Agenda item

Procurement: Accessibility and Social Value - Update on implementation of Scrutiny Recommendations

Follow up from 2020-21 Year

 

To receive an update from Councillor Rebecca Lury, Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Democracy. Officers supporting this agenda item are Doreen Forrester-Brown, Director of Law and Governance, Finance and Governance, Elaine McLester, Head of Procurement, Finance and Governance and Patrick Doherty, Principal Strategy Officer, Chief Executive’s

Minutes:

The commission then got an update on scrutiny recommendations made to Cabinet in 2020-2021 Council year from Doreen Forrester-Brown, Director of Law and Governance, Finance and Governance, Elaine McLester, Head of Procurement, Finance and Governance and Patrick Doherty, Principal Strategy Officer, Chief Executive’s on Procurement: Accessibility and Social Value

 

The commission was updated on the following topics within the Fairer Future Procurement Framework:

 

·  Fairer Future Procurement Framework in line with Council policies of equality, diversion and inclusion.

·  Commitments to closing the Black and Asian minority ethnic pay gap by enabling ethnic minority communities and local organisations to work together.

·  Incorporating Climate Change Strategy by improving procurement to support Council’s ambitions in becoming carbon neutral.

·  Staff virtual training tool taking them through the procurement process where they receive a certification upon completion of the course.

·  To develop a contract management toolkit where staff across the council have a consistent approach to monitoring and reporting on contracts

·  The framework to incorporate the Residential Care Charter, Modern Slavery Charter and Sustainable Food Strategy

·  Commissioning of Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) to undertake an analysis of Southwark Council’s procurement processes to maximise our purchasing power in benefiting our local communities and businesses.

·  CLES analysis to provide insights into geography of suppliers  and using supplier surveys to feedback on inequalities, monitoring questions and opinions around core processes

·  CLES training sessions for procurement staff on local spend supply chain, building a network of local organisations and identification of local sectors for development and support that can enable socially and locally owned businesses to successfully bid for future contracts.

 

Doreen then answered the commission questions on the following topics

·  Basic contract monitoring progress

·  Contract monitoring training and additional recruitment of staff in procurement

 

Doreen explained to the commission that the contract management toolkit will provide the framework for basic contract monitoring. Currently there is no centralised data however Annual Performance Reports go to Contracts Review Board.

 

On training and recruitment of procurement staff, salaries in some areas have been raised to £50-£55k levels and trainee grades have been introduced, however there has been only one appointment at the junior level due to a national shortage of procurement professionals with Central Government being a huge recruiter with more competitive wages. The council has put in place interim staff whilst preparing a different approach and going back to the job market.

 

Elaine explained to the commission that other than the salary challenge from the private sector, some of the more attractive benefits of local government around flexible working and working from home arrangements are also now mirrored in the private sector.

 

The commission then had discussions around the following themes

 

·  Challenges faced around the Social Value Act and its £100k cut off point affecting smaller organisations.

·  Need for more than one apprenticeship per £1m of contract value which may not be possible across all sectors, however the vision with apprenticeships needs to be more ambitious and maximise social value out of those contracts.

·  The need for a Centralised Corporate Reporting Board for contract monitoring purposes.

 

The commission agreed to formulate a draft recommendation on apprenticeships for the next commission meeting.

Supporting documents: