Agenda item

The Contract Procurement Rules (CPRs) form part of the Council’s Constitutional framework. They should be maintained and updated as and when required to adopt legislative changes, reflect best practice in the industry and support the Council’s corporate objectives.

Recommendation

That the Audit Committee recommends to the Council that the proposed amendments to the Contract Procurement Rules be approved.

Patrick Tuite, the Council’s Procurement Officer, advised the Committee that the Contract Procedure Rules (CPR) were maintained and updated as and when required to adopt legislative changes, reflect best practice in the industry and support the Council’s corporate objectives.

The current CPRs had last been updated and approved by full Council in October 2018. Whilst they were still for purpose, there were a small number of amendments required to reflect new/current legislation as well as the Council’s newly adopted Corporate Strategy.

The Committee considered proposed amendments in relation to:

1.    Modern Slavery

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was put in place to tackle modern slavery and Government was putting more obligations on local authorities. Whilst the council was not an in-scope organisation for the purpose of the act, it was felt important to reflect the spirit of the  Act, and the CPRs should ensure that proportionate due diligence was undertaken to certify that council-appointed contractors did not participate in modern slavery, either directly or within their supply chains.

The Committee asked how officers could make a judgement on contractors and sub-contractors claims, and the cost to the council of trying to comply with the Act. Officers explained that the obligations on contractors were similar to those in relation to their health and safety, or equality and diversity, policies. Companies hoping to contract with the council would have to demonstrate how they complied with their requirements under the Modern Slavery Act, along with other types of compliance.

2.    Tax implications

A new section on tax implications was intended to raise awareness of specific circumstances where officers needed to be alert to tax implications of procuring services: the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS); IR35, relating to off-payroll working; and reverse charge of VAT.

3.    Accessibility standards

To comply with new regulations for accessibility of public sector bodies’ websites, any procurement resulting in a public-facing website must comply with the Equality Act 2010 and the new Regulations.

4.    Carbon neutral

In relation to the section on being carbon neutral this would mean that for every procurement within the scope of the CPRs, the environmental impact must be considered as well as steps taken to minimise or offset the carbon impact where applicable. The Committee was pleased to see this addition being introduced and felt that it was an important way to drive improvements in the supply chain and demonstrate leadership. The Committee had some reservations about ‘off-setting’ and felt that this needed to be clarified, and the emphasis put on carbon reduction in the first place.

The Committee agreed that the newly established Climate Change Advisory Group should be asked to consider the procurement requirements in relation to the carbon neutral target, in particular defining ‘off setting’.

5.    Obtaining quotes

It was proposed to amend the current requirement of seeking quotes to a requirement that officers should have to obtain three quotes, with the intention that this would strengthen the procurement process. The Committee questioned whether this was always practicable, and suggested that CPR 19.7 should have an appropriate qualification, similar to CPR 19.6 and CPR 19.8.

It was agreed that CPR 19.7 for purchases between £25,000 and £99,999 there should be an requirement to get sign-off from the Section 151 Officer if three quotes could not be obtained.

6.    Disposal of Council assets

In relation to paragraph 26.7 of the agenda report “Any items that remain for disposal shall be sold at the highest price possible…”. A question was asked about whether this included land and buildings. Graeme Clark advised that there was separate legislation on disposal of council land and buildings which required best consideration to be achieved

The Chairman asked that in the CPRs themselves, CPR 14.2 should be more explicit about carrying out background checks relating to directors with previously dissolved companies.

It was agreed that Patrick would make the changes to the proposed amendments and circulate to the Chairman before these were submitted to Council for approval.

The Committee RESOLVED that, subject to the Chairman’s sign-off of the further revisions agreed by the Committee, the revised CPRs be submitted to Council for approval.

Secretary’s note: the revised CPRs following the amendments will be submitted to the next available Council meeting for approval.