Agenda item

The Chairman invited Cllr Neil Prior (NP), Lead Member, and Tina Holland (TH), Programme Manager, to introduce the update.

NP highlighted the Ukraine supply chain and the Procurement Bill as being the two key issues for councils in this area of work at the moment and invited TH to provide members with more detail.

TH gave a presentation highlighting some of the key issues from the report:

·       All KPIs in the Grant Determination Letter relating to the LGA’s procurement and commissioning programme had been achieved and TH ran through these. In particular, the hybrid Social Value Conference, attended by over 1,400 people, had been a huge success.

·       In relation to Ukraine and supply chains, the LGA had been working closely with councils who procure energy from Gazprom to advise them on exiting these contracts. Pro bono legal support had been secured from Browne Jacobson and officers had been working with DLUHC to input into a Statutory Instrument which will allow the Minister to disapply elements of the Local Government Act which currently states that councils cannot take ‘non-commercial’ considerations into account when deciding to procure or terminate a contract. A meeting with Microsoft was to take place shortly to discuss a viable value for money alternative to Kaspersky anti-virus software currently used by a number of councils.

·       Officers were still working through the detail of the new Procurement Bill but there had been some significant ‘wins’ for the LGA as a result of close working with the Government since publication of the Green Paper. These included a lighter touch regime and a less burdensome approach to transparency. Councils would also now have to consider 3 key Government priorities alongside their own local ones as part of the National Procurement Policy Statement.

·       TH highlighted the current consultation on the National Procurement Strategy and its importance for councils.

·       TH then ran through the next steps and priorities for councils, foremost of which was being prepared for the introduction of the new procurement rules emanating from the Bill, in Autumn 2023.

·       Finally, TH asked if members would like to see the Councillor Guide updated to reflect the recent changes outlined and a greater emphasis on social value?

Members’ comments and questions:

·       It was considered important for social value requirements in contracts not to become too onerous for bidders, particularly smaller organisations, who might be put off from applying.

·       It was considered important to strike a balance between the operational side of procurement on the one hand and the role of elected members in driving the policy/strategic side in areas such as social value on the other. Councillors need to have the tools to be able to ask the right questions of officers. TH said that a webinar was planned for members and officers to cover some of these issues.

·       In response to a question about the 3 Government priorities and how these might change depending on political imperatives, TH said that there was a commitment in the Bill to regularly review them but consultation with stakeholders would be a part of this. At present, they were sufficiently broad so as to not cause any issue for councils.

Decision:

Improvement & Innovation Board noted the update and agreed that the Councillor’s Guide should be updated. (not sure if this was agreed explicitly but nobody argued it shouldn’t!)