Issue - meetings

That the revised Contract Procedure Rules be endorsed for submission to Council.

The Interim Head of Procurement introduced a report to consider and comment upon the revised Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) prior to consideration by Constitution Committee and approval by County Council.  He explained that the document underpinned procurement activity undertaken by the Council and said that attempts to adopt a national set of CPRs had encountered difficulties due to a failure to reach mutual agreement across all Councils in Wales.

In welcoming the document, Councillor P.G. Heesom spoke about the need to cross-reference issues to the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).

Councillor G.S. Banks felt that there was a contradiction between clauses 10.3, 41.1 and 41.3 on changes to the tendering process.  The Interim Head of Procurement explained that the requirement for Cabinet approval of tender exemptions above £1m had been changed to streamline the process as a technical judgement.  Similarly, approval of contract values, including variations, over £1m allowed involvement at Monitoring Officer or Chief Finance Officer level in consultation with the Cabinet Member.  In response to concerns raised by Councillor Banks, it was explained that the approach had been simplified to alleviate any unnecessary delay to enable contracts to be signed and earlier commencement of work, with the necessary controls in place.

The Head of Legal & Democratic Services pointed out that Cabinet would still be required to approve contracts and that Cabinet Members could refer back to Cabinet if necessary.

The Chair asked to be kept informed on the use of consultants and remarked on savings in the Procurement service.  The Interim Head of Procurement reported savings of between £800,000-900,000 which exceeded the efficiency target reported in the Outcome Agreement to the Welsh Government.

The Chief Executive said that the proposals would address any delays to tendering which could potentially compromise schemes and hoped that inclusion of clauses 46.1 and 46.2 in the CPRs gave assurance on controls in place for the use of consultants.  He went on to refer to joint arrangements with Denbighshire County Council in relation to the Interim Head of Procurement.

RESOLVED:

That the revised Contract Procedure Rules be endorsed for submission to Council.