Agenda item

Agenda item

Blacklisting

Report of the City Treasurer

 

This report informs the Committee of the Council’s position and actions in relation to organisations/contractors that have previously or currently blacklist trade union members and officers.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the City Treasurer on the Council’s position and actions in relation to organisations/contractors that had previously or were currently blacklisting trade union members and officers.

 

The City Treasurer referred to the main points and themes within the report which included:-

 

·                The Council’s position as set out in its Ethical Procurement Policy in relation to undertaking business with suppliers, service providers and contractors that unlawfully compiled, used, supplied or sold information that contained details of persons who were or has been members of trade unions or persons who were taking part or had taken part in the activities of trade unions;

·           The actions that the Council could take in relation to organisations/contractors that had previously or were currently blacklisting trade union members or officers, which could include exclusion of an economic operator from a procurement process in accordance with the public procurement rules;

·                Any exclusion must be considered on a case-by-case basis as a blanket ban wouldnot be lawful;

·                Exclusion needed to be justified on appropriate evidence and was not to be seen as a means of punishing operators for past wrongdoing, but rather a means of putting right past wrongdoing and ensuring that it did not re-occur;

·                The concept of self-cleaning, which provided that an operator convicted of an offence would not be precluded from participating in a procurement process if it could demonstrate that it had put in place effective measures to remedy the consequences of any criminal offences or misconduct and ensure that the conduct would not recur; and

·                There was no automatic right to terminate a contract where an economic operator has been or was engaged in blacklisting

 

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

 

·                It was suggested that the Ethical Procurement Sub Group may want to add a report to its work plan to look at whether the Council’s Ethical Procurement policy had appropriate Trade Union/whistleblowing recognition within in it or whether this was an area that requires strengthening;

·                How could the Committee be satisfied that the companies who had submitted bids for the Town Hall Management Contract had undertaken appropriate self-cleaning measures;

·                Who would be responsible for making the final decision on whether the self-cleaning evidence submitted by the companies who had submitted bids for the Town Hall Management Contract was sufficient;

·                There appeared to be a contradiction within the self cleaning regime in so much as an operator could be excluded from a procurement process on evidence of an admission of wrong doing, but the concept of self-cleaning required potential suppliers to explain how it had breached the grounds for exclusion and what action they had taken to remedy; and

·                The report was lacking in terms of what action the Council had taken in relation to any organisation it had previously contracted or were currently contracting that had or were blacklisting trade union members and officers and examples of action taken were requested.

 

The Executive Members for Finance and Human Resources advised that the Council’s Ethical Procurement Policy already contained appropriate Trade Union/whistleblowing recognition but if Members felt that this was something that the Sub Group should look at in more detail then this would be welcomed.

 

The Committee was advised that in terms of the Town Hall procurement process, statements of self-cleaning had been submitted from the two organisations who were bidding form the contract.  The Council could also request further evidence of self-cleaning if it was not satisfied with what had already been provided.  A view from the City Solicitor would need to be sought as to whether it would be appropriate to share all or part of this information with the Committee at the current stage in the procurement process.

 

The City Treasure advised that the final decision on whether the self-cleaning evidence submitted was sufficient would be taken by the appropriate senior officer, based on guidance formed from a variety of other officers from within procurement, finance and legal services.

 

Officers advised that the highlighted contradiction in the self-clean regime would be looked at and clarification would be provided to members of the Committee.

 

In terms of examples of actions that the Council had taken, Officers suggested that this could be reported to the Ethical Procurement Sub Group as part of the report on appropriate Trade Union/whistleblowing recognition it had suggested.

 

The City Solicitor commented that in relation to blacklisting, the Council need to act in a proportionate manner and assess the particular circumstances on a  case by case basis as there were a number of procurement rule sit was required to follow.

 

The Chair highlighted that here was a strong feeling by the Committee that the Ethical Procurement Sub Group should look at the issue of Trade Union relationships and Council contracts in greater detail and proposed that a report on this was added to the work programme for the sub group which could possibly include discussions with Trade Unionists.

 

The Executive Members for Finance and Human Resources reassured the Committee that the Council undertook regular dialogue with Trade Unions on many issues and that the concerns raised by Members would be taken into consideration.

Decision

 

The Committee:-

 

(1)       Notes the report;

(2)       Agrees that a further report is referred to the Ethical Procurement Sub Group to look at whether the Council’s Ethical Procurement policy has appropriate Trade Union/whistleblowing recognition within in it or whether this was an area that requires strengthening; and

(3)       Requests that the City Solicitor provides a view on whether there is a contradiction within the Council’s self-cleaning regime as identified by the Committee.

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