Agenda and draft minutes

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The Chair drew attendees’ attention to the notice on the summons.

Apologies were received from Councillor Beacham. Councillor Ross attended as a substitute for him.

There were no matters of urgent business.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meetings of the Standards Committee held on 13 June 2016.

The minutes of the Standards Committee of 13 June were agreed.

Alison Vydulinska, Principal Lawyer, attending on behalf of the Assistant Director for Corporate Governance and Monitoring Officer, drew Members’ attention to the complaint against a Member that had been received since the last meeting. A meeting of the Standards Assessment Sub-Committee had been held on Tuesday 19 July, where it was agreed the complaint should not be referred to the Monitoring Officer for full investigation. The minutes of the Standards Assessment Sub-Committee were included at item 11 of this meeting.

Proposed Changes to the Council's Contract Standing Orders.

Barry Phelps, Interim Head of Procurement, introduced a report that recommended changes to the Council’s Contract Standing Orders, as set out at Part Four Section J of the Council’s Constitution.

The purposes of these recommended changes were to support the new Procurement Targeted Operating model, which would transition Procurement to a more commercially focussed department, with support for low-level procurement across the Council supported by the Shared Service Centre. The proposed changes would enable savings to be generated and bring Haringey in line with other London Authorities. They would also support the introduction of new regulations, technologies and correct inconsistencies in the current Standing Orders and minor drafting amendments.

Mr Phelps also drew Members’ attention to additional equalities comments that had been prepared for the report and had been tabled at the meeting. This should be included in the report should the Committee agree to recommend it to Council.

The Committee asked whether Homes for Haringey had been engaged with in developing the new procurement processes, and were told that there had been some preliminary engagement, in particular on issues such as amended thresholds of expenditure. There would be further engagement shortly, for example to discuss how the role of Strategic Procurement Partner responsible for construction within the Council would engage with Homes for Haringey.

The Committee noted that Haringey had not updated its Contract Standing Orders, and the thresholds of expenditure they contained, for some time. The Council was therefore not in line with other boroughs.

Noting an assertion that Small and Medium Sized Enterprises were expected to benefit from the new procurement processes, such as the Dynamic Purchasing Systems, and the increased vendor information offered by the new processes, the Committee asked that participation by SMEs in the Council’s procurement be monitored upon introduction of these new processes. Officers suggested that, given historic information would not offer the same level of detail, a trend analysis could be prepared after the system had been operational for two years or more to identify whether there was a change in the profile in bidders and vendors.

The Committee noted that the Dynamic Purchasing Systems would allow potential vendors to be vetted according to their performance record and financial viability.

The Committee noted the report set out that the level for contracts to be recorded on the contracts register would increase from £5 000 to £10 000, and queried whether doubling that threshold represented a risk that inadequate records would be maintained. Officers responded that the current requirement to record was not met consistently, and the increase in threshold reflected more proportionate management arrangements. This entailed larger contracts being supported more proactively from the central procurement team, and lower-level contracts, which comprised a fairly low share of the Council’s expenditure, receiving more light touch support from the centre.

The Committee were keen that the introduction of these new processes should be accompanied by appropriate democratic oversight to ensure the Council’s resources were effectively monitored by the Cabinet and non-executive Members. Officers noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To consider any items admitted at item 3 above.

None

The Standards Committee’s next meetings would be 23 January 2017 and 4 April 2017.

The Committee’s next meetings were scheduled for 23 January and 4 April 2017.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of items 11 and 12 as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paras 1 & 2; namely information relating to any individual, and information likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

To consider and sign the minutes of the Standards Assessment Subcommittee held on 19 July 2016.

The minutes were approved, with one typographical correction.

To consider any items admitted at 3 above.

None.