Agenda item

Report of the Head of Procurement

6.1     The Committee considered a report on compliance with contract record keeping within capitalEsourcing across the Council, implementation of the Contract Management Framework and procurement and commercial training received by members of the Strategic and Commercial Procurement team.

6.2     Anthony Oliver, Chief Procurement Officer, informed the Committee that compliance with contract record-keeping within CapitalEsourcing across the Council had increased from 41% to 86% since the committee was presented with the Annual Contracts Review in July.  Three departments (Finance, Policy, Performance & Communications and Corporate Services had achieved 100% compliance.  Officers aimed to achieve full compliance across all departments by early in the New Year.  The recording of contract performance had improved from 30% to 44% over the same period.  Mr Oliver clarified that contract managers were managing contracts and undertaking reviews with suppliers but that they were not recording this information within CapitalEsourcing. There would be a drive in the New Year to obtain full compliance within this area. This would be supported by providing training and development to contract managers.

6.3     Mandy Gado, Head of Procurement Operations, informed the committee that the Contract Management Framework (CMF) had been finalised since officers last appeared at committee in July.  The CMF had been designed to support an effective and more consistent approach to managing a diverse range of contracts across Tri-Borough.  The CMF It had been developed to help manage risk and exploit the opportunities that arise in all contracts; it draws upon existing good practice and offers a flexible approach to support Contract Managers according to their specific needs. 

6.4     Mr Oliver highlighted that having an accurate contracts register will enable the Council to better manage its contracts.  For instance, it will alert contract managers about the forthcoming end of a contract and the need to plan for a re-procurement. This helps avoid the need to extend a contract because insufficient time has been left for the re-procurement process to take place.

6.5     In response to queries officers confirmed that to reflect the recent organisation changes further work was being undertaken to map the new hierarchies so that those within CapitalEsourcing match those within the Managed Services Agresso system.

6.6     Officers were asked about the flexibility of the system and the data that contract managers had to input into it given how varied contracts across the Council were in size and value.  The committee was informed that the system included 5 categories where contract managers were required to input a mix of generic contract information as well as specific data relating to the contract’s key performance indicators.  This enables scores to be rolled up to provide reasonable comparisons of how contracts are performing individually and against one another.

6.7     In recognition of the significant investment being undertaken to train contract managers the Committee asked about the retention of such staff within the Council.  Mr Oliver explained that contract managers were not based within the procurement team but within individual directorates.  Service directors had raised retention of such staff as a concern.  Unfortunately there would always be some staff turnover.  He stated that there was a requirement within the Council’s procurement code for all new staff recruited to manage a contract to receive and undertake relevant training.

6.8     Mr Oliver was asked whether there were more training opportunities that could be progressed.  He advised that the Council wanted to develop training on negotiation which was a completely new skill and which had not been provided previously. 

6.9     RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

6.10    ACTION: Provide the committee with regular progress reports on meeting compliance targets for contract record keeping within CapitalEsourcing.  (Action for: Anthony Oliver, Chief Procurement Officer)