Issue - meetings

Members to consider proposals for the delivery of procurement functions following the service function review. Report to follow

Members were informed that as part of the Haringey Efficiency and savings Programme(HESP) a review of the Procurement function (including transaction processing across the Council had been undertaken in order to arrive at a revised Procurement structure and new model of delivery of the Procurement function .

The Head of Procurement provided Members with the context behind the proposals being made which was essentially to centralise the Procurement structure. The Council had currently 960 live contracts, therefore this was a high spend and high risk area where good management was crucial.  The department had been set the savings target of £416k which was to be achieved over the next two years.  They had previously enabled the Council to make 12 million of savings through the use of good contracts.  Their energy and sustainability team had been successful in jointly negotiating completive contracts for Gas and Electricity for the Council and schools and were part of a London Consortium negotiating competitive energy contracts. The department had previously made 25% reductions in staffing levels through a review of processes and systems efficiencies and had already a centralised construction team. To enable and assist the new structure there would be further recommendations to Full Council to amend the financial limits contained in Contract Standing Orders. 

 The proposed model for the Procurement function would include transactional processing, procurement of supplies and services, construction, property, commercial contract management, category management and energy management.  It was important to note that commissioning was delivered individually by services and would continue to be so. The Procurement service would no longer assist services with bill validation and would desist providing mediation and negotiating services for Supporting People Contracts. The Committee noted that the restructured team was designed to be flexible. They would continue working on category management to ensure that services were all using the same suppliers and limiting the uses of multiple contacts for goods and services as this had an increased cost for the Council.

In relation to the changes in financial thresholds for officers making decisions on contracts, the Committee were informed that this was subject to consultation with Members and the figure being considered was 100k. This was noted to still be comparatively low compared to other borough’s financial thresholds for contract decision making. The Committee noted that formal tender process would remain unchanged.

The Committee asked that the second report to Committee, following staff consultation, should contain comments specifically from the Section 151 Officer.

RESOLVED

1. That in principal the Committee approve the proposed new Centralised Procurement Structure.

2. That following the completion of consultation on the proposed structure a further report be considered by the Committee to consider any required changes and finalise the centralised procurement.

3. That the timetable for implementation be noted.