Agenda item

Overview and Audit Committee –  9 November 2022

Procurement Strategy 2022-2026 and Review of Standing Orders Relating to Contracts

“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)”

 The report considered by the Overview and Audit Committee is attached at item 9

OVERVIEW AND AUDIT COMMITTEE – 9 NOVEMBER 2022

PROCUREMENT STRATEGY 2022-2026 AND REVIEW OF STANDING ORDERS RELATING TO CONTRACTS

The Procurement Manager advised Members that these two documents had been reviewed jointly as they fed into one another for the procurement activities across the Service. The existing Procurement 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, which had further delays, and also some impact from the pandemic. Work had continued in the interim period, but there was a lapse between the last strategy and this one. The Strategy aligns to the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Procurement Strategy which included a self- assessment that was carried out against the strategy. There were three key themes in the strategy, leadership, commercial practice and delivering local benefits. The Service assessed itself against those and set targets to be achieved throughout the duration of this strategy.

The Procurement Manager advised Members that one of the areas the Service was keen to focus on was the local benefits, social value and sustainability. The Service was proud of the fact that currently 58% of contracts were with SMEs, and the Service would like to continue to support and improve on it, and this strategy should support that.

During the Overview and Audit Committee meeting, a question was raised around which social value model was going to be used. The Service would be using the government social value model, which was published a while ago, and had five key themes running through it. The themes were there to be used optionally, however, the Service preferred to use it in its procurement where possible and where it was relevant.

The Procurement Manager advised that this strategy would be reviewed in 2025, but it may be sooner as the Service was waiting for the latest UK Procurement Bill to go through Parliament, and there may come changes out of it that would need to update the strategy.

The Procurement Manager advised that the second document supports the strategy and was the review of Standing Orders Relating to Contracts. The main change to this document was the change from the current lowest threshold of £10k to take it up to £25k to align with the Service’s collaborative partners, who already had a threshold of £25k. This would enable the Service to undertake more collaborative work, more efficiently if aligned with the same thresholds. The Service was also aligning with the latest government transparency requirements, which required all contracts to be published at a value of £25k and above. Training was being rolled out to staff involved in all areas of procurement activities to ensure lower value procurement activities were carried out compliantly.  Also, Contract Management and Supplier Relationship Management training packages were to be provided for those officers responsible for the ongoing performance of established contracts.

A Member asked for more information on social value as in the report it said it was not considered important.

The Procurement Manager advised that was when the assessment was carried out several years ago. This strategy was for the Authority to develop and improve and to achieve the target of ‘Mature.’ The Procurement Manager advised that the Overview and Audit Committee could receive updates in respect of social value progress

A Member asked about the challenge around SMEs. It was great the Authority was promoting more working with SMEs, but they cannot always compete with larger organisations. How does the Authority balance promoting more work with SMEs against the duty to obtain best value and lower costs which were often afforded by larger suppliers.

The Procurement Manager advised that when looking at procurement, officers would look at which market was the best fit and what were the different options. The Authority’s spend was not huge compared to larger organisations, and when looking at tenders, they were often divided up and awarded in smaller contracts to smaller businesses.

When there were standard contracts, there would be no benefit in using a smaller organisation. When working with larger companies, the Authority would use the Public Sector Framework and still get benefits, so it would depend on what was being procured.

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)