Agenda item

This report seeks to introduce a revised set of Contract Procedure Rules to replace those that currently form Chapter 4, Part 7 of Medway Council’s constitution.

This report provided a revised set of Contract Procedure Rules to replace those that currently form Chapter 4, Part 7 of Medway Council’s constitution.

The Head of Category Management introduced the report and highlighted the proposed revised rules provided a more holistic, and user-friendly approach to the way the Council undertook procurement. The revised Contract Procedure Rules were considered to be more straight forward.

Members then raised comments and questions including the following:

Governance of Contracts - In response to a question regarding whether there were overarching structures or a central database to improve the governance of contract arrangements the Head of Category Management explained that the revised rules required the completion of a category management engagement form which brought Portfolio Holders and the relevant accountants in at a much earlier stage to ensure cross organisation collaboration and reduce silo working.

The Head of Category Management added there would be a more streamlined and tailored training programme to ensure consistency.

Oversight of Large Capital Projects – A member asked whether the rules would ensure there would be third party oversight of evaluations, prevent conflicts of interest and also whether there would be more than one evaluation for large capital projects. The Head of Category Management stated that there were several back-office mechanisms to provide assurance around evaluations..

The officer added that any project over the value of £25,000 tenders would be invited. The Council would have undertaken market engagement and held discussions with companies who may have considered bidding. The Council generated a great of interest in its procurement activity.

A member commented the revised Contract Procedure rules were a positive step forward

Capital Projects – A member commentated there were a number of Capital projects being undertaken in the coming year, some of which were contentious. The point was made that it would be helpful for Members to see all the valuations for bids submitted and that the lowest bid may not always be the best.

A member commented that in the tendering process that information would have been made available to Procurement Board which evaluated bids on many factors including price and quality and often quality was the determining factor. However, tenders were commercially sensitive.

The member added that tail end spend was not considered by the Procurement Board. However Category Management had been very successful in reducing costs and increasing expertise.

Social Value – A member commented that the Council was trying to encourage small and medium enterprises (SME) to bid and Medway Council was performing well in awarding contracts to SMEs The Head of Category Management reported the revised rules made specific reference to social value and how the Council took that into account social value to enhance the local community through procurement activity.  The officer added the Council had a central contract depository.

Changes in the Contract Procedure Rules – in response to what the principal changes were to the procedures other than reducing silo working and increasing emphasis on social value, the Head of Category Management stated the new rules brought teams together with cross organisation activity and a holistic approach to explore opportunities as an organisation.

Decision:

The Committee noted the Contract Procedure Rules, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report, and recommended their approval to Full Council after consideration by the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet.