Agenda item

The Committee received a report, presented by Holly Wilson, Head of Strategic Procurement which detailed all waivers and breaches to the Contract Procedure Rules (CPR’s) for the period 1st September 2019 up to 29th February 2020.  The report provided a summary of the number of new waivers and breaches recorded for each directorate since the last audit report presented to Committee in October 2019 for comparative purposes. Further details regarding each waiver and breach were summarised in Appendices 1-3 of the report.

The Head of Strategic Procurement reported that following the Covid 19 outbreak, there has been a significant increase in the number of waivers.  She advised that a supplementary report on breaches and waivers would be presented to the Committee at its meeting in July. 

The Committee was pleased to note that a long-standing issue in relation to the Solar Centre had since been resolved and thanked Officers who had been involved for the work undertaken.

The Committee commended the Strategic Procurement Team for the overall decrease in waivers and breaches for the period up to 29th February 2020, however, sought assurance that the procedures to manage, award and monitor waivers and breaches to Council Procedure Rules during the period since the date of this report and the Covid 19 outbreak have been followed correctly.  The Head of Strategic Procurement reported that she had been given clear direction from the Council’s Leadership Team to ensure that good governance was in place and whilst there had been an increase in the workload of the Procurement Team, she was confident that the correct processes had been followed.  The report to be presented to the Committee in July would provide a full analysis and provide further assurance that procedures have been adhered to.

Members raised concerns that due to Covid 19 some suppliers have been charging vastly inflated prices for essential items, such as personal protective equipment, therefore have profiteered from the demand in supplies.  Members asked that the report to the Committee in July provide information regarding poor practices from suppliers that had profiteered during the pandemic.

The Head of Strategic Procurement confirmed that the report in July would provide information regarding those waivers where the Council have had to block purchase for such items and explained that the Council’s usual supply chain could not meet the Council’s requirements.  She assured Members that none of the Council’s existing contractors had inflated prices and explained that contractually the prices had been fixed with the contractor.  The Procurement Team have monitored this area and have endeavoured to get value for money, where possible.  However, the Head of Procurement agreed to include in the report to Committee in July as to whether any of the Council’s current contractors have inflated their prices.

Whilst recognising that there would be spikes in supplies for goods, that had been set at a fixed price, Members sought assurance that there would not be an increase in waivers as to that reported in previous years, as it was noted that they had notably decreased since that time.  The Head of Strategic Procurement advised that unfortunately, there would be a significant increase in waivers, as the work on reporting waivers had not yet been carried out, with the report only including waivers pre Covid, but would be done as part of the spend analysis, and included in the report to next month’s Committee.  She explained that there had been a delay in contract activity, due to companies furloughing staff, therefore, had not been in a position to tender.  This had created an artificial economic situation and had inflated prices, therefore, the Council had decided not to procure goods at this time, as it would not be in the Council’s best interests in terms of value for money.  Furthermore, contract and procurement staff had been re-directed to deal with Covid 19 pressures. She assured members that contracts to be waived prior to Covid had been waived, so there should not be any breaches during this time.  However, she reported there would be an increase in waivers going forward, but hopefully this would be in the short term and that normal tendering would resume, but was dependent upon how long the Covid 19 situation continued.

The Director of Corporate Services added that at the commencement of the Covid 19 outbreak, the Council has been operating within the Government guidelines, Cabinet Office Procurement Policy Note (PPN2) regarding payment of the Council’s Suppliers to ensure service continuity during and after the outbreak, which would support the actions taken by the Council.  She felt that it would be beneficial for this information to be included in the report to the Committee in July in order that Members are fully appraised.  The Head of Procurement undertook to include this information in the report.

During subsequent discussion, Members were disappointed to note that some areas within the Council still had no understanding or awareness of the scope of corporate contracts and of the corporate framework in respect of waivers.  It was reported that a lot of face to face training had been undertaken in relation to procurement and Contract Procedure Rules. Training was to be moved to a new learning platform and work would continue in this area to ensure that nobody would fall through the gaps.

In response to a question as to whether the breach as identified as item 3, ‘Glass and Glazing supplier for the supply and install of doors, windows and board ups’, and the waiver identified as item 2, ‘Extra Care Housing’, of Appendices 1 and 2 respectively, had been awarded, the Head of Strategic Procurement reported that the contracts may have been delayed due to Covid 19.  She gave an undertaking to provide an update on these matters in the report to the Committee in July.

Members were reassured that the breaches and waivers during the period covered in the report had been reasonably controlled in terms of the procurement of services and thanked the Head of Strategic Procurement for the report.

RESOLVED that the information and actions contained in the report regarding waivers and breaches to Council Procedure Rules, be noted.