Purpose of the strategy
The purpose of this strategy is to explain how the procurement and commissioning functions will address our core policies; to address the Climate Emergency and to give people a bigger say. It is important that we also ensure that our procurement and commissioning functions deliver effective value for money.
Core policies that inform the strategy
Addressing the Climate Emergency and giving people a bigger say are our two core policies in the Corporate Strategy. These core policies will be central in informing the Procurement and Commissioning Strategy at every level:
Our Climate Emergency Procurement & Commissioning Strategy is an immediate response to the Emergency. We will review our buying practices to ensure that practices are fit for purpose and in compliance with the our commitments to responding to the Climate Emergency.
All staff will be trained to procure in line with environmental standards and in accordance with the Climate Emergency Strategy.
In order for the Procurement & Commissioning Strategy to address the Climate Emergency, we will be working towards the following objectives:
- Consider the carbon footprint of products and services
- Consider the environmental impact of our supply chain
- Encourage the use of local suppliers
- Encourage innovation for sustainable solutions
This policy aims to develop a more transparent, open and listening Council. To help us address this key ambition from a procurement perspective, we will take the following action:
- Ensure all procurement activities follow appropriate democratic process
- Build a community engagement model to ensure that local residents are stakeholders in all relevant processes and that proportionate consultation is undertaken
- Ensure all procurements subject to key decision are reviewed by the appropriate Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel
- Include Climate Emergency in all community stakeholder events, providing information about their carbon footprint and use of single-use plastic
- Provide the Climate Emergency Policy Development & Scrutiny Panel with a procurement pipeline, allowing them to monitor Climate Emergency issues
We will also ensure that they deliver the Procurement Framework objectives:
- Ensure that procurement best practice underpins the delivery of our ambitions and obligations
- Deliver ambitions in a compliant manner, within legislation and provide evidence that goods and services demonstrate value for money.
Our principles
When delivering the Procurement and Commissioning Strategy, we will be led by the following three principles:
We will work with partner organisations, focusing on new technologies to drive improvements, and becoming smarter and more flexible in the ways that we work.
We aim to create modern services, making the best use of digital and improving the way we work as a council. We will also ensure that local residents and service users are consulted and will improve Council-wide visibility of procurement and commissioning activity.
We aim to provide early help to reduce demand across services, build on local strengths and reduce inequalities. We will improve methods of monitoring throughout the life of a contract and encourage our suppliers to reduce their carbon footprints.
Considerations and challenges
There are many factors which complicate and challenge the procurement and commissioning processes, many of which are beyond our control. It is vital that we acknowledge these factors and their significance, then consider how to work around them. At the time of writing, our current considerations and challenges include the following:
The UK is no longer a member of the European Community and this may have a significant impact on the procurement of goods and services.
The pandemic has had a radical impact on the way that people and businesses go about their daily lives and is having a profound impact on the procurement of goods and services within the council. There are new procurement regulations which are being made mandatory that emphasise the importance of new businesses, skills and jobs, improving supplier diversity and tackling climate change.
We need to adapt and build resilience in our supply chains, encourage more research and development whilst understanding the fragility of the marketplace.
We also need to recognise the cost challenges that we face as a result of the pandemic. We may not be able to buy goods of the same quality, and our suppliers may have difficulty finding the necessary product through their supply chain. We may need to pay more to get the same or consider other options.
The purchase cost usually increases when goods are labelled as sustainable. However, purchase cost is not the only buying consideration. It is vital to consider the whole-life cost of the goods or service too.
We need to ensure that our Climate Emergency objectives are part of council culture. We need to create a culture of thinking sustainably at every level and it should become second nature for council staff to ask sustainability questions.
We must ensure that we can mitigate the risks and negative impacts of modern slavery issues. We will take responsibility for driving ethical procurement and responsible supply chains. We need to put processes in place to ensure that we ask the right questions and make the appropriate checks.
The act requires commissioners in England and Wales to think about the value they can secure for their area and how the services they are going to buy might improve the economic, social or environmental well-being of the area. We will look to implement a framework for measuring social value.
Conclusions
There are three things that the Strategic Procurement Team must help us to get right in order to address our core policy ambitions and adhere to the Procurement Framework. These include:
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The environmental factors and measurements
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Contractual and supplier relationships
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Staff and labour factors