although this was very much reliant on respective service areas.

RESOLVED:

That the report and work of the Strategic Procurement Team be noted.