Minutes:
8.1 The chair, Councillor Gavin Edwards, reported that officers had not been available to introduce the corporate procurement strategy. He had however met with the Strategic Director of Finance and Corporate Services, Duncan Whitfield, to talk through general issues around the large contracts that the council had entered into. The chair suggested that officers provide a report to the September meeting and that external speakers be invited to a future meeting of the committee. The Head of Overview & Scrutiny, Shelley Burke, reported that John Tizard, a former head of public policy for Capita, would be attending the November meeting. Councillor Jasmine Ali suggested that Judith Smyth of the Office for Pubic Management might be another speaker worth consideration. The chair emphasised that one focus of the committee’s work would be that Southwark did not have a written corporate procurement strategy.