Decision details

To renew the Joint Procurement Service with Denbighshire County Council following expiry of the current Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Councillor Mullin introduced the Shared Procurement Service report which sought approval for a further Service Level Agreement with Denbighshire County Council for the delivery of procurement services.

The previous three year Service Level Agreement had now come to an end.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That subject to the changes detailed below, Cabinet give approval to enter into a further three year Service Level Agreement with Denbighshire County Council for the delivery of procurement services; and

(b)       That the following changes are to be made to the service delivery model:

1.    There is a need to promote collaborative procurement where it is appropriate and where it will deliver savings;

2.    Business partners, senior management teams and Chief Officers need to actively engage with each other in order to flag up forthcoming projects and big contracts to plan the procurement route and consider collaboration;

3.    Encourage the delivery of community benefits;

4.    Clear and hard targets for the efficiencies to be achieved through the procurement process must be set

5.    The systems and paperwork are seen to be onerous and need to be reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for internal purposes and do not become an unnecessary barrier to small firms bidding;

6.    There needs to be a review of experience following the procurement of major contracts;

7.    Chief Officers need to be more involved in agreeing where to strike the balance between potential benefits and procurement process risks; and

8.      There is a need for performance reporting to Cabinet and Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee.