Agenda item

To receive a report on Procurement Services in Westminster, following their review in 2018. The report outlines the changes since the launch of a new target operating model in April 2020.

8.1       The Committee received a report on changes to the Council’s procurement model, which the report noted oversees procurements over £100,000 in value. The Committee was advised that current Westminster City Council spend on services and contracts fulfilled by external parties exceeded £500million each year, and that the changes to the procurement model aimed to deliver improved value for this spend. 

8.2       Sarah Warman, Director of Commercial Partnerships, provided the Committee with further information. Sarah Warman advised the Committee that a permanent procurement team had been recruited to deliver the changes in line with the procurement code and improved ways of working with other Council departments.

8.3       The Committee queried whether there was opportunity to improve on the to-date figure of £2.1million savings on contracts. Sarah Warman commented that these savings were being monitored as part of recent work incorporating an initial savings tracker, and that workshops were imminently to take place to identify further savings. Sarah Warman further advised the Committee that, in terms of increasing value from suppliers, key commitments such as environmental approaches and diversity and inclusion were to be part of future work in this area with suppliers.

8.4       The Committee asked why some contracts were out-of-scope for the London Living Wage. Sarah Warman offered to share the criteria that determine scope; this was welcomed by the Committee.

8.5       The Committee also queried the service’s target for satisfaction scores as measured by its surveys. Sarah Warman noted that this was a new initiative and was establishing a baseline. Sarah Warman further emphasised to the Committee that the aim would be a high figure, likely with variation across Council departments with suppliers, and that a figure below 80% would likely be a cause for concern.

8.6       The Committee questioned whether £10,000 was an appropriate lower limit for contracts awarded via procurement processes, or if full procurement for lower-value contracts might cause drain on resources. Sarah Warman commented that, although the bulk of efforts would be focused on high-value contracts, it was considered important to ensure that best practice was implemented for procurement across lower-value (i.e. below £100,000) contracts as well, to improve engagement with and understanding of good procurement practice.

8.7       The Committee asked about the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of data gathering, monitoring, and utilisation. Sarah Warman noted that the range and variety of data was broad, owned by many different Council areas, and the quality of the information entered into systems was key to a good quality dataset. Sarah Warman also noted that, at the time of the meeting, contract data and spend data were not aligned, although the aim was to change that with a new contract management system due for implementation in Spring 2022. The Committee was advised that a contract register was being built across the Council to allow more oversight of the spend, but that lower-value contracts were a challenge as they were dispersed across the Council.  

8.8       The Committee queried aspects of the Council’s approach to achieving social value, including its definition, and whether true value would be achieved if price was not the foremost consideration, given that money was required for a wide range of services provided by the Council to vulnerable people. Sarah Warman noted that social value was just one aspect of procurement; she agreed that clarity on social value as a concept was important, as well as monitoring of providers’ delivery on social value obligations and impact, to ensure that the Council delivered on commitments to residents.

8.9       The Committee also queried whether the Procurement team had a wide enough skillset to procure the wide variety of programmes and contracts required by the Council, drawing a contrast between small contracts and large Capital Programme contracts. Sarah Warman noted that efforts had been made to recruit a team with an appropriate range of skills to deliver best practice in procurement. Further, the Committee was advised that efforts were being made to reduce reliance on interim staff and recruit permanent staff to roles with input into the Capital Programme. The Committee noted the report and also noted that a further report relating to procurement would be coming to its September meeting.

8.10     RESOLVED: That the Committee note the report.