Agenda item

BCP Council’s Head of Procurement and Contract Management has produced a presentation (Appendix A) which provides an update to Audit & Governance Committee on progress to date in delivering BCP’s Procurement and Contract Management Strategy 2024 - 2028.

The presentation includes an update on progress made during the first year of delivery of BCP’s Procurement and Contract Management Strategy. Key points of note are:

·     Commitments – 29 of the 57 commitments described in the BCP’s Procurement and Contract Management Strategy 2024 – 2028 are marked as completed

·     Performance against (9) measures – the presentation includes slides for 7 of the 9 measures described in Section 5.5 of BCP’s Procurement & Contract Management Strategy 2024-2028.

The presentation also includes a summary of further reforms to public procurement that are expected to become relevant to the Council.

The Head of Procurement and Contract Management (PCM) presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report provided an update on progress made during the first year of delivery of the Council’s Procurement and Contract Management Strategy 2024 - 2028. It was noted that 29 of the 57 commitments in the Strategy were now completed, 19 were in progress, and 9 not yet started (none of which were ranked as high priority). The report provided explanatory data for seven of nine measures by which delivery was to be evaluated and monitored and which the Committee had asked to see. The remaining two measures were under development. The report also gave an update on the Government’s consultation in July 2025 on proposed further reforms to public procurement.

The Head of PCM provided the following information in response to questions:

• Examples of Justified Extensions may include cases where contract review dates had not been set early enough or where service teams had responded too late
• There were further areas of off contract buying taking place which the Council would look to address
• Although external frameworks were used, Council-developed frameworks often provided a better fit, particularly for the local market
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) for the measures of Social Value, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Local Spend were benchmarked with other councils.
• The procurement process was required by regulation to be digital. The Council recognised that some requirements were more onerous for smaller/local suppliers and tried to simplify where possible.
• Concessions depended on the value of turnover and the threshold was governed by regulation.

In response to a question about the outcome of the Council’s transformation programme, the Committee was told that although this had informed the development of the procurement process, as part of a bigger piece of work on the procurement and commissioning function, the operating framework had now changed to reflect more recent Government regulations. Project work on developing procurement frameworks was being managed by engaging with service directors to draft corporate contracts where synergies existed. Savings raised through procurement activity were difficult to quantify and more likely to equate to time than money. The overall transformation programme had now closed. A number of service specific, mostly commissioning based, transformation programmes remained.

A concern was raised about the target of 45% for awarding local contracts. This was lower than the average of 47% and did not seem very ambitious. The Head of PCM advised that the target was not currently being met (although it was noted that Co-pilot statistics on targets differed) and that it would be a challenge in itself to reach 45%. The position was balanced against the social value target which had been fully met, however it was noted that widely established suppliers were more likely to contribute to this target than local companies. It was noted that the Social Value statement to Cabinet in November 2025 was intended to provide a better framework for engagement with local suppliers. Committee members acknowledged that there was a need to strike the right balance while ensuring value for money was at the core.

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that he met regularly with the Head of PCM and was satisfied with the responses provided. He considered the 45% target for local contracts was reasonable in the current financial climate with limited capacity to do more. The position may be reviewed in the future once the target was achieved.

The Committee was advised that the recommendation set out in the report may need amending to delegate authority to the Procurement and Contract Management Board to determine the targets for the nine measures. The Head of PCM explained that reviewing the measures as KPIs made them easier to understand. The Committee was assured that the Board was made up of a senior officer team including the statutory officers. Members would be able to challenge the mechanism for setting each target and track its progress in the update report to the committee every six months.

RESOLVED that:

(i)    The Audit & Governance Committee notes progress to date in delivering BCP’s Procurement and Contract Management Strategy 2024 – 2028 and the update provided;

(ii)   The Audit and Governance Committee agrees the approval mechanism to refine the (9) measures described in Section 5.5 of the Procurement and Contract Management Strategy 2024 – 2028.

(iii) The Audit and Governance Committee delegates authority to the Procurement and Contract Management Board to set the targets (for the 9 measures) and report back to the committee in six months

Voting: Unanimous