Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Audit Committee confirms to Council that the proposed CPRs will give satisfactory assurance and controls in the provision of awarding contracts only;

(b)       That the Committee recommends Council adopts the proposed new rules;

(c)       That the Audit Committee receives an early report on the successful transition to the new Contract Procedure Rules and receives reports on the performance of contracts against the rules in practice; and

(d)       That the implementation date will remain as 1 November 2016 to enable a period of implementation prior to January at which an update report will be received.

The Chief Officer (Governance) presented the draft revised Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) which had been updated to reflect various legislative changes and the move to an electronic procurement system.  The current CPRs had been adopted in 2013 following delays in the agreement of a national model and the proposed new set was consistent with those used at Denbighshire County Council with whom Flintshire shared the procurement service.  A number of improvements had been made to the revised CPRs including the introduction of a commissioning form and changes to authorisation thresholds which allowed an increased level of oversight for Members.  A programme of sessions for Members and officers was planned to raise awareness of the new rules, including more targeted user training.

The Committee was introduced to Mr. Tom Booty, the Programme Manager for Facilities, Assets & Housing at Denbighshire County Council.  He explained that the development of the revised CPRs had been informed by assessing procedures and issues raised by Internal Audit.  Feedback from Denbighshire, where the CPRs had been in use for several months, showed that the training programme and increased focus on procurement planning had been well received.

Councillor Ian Roberts asked whether any weight was given to the previous performance/conduct of contractors within the new rules.  Mr. Booty explained that the electronic system incorporated a performance review element for completion at the end of each contract which would help to inform future tendering exercises.  Councillor Roberts went on to question the current process in Flintshire and stressed the importance of safeguards to ensure that contractors with a poor record of service delivery were not given an opportunity to tender for further work.

The Chief Officer said that whilst contract award criteria was 60/40 for quality and cost, consideration should also be given to previous under-performance which had not been rectified.  The Chief Executive said that officers were expected to apply rigour and judgement when awarding contracts under the rule prevailing at that time.

Councillor Glyn Banks commented on the Council’s select list of contractors and was advised that this was no longer required under the new CPRs as contracts were awarded on an individual basis.

Councillor Roberts raised concerns about the continuing performance levels of a particular contractor and stressed the importance of safeguards within the CPRs to flag up this issue.  Councillor Alison Halford felt that the report gave no assurance about the issue raised by Councillor Roberts.  The Chief Officer referred to his earlier response and that given by Mr. Booty on collating performance data, asking that any concerns about specific contractors be raised with him outside the meeting.

In response to concerns raised by Councillor Arnold Woolley, Mr. Booty explained that the regulations did not permit a contractor to be excluded from tendering solely on the basis that they already undertook a significant proportion of work for the Council.  Where this had occurred in Denbighshire, the practice was for the Economic Development team to discuss diversification options with the supplier.  The Chief Officer added that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26