Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendation.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management presented a report to seek approval for the Council to join the proposed Public Sector National Procurement Service (NPS), within an initial five year commitment.

The Head of ICT & Customer Services detailed the background and said that the business case would need to be revisited to reflect the level of commitment and spend by Councils and to ensure risks were addressed.  The Chief Executive said that the proposal to support the NPS would be on the basis of conditions detailed in the report to ensure this was in the best interests for Flintshire.  He drew attention to the categories to be considered within the NPS and said that the Council would need to consider which of these would be beneficial.

Following concerns about the impact of the arrangements on local small businesses and suppliers, the Head of ICT & Customer Services said that analysis of the categories had indicated that less than 1% of Flintshire’s total spend was in Wales, with the vast majority spent with national companies.  On protecting the interests of regional suppliers, he said that the Council would have a role in encouraging local businesses to become part of the framework.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Enterprise & Leisure asked if the arrangement would impact on the recently introduced P2P procurement system.  The Head of ICT & Customer Services said that it would complement the system.  The Chief Executive remarked that the P2P system provided a control mechanism and was being expanded across the Council.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet support the National Procurement Service and Flintshire’s membership for a five year period, subject to the conditions set out in 3.08 of the report.