Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director Strategic Commissioning, Capacity Building and Engagement providing an update on progress with the Procurement Review.

Rhodri Rowlands (Director of Strategic Commissioning Capacity Building and Engagement) introduced the report, outlining the details and providing the committee with a comprehensive update on the procurement review and service updates. He outlined the Embrace Change transformation program and referenced the previously issued Grant Thornton recommendations presented to the Committee in February 2025, which emphasised the council's constant focus on best delivery practices. Rhodri Rowlands then explained that external expertise had been brought in from January to April 2025 to conduct a thorough review. He elaborated on one key aspect of the review, which was to identify areas of strength within the procurement function as well as those requiring further development. He noted that while the Council's procurement practices were legally compliant and operated within appropriate legislation, the review had identified several key findings that were preventing procurement from fully meeting the council's strategic objectives. The main issues identified within this included a cultural problem around procurement practices, with functions not being sufficiently strategic or creative in their approaches. Also highlighted was the need for additional capacity, as well as greater clarity regarding roles and responsibilities, both within the procurement function itself and in relation to other council services. The highlights of Rhodri Rowland’s update on the Procurement Review are summarised below:

·            Regarding the Council’s Improvement program’s implementation, Rhodri Rowland spoke on the efforts being made to address challenges through the implementation of a wide-ranging improvement program. A single forum and vehicle had been established to deliver all recommendations, with all actions focused through this central mechanism. Both the Corporate Management Team and the Policy Coordination Group had approved the program, and delivery was already in action with good progress reported since approval. The areas of improvement included revised governance structures, enhanced delivery and assurance processes, and operational changes to day-to-day leadership. A roles and responsibilities outline protocol had been drafted, and positive progress had been made in this area as well.

·            Moving to discuss the Council’s procurement strategies, Councillor Ruben (Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Community Power) expressed the desire to move toward a more strategic procurement function, one that would better align with political priorities and examine the products and services the council purchases. He took the opportunity to also formally invite Councillors Chan and Molloy to attend the future meetings being held on the topic to represent the Audit and Standards Advisory Committee.

The Chair thanked Rhodri Rowlands for his update and following this opened up the floor to any questions or concerns held by the Committee. The Chair also took this opportunity to clarified to members that the committee's role was not that of a scrutiny committee but rather to examine and obtain assurance on specific matters. The highlights of the questions asked by members of the Committee have been summarised below:

·            Beginning the discussion, members inquired over the running of the Council’s strategic direction and governance. Members expressed a desire to move toward a more strategic procurement function across the council, that would better align with political priorities and more thoroughly examine the products and services the council purchases.  Invitations for additional members to attend future meetings on this topic were suggested to ensure broader engagement with the procurement improvement program.

·            Concerns from members were raised over the scale of the procurement problems and their cost impacts, with specific examples of the issues identified requested. Rhodri Rowlands responded that problems included regular purchases that exceeded tender limits, failure to deliver expected cost savings, and insufficient decision-making notice periods for members. He emphasised that better oversight and decision-making processes would help address these issues, noting that there had been 60 waivers in place during 2025, with efforts underway to reduce this number through improved procedures and processes. The committee then inquired into the costs associated with addressing these problems. Rhodri Rowlands explained that the main cost was officer capacity, but noted that beyond direct costs, there were significant missed opportunities, including inadequate timeframes for considering the breadth of available options, missed opportunities for enhanced savings levels, failure to reduce tail spend, and inefficient use of multiple suppliers that could have reduced costs.

·            Members welcomed the review of the procurement system but noted that there was little mention of localism and community wealth building, particularly regarding raising revenue from business rates. The committee requested that these aspects be better referenced in future work and emphasised the importance of local spending measured not just in terms of direct expenditure but also considering the number of employees supported and supply chain effects. Members stressed that focus should not solely be on saving money but on achieving value for the amount of money spent. Rodri Rowlands responded to this, noting that references to these priorities were included within the broader report and the procurement strategy revision. He explained how potential suppliers would need to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the local area. The council was also noted to be working with the Centre for Local Economics on strategies to provide more opportunities within Brent, using Match My Project to connect suppliers and resources to local projects. A suggestion was made by the committee to include a clause within the procurement processes to ensure Brent community benefits were prioritized. During the discussion on value for money, members emphasised that focus should be placed on achieving better value, rather than simply reducing spend. There was discussion about the need to reduce extractivism and reference to the CPCMAC Board. The Committee suggested that benchmarking and case studies should be used to evaluate progress, asking what Brent had specifically improved over the months of implementation and whether raw metrics could be combined with qualitative assessments. Rhodri Rowlands agreed with this approach, noting to incorporate members feedback into future work. Regarding the clause recommending prioritisation of community wealth building and contribution to Brent’s economy within the procurement processes, the Committee made a formal recommendation that this be considered, with Councillor Rubin stating that he would present the request to the Community Wealth Building Team for review.

·            In covering concerns over risk management and financial controls, members cautioned that the committee must be careful not to create new costs in other areas or generate long-term costs while implementing improvements. Inquiries were made about the relationship between the procurement improvement plan and internal audit activities, with Rhodri Rowlands assuring members that there was a good relationship between the teams, with plans to continue building internal audit activity into their processes.Concerns over budget reserves and whether cost elements in the budget assumed improvements would be achieved were then raised. Officers explained that procurement savings were built into the budget and set according to the status quo level, with any future improvements to be added as developments materialized. When members asked whether this created risk if improvements didn't proceed as planned, it was confirmed that this would indeed create a budgetary risk which would then need to be addressed.

·            Whilst trying to gauge the likely success of the improvement plans, members acknowledged that cultural change was difficult and asked whether similar projects had succeeded in other organizations. Rhodri Rowlands confirmed that a number of councils had achieved successes in this area, citing Westminster, Oxford, and Croydon as examples. He noted that the council had brought in additional new management as a proactive step in the sector and had become an active member of the London Procurement Network and Social Value Network. The team was actively looking at what was working elsewhere, studying best practices, and implementing the improvements they observed.

·            Following questions on current initiatives being pursued, Rhodri Rowlands stated that current efforts included the new partnership with Centre for Local Economics Strategies, the "Match My Project" program launching September (matches community projects with supplier resources) and the implementation of greater scope under the Procurement Act for local knowledge requirements. The Teams future focuses were then noted as redefining what "local spend" meant, considering numbers of local employees rather than simply headquarters location in community wealth building calculations and an updated supply chain impact assessment.

·            Drawing the conversation to contract management and decision-making, the committee noted that most procurement seen by them involved large contracts and asked whether the review would examine and adjust when tendering and retendering for contracts was necessary. Rhodri Rowlands confirmed that this would be addressed on a case-by-case basis, considering factors such as sustainability and economies of scale. Members were assured that the procurement team would report on their decision-making processes. The Team currently were exploring how best to strengthen existing gateway review processes, introduce regular reporting (quarterly/six-monthly) on contract reviews and upcoming retendering and restructuring reports to go through Cabinet for organizational oversight. All information would also now be made available through the Brent Council website in the public domain. Members then inquired about technological improvements and how the use of data and AI could be used in improving the procurement processes. Rhodri Rowlands explained that closing capacity gaps and recruiting the right people for necessary roles was a current priority. He identified data and AI as key areas that were recognized as important for the future. The Council was stated as needing to drive more benefit from data in spend and supplier analysis, so as to develop a more strategic approach and make better use of spend and supplier analysis data. This would then help in ensuring this information was available to decision-makers with appropriate use and visibility. Rhodri Rowlands then noted that the council was exploring new opportunities with AI in procurement, which could potentially support the early stages of tender processes. This technology was currently being explored as part of the on-going improvement program.

·            With members questions satisfied members requested that the executive summary of the full report on the procurement review be provided to the Committee and all its independent members. Officers agreed to this request, with the committee noting that once completed, the reports summary would be circulated to all Audit and Standards Advisory Committee members by Harry Ellis (Governance Officer).

The Chair thanked Rhodri Rowlands for the update provided and the committee moved to RESOLVE following recommendations and note:

1.the contents of the report.

2.to receive a follow up report on procurement improvement development, which would be brought to the Committee in six months' time.