Issue - meetings

Background:

This report provided the Cabinet with an update on the progress made against the 2016-2021 Procurement Strategy. The report also recommended using the National Procurement Strategy for Medway Council’s 2021-2025 Procurement Strategy objectives.

The report stated that Medway Council’s Category Management team had carried out a self-assessment against the National Procurement Strategy. The main benefit of this exercise was that Medway could now reflect on its procurement related strengths and weaknesses against the national agenda. The National Strategy had 59 objectives split into 11 sections and the Category Management team assessed the Council as ‘3’, or better against 39 objectives representing 66% of the objectives in the National Procurement Strategy.

The outstanding 20 objectives (34%), each with their own comments and action plans, were set out in Appendix 3 to the report and, subject to Cabinet approval, would be the focus of detailed work to improve the Council’s performance during year one of the Strategy.

The report explained that by adopting and implementing the national framework, the Council would be in the most advantageous position to be able to work more closely with other public sector organisations and help, or be helped with, the development of Medway’s procurement deliverables.

The Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered this report on 26 November 2020. The comments of this Committee are set out at section 6 of the report.

Reasons:

The proposed Procurement Strategy will provide a holistic suite of objectives to ensure the service maintains national awareness but with the ability to focus on local issues effectively.