Agenda item
Strategic Procurement Project
The Strategic Procurement Project is aimed at undertaking a root and branch change to procurement within Brent ranging from staffing and structure through the Council's spending across all suppliers with a view to contributing to the Council's savings targets over the next 3 years and to improve procurement practices. This covering report sets out the main elements that will be covered by the Project. The Head of Procurement will give a presentation to the Committee on progress on the review. The presentation will be circulated to the Committee prior to the meeting.
Minutes:
Members received a report that set out the main elements within the strategic procurement project. Robin Edwards (Chief Negotiator, Corporate Procurement) gave a presentation to the Committee on progress of the review which was aimed at improving the way the council procured goods and services.
He started by saying that the council was spending in the region of £270m each year on supplies and services provided by other organisations and that improving the effectiveness of procurement of these supplies and services could make significant impact on the savings the council was required to achieve. He continued that the Strategic Procurement Project was therefore aimed at undertaking a root and branch change to procurement practices within Brent, with a view to contributing £10.7m to the Council's savings targets in 2011/12, with additional savings in subsequent years. In setting out the key aims for the procurement project, Robin Edwards emphasised the need for adopting a “One Council” approach to procurement and to seek influence all areas of spend so as to build on a corporate procurement centre with the capability to implement strategy. He added that by ensuring appropriate governance arrangements to evidence probity and accountability, the Council would be able to develop best practice procurement including E-business approaches to improve compliance and automated financial processing and thereby maximise value for money.
Robin Edwards continued that the council had developed a new approach through the West London Alliance, a group of 6 neighbouring Local Authorities. This would involve exchange of information on all contracts particularly high value and significant contracts.
In the discussion that followed, Councillor Hector asked for a confirmation that some consultants were being engaged for up to 2 years at a cost of £100,000 per appointment. Councillor Van Kawala also asked for a detail clarification on the approaches that corporate procurement would take to ensure the success of its strategic project. In response, Robin Edwards stated that an on-going analysis and review was being conducted to ensure that a thorough business case was established before any temporary staff including consultants were appointed and that all such appointments would be time limited. In clarifying the approaches, he continued that an improved solution including full knowledge of procurement and category management would be offered to all directorates. He also stated that embedding category managers within services would ensure better understanding of the council’s needs in terms of goods and services and allow the council to manage suppliers in a way that would maximise value for money.
Councillor Kabir enquired about the level of help and encouragement that the council could offer to local traders to ensure that they were given preference as suppliers to the Council. Robin Edwards stated that whilst local businesses were being actively encouraged and given opportunity to bid for contracts, the council could not give them preferential treatment in the tender process. In response to Councillor Colwill’s request for measures to balance budgetary allocations, Robin Edwards informed the Committee that the use of the Oracle system and appropriate governance arrangements currently in place would ensure that budgetary allocations were being contained.
RESOLVED:-
That the report on strategic procurement project be noted.
Supporting documents: