Report of the Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement attached

This report provides an update on the approach to ethical procurement with a focus on workforce considerations including blacklisting and to provide an update on changes in Government procurement rules and their potential impact.

The Committee considered a report of the Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement, which provided an update on the council’s approach to ethical procurement with a focus on workforce considerations including blacklisting and provided an update on changes in Government procurement rules and their potential impact.

Key point and themes of the report included:-

·                The Council had a long track record of promoting ethical procurement and social value;

·                Over the years the Council had refined its policies and expanded its efforts, introducing, for example, the 20% social value weighting in the evaluation of all tenders;

·                The Council’s procurement approach was guided by two key policies – the Ethical Procurement Policy and the Social Value Policy;

·                The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, gave the Council the freedom, and certain legal duties in relation to its procurement arrangements but there were some limitations

·                Changes to UK Procurement Regulations were currently under consideration as the Local Government Procurement Bill was considered by Parliament during the current term with the new regulations resulting from the Act, once passed, likely to be in force from mid 2023 onwards’ and

·                In parallel, the Health and Care Act 2022 included provision that would establish a “Provider Selection Regime” (“PSR”) which would be a new set of rules replacing the existing procurement rules for arranging healthcare services in England

Some of the key points and queries that arose from the Committees discussions were:-

·                How prepared the Council is with regards to directly awarding contracts to VCSEs (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations) in certain limited circumstances for up to 5 years instead of the 3 years under the current regulations;

·                A need to include homeless people on the list of priority cohorts for the Social Value Policy as it was recognised that the term rough sleepers does not encompass all homeless people;

·                Clarification on the procurement rules where company beneficiaries include the governments of countries with a poor human rights record;

·                How the Council excludes bidders from the procurement process if they have committed serious violations; and

·                If the Council had any plans to resume face-to-face Meet the Buyer and Ethical Procurement Conference meetings;

The Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement highlighted that the current procurement regulations permit the award of contracts to VCSEs in certain circumstances but acknowledged that these were limited. Changes to these regulations were anticipated by the end of July 2022 but the detail was not yet known. It was also confirmed that forward planning for this change would be undertaken to identify those contracts up for renewal and opportunities for new initiatives.

It was acknowledged that the definition of homeless people is wider than “rough sleepers” and would be built into the guidance to support the Ethical Procurement Policy.

Whilst the Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement acknowledged that reference to local small and medium-size enterprise (SMEs) was not included in current procurement documentation, although the detail was not yet known, there was an indication that the new regulations would allow local authorities to adopt specific award criteria that may contribute toward the Council’s own objectives.

The Strategic Lead for Integrated Commissioning advised that the Local Government Act 1988 stipulated that local authorities were unable to refuse award of a contract due to non-commercial considerations, such as country of origin. He explained, however, that central government could issue statutory instruments to provide authorities with the legal power to refuse a contract on the basis of country of origin and any embargoes, such as those currently imposed on Russia and Belarus, although the authority would still need to ensure best value-for-money.

The Committee was also advised that the standard questionnaire developed by the Cabinet Office for local authorities to use when inviting contractors to tender included a question on whether the applicant or any company directors had previously been convicted of any serious offences.

The Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement commented that face-to-face meetings were recommencing following the Covid pandemic and explained that many Meet the Buyer events had been held virtually, with social value and ethical procurement principles emphasised in these meeting.

Decision

That the Committee note the report.