Agenda item

To consider item 10

The Procurement Manager advised Members the existing strategy expired in 2020, and the new strategy was deferred whilst awaiting the outcome of Brexit and subsequent changes to UK legislation relating to Public Procurement, with further delays due to the pandemic. The Strategy aligned to the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Procurement Strategy. There were three key themes: Leadership, Commercial Practice and Delivering Local Benefits.  A review date was set for 2025 to align with the review of the Authority’s Public Safety Plan and Corporate Plan. It may require an earlier review following publication of the Procurement Bill, now expected Summer 2023, providing a six month notice period to prepare for ‘Go Live’ at the  end of 2023.

The Procurement Manager advised Members that one of the other elements being focused on was Social Value and Sustainability, delivering local benefits. Currently 58% of Contracts were with SME’s. The Strategy had been brought in with the review of Contract Standing Orders to ensure it was maintained.

The Procurement Manager advised Members that the Standing Orders relating to Contracts needed to be reviewed as regulations had changed and it was now UK procurement rules. The current minimum threshold for tender was £10k. Feedback from core suppliers and SME suppliers was that this was onerous, it cost them money and it was felt the Authority was starting to lose some of its suppliers due to the complexity of processing. Along with changes to transparency rules and needing to publish any spend or contracts £25k and above, it seemed sensible to increase the minimum threshold of £10k up to £25k. This would also ensure the Authority was compliant with the data transparency rules coming in and  align with its collaborative partners within the Thames Valley.

A Member was appreciative that social value and the impact on the local economy was being considered but was concerned as there was not a lot of detail in the report.

The Procurement Manager advised that the social value element would become a core part of every tender process. It was evaluated as a part of the current process. A contract management framework had been introduced which identified all future contract management must include monitoring items such as social values. It was very much proportionate to the tender and what goods and services were being brought. As a standard, it was currently 5% social value. Most of the Authority’s procurement was very low value. However, the Authority used National frameworks.

A Member asked if there were more benefits using the new UK regulations.

The Procurement Manager advised that as the EU directives were adopted into UK law, the Authority continued to follow those thresholds. The UK government provided new thresholds, and these were reviewed every two years so there were no major changes yet. The Procurement Bill was going through the House of Lords and would be law during 2023 and that would change some of the processes. The key change expected would be more around transparency, and more transparency with suppliers.

The Director of Finance and Assets advised Members that as suggested, he would bring an update back to a future meeting on the benefits achieved in terms of social value, sustainability between procurement.

A Member asked in the action plan 2021/2022 it mentioned the critical supplier annual review and formal health check, what does this consist of.

The Procurement Manager advised that the health check was not just financial, it covered quite a few other areas, including data protection, ED&I, insurance etc., that the Authority expected all its suppliers to be able to meet before they could be approved as a supplier. There was now real time live monitoring of all critical suppliers. The NFCC also monitor key suppliers and provide updates.

A Member welcomed the good relationship with local suppliers and also with the changes that had been identified, and asked if the people the Authority collaborated with were doing the same.

The Procurement Manager advised that for collaboration, it was mostly the three Thames Valley fire and rescue services. The procurement arm of the Thames Valley Collaborative Board met monthly.  It produced a contracts register and joint pipelines that go out to the supply chain so they were aware of what contracts were coming up in the next few years.  All documents were shared to try and align them as much as possible and best practice was shared. The EU rules to UK rules had been communicated by government to suppliers.

RESOLVED –

That the Authority be recommended to approve:

1.         The Procurement Strategy 2022-2026 (Appendix 1)

2.         The Standing Orders Relating to Contracts as amended (Appendix 2)