Cabinet Agenda Item 154
Subject: Annual Procurement Forward Plan
Date of meeting: Thursday, 19 March 2026
Report of: Cabinet Member for Finance and City Regeneration
Lead Officer: Director Property & Finance
Contact Officer: Jason Duncombe
Email: jason.duncombe@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Ward(s) affected: All Wards
Is a Key Decision: Yes
Reason(s) Key: Expenditure which is, or the making of savings which are, significant having regard to the expenditure of the City Council’s budget, namely above £1,000,000
For general release
1. Purpose of the report and policy context
1.1 The Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) came into effect on 24 February 2025. The Act simplifies the procurement process and provides benefits to prospective suppliers of all sizes, with particular emphasis on small businesses, start-ups, and social enterprises. One of its key requirements is the mandatory obligation to publish a procurement project pipeline, thereby enhancing visibility of upcoming projects.
1.2 This report presents a Procurement Forward Plan for approval, detailing known procurement projects with a spend exceeding £1 million in the year 2026/27.
1.3 The Procurement Forward Plan aligns with the Council’s strategic priority to operate as a responsive authority providing efficiently managed services. The Council is committed to establishing clear processes that support sound governance, collaborative working, and integrated service delivery. The publication of the Procurement Forward Plan enables Members to maintain oversight during the early stages of planned procurement projects and ensure that all relevant stakeholders are kept informed of upcoming procurement activities.
1.4 A primary strategic objective for the Council is to consolidate contracts. This approach will underpin our initiatives to realise cost savings through procurement activities, in accordance with the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan. Consequently, all procurement processes will be focused on delivering both cost savings and value for money. Additionally, we have initiated transformational programme work to better manage third-party expenditure and to enhance our contracting and commercial capabilities.
2. Recommendations
2.1 That Cabinet agrees the Procurement Forward Plan for 2026/27 as set out in Appendix 1.
3. Context and background information
Context of the legislative changes
3.1 The Procurement Act 2023, which came into effect in February 2025, represents the most substantial revision to procurement legislation in recent years. The amendments to the regulations governing how public organisations procure works, goods, and services are significant.
3.2 The legislation aims to enhance and simplify procurement procedures, thereby benefiting prospective suppliers of all sizes, with particular emphasis on small businesses, start-ups, and social enterprises. Key advantages for suppliers include increased transparency, reduced barriers to public procurement, and greater standardisation and efficiency in procurement processes.
3.3 In response to the changes in procurement legislation, Brighton & Hove City Council’s Contract Standing Orders have been reviewed, revised, and approved by the full Council in February 2025.
3.4 The revised Contract Standing Orders specify that, to facilitate the Council's effective oversight of procurement activities across all service areas, the Director of Property and Finance is tasked with developing a Procurement Forward Plan. This is a detailed 12-month plan that identifies, for each directorate, all contracts valued at over £1 million that are scheduled for renewal, replacement, or new procurement in the forthcoming financial year.
3.5 The Procurement Forward Plan enables more proactive and strategic decision making and allows for more corporate oversight, by giving earlier sight of projects and the opportunity for the relevant lead Cabinet Member to receive greater levels of input and information about projects as they progress.
Transparency requirements
3.6 Transparency requirements are a key feature of the new legislation. Any contracting authority that intends to spend more than £100 million on goods services or works contracts in the coming fiscal year must publish details of all procurements expected to be made in the next £18 months valued at £2 million or more.
3.7 The Council is required to include in the published information the details of all individual procurements each year, within 56 days of the first day of the relevant financial year.
3.8 For Brighton & Hove City Council, it is proposed to electively publish all contracts over £1 million for a 24-month period to fit with the ‘key’ decision-making process and financial planning cycle. The information will be published on the Central Digital Platform, which is a central location provided by central government for this purpose
3.9 This increased visibility benefits small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) as it provides them with time to plan for future work, promoting a competitive and diverse market.
Proposed approach
3.10 To support this process, the Procurement Forward Plan has been prepared for the fiscal year 2026/27 which includes all proposed procurement projects that are valued at over £1million.
3.11 Projects featured will also have work that starts within the financial year (the contract may start later, but the work on it would be required to start within the financial year).
3.12 The Procurement Forward Plan includes projects that are either new projects or re-procurements (contract extensions that have already received delegated authority to proceed via their original Cabinet route are not included).
3.13 The following information is included for each project in the Forward Plan:
· Contract Name
· Contract Description
· Anticipated aggregate contract value across duration of the contract
· Indicative contract length (including extensions)
· Indicative route to market
· Start date of new contract
· Additional information
· Whether the project information should be omitted from public report
· The relevant council plan outcomes which relate to the project.
3.14 Summary of Procurements with a value over £1m – 2026/27
|
Directorate |
Number of Procurements |
Total Value |
Summary of Key Areas |
|
City Operations |
9 |
£70,672, 982 |
Strategic Energy Partnership, EV charging points, Bike hire scheme, |
|
Homes and Adult Social Care |
30 |
£223,690,000 |
Money Management Advice, Disability Adaptations, reactive and planned maintenance of council housing, construction of affordable homes, and Temporary Accommodation. |
|
Families, Children and Wellbeing |
3 |
£54,004,700 |
Drug and Alcohol Recovery, Skills bootcamp, Youth Service Scheme |
|
Central Services, People & Innovation |
4 |
£63,709,043 |
Temporary Agency worker service provider contract, corporate security services. Corporate cleaning contract – office, schools , mixed building, Electrical & mechanical maintenance and certification |
|
Central Services, Property & Finance |
3 |
£41,230,000 |
Banking Services, Parking Enforcement Services, Insurance renewal – property, assets, motor, |
3.15 Each of the Cabinet Members is briefed in advance by the relevant Directorate on the projects within their respective areas of responsibility to allow them a full picture of the year ahead.
3.16 Cabinet Members, in consultation with the Corporate Director, indicate how much input they will require during the project. This may be that they propose the approval of the project is reserved to Cabinet for decision or that they request additional oversight before the project proceeds.
3.17 For each project on the Procurement Forward Plan there is a choice of four options:
(i) The project can proceed to market, and the resultant contract can be awarded with no further delegated authority required from Cabinet. The Corporate Director will receive briefings from the Service and will brief the relevant member as appropriate.
(ii) The project can proceed to market without any further delegated authority from Cabinet, but the lead Cabinet Member will receive regular briefings from the service throughout the process. No authority is required from Cabinet in order to award the contract.
(iii) The Cabinet Member requires a review of the strategy and outcomes before the project proceeds to market. No further delegated authority is required from Cabinet in order to award the contract.
(iv) Before proceeding to market the project has to come to Cabinet with a full report including strategy, risks, VfM, outcomes and benefits.
3.18 These options offer a range of approaches for ongoing oversight by Cabinet Members, depending on factors such as the level of risk or the significance of the contract in relation to the Council Plan objectives.
3.19 This approach for giving delegated authority through the Procurement Forward Plan is recommended rather than using a case-by-case approach because it will give Cabinet Members a significant amount of oversight into the pipeline of work and allow proportionate input relative to the project.
New projects throughout the financial year
3.20 Once sign-off for the Procurement Forward Plan has been received, the projects will proceed as outlined above.
3.21 Should any new projects be identified with a value of in excess of £1million after the Procurement Forward Plan has been approved, these will need to come to Cabinet individually for delegated authority to be granted via an Approval to Procure process.
4. Analysis and consideration of alternative options
4.1 The requirement to publish a pipeline procurement document is mandatory under the new Procurement Act 2023.
4.2 This provides the Council with an opportunity to evaluate how to optimally utilise this change to effectively support the council’s strategic objectives, whilst ensuring proportionate oversight across the extensive procurement project portfolio. Options for consideration are:
Option 1 – Adopt the proposal for a Procurement Forward Plan as set out in the report
4.3 The recommendation in this report to delegate authority for procurements exceeding £1 million, subject to consideration of the Procurement Forward Plan, is advised as it allows Cabinet to maintain oversight of high-value procurements at an early stage. This approach enables timely input from members at an earlier point in the process and offers flexible options for ongoing engagement from members throughout the procurement procedure.
Option 2 – Continue to seek Cabinet approval on a project-by-project basis for all procurements over £1million
4.4 An alternative approach could involve requiring all individual procurements exceeding £1 million to be reported to the Cabinet on a case-by-case basis for delegated authority to proceed. However, this is not advisable, as it would be a less efficient method and could considerably impede the progress and effectiveness of procurement projects and oversight.
5. Community engagement and consultation
5.1 During the iterative development of the Procurement Forward Plan, internal consultation has been carried out. The emphasis on internal briefings is because this is a corporate initiative rather than a public-facing change. Consequently, the Community Engagement Framework has not been employed in this process.
5.2 A series of briefings have taken place including CLT, DMTs across the Council and individual briefings about the process with the Cabinet Advisor for Contract Management and Procurement regarding the procurement forward plan. As this process is now business as usual (BAU), the ongoing consultation will continue across Directorates.
6. Financial implications
6.1 The council commissions goods and services externally, with an annual value exceeding £300 million, and the Procurement Forward Plan appended as Appendix 1 is requesting approval to enter into contracts with total value of more than £400m over the life of those projects listed. It is therefore essential to have robust decision-making procedures and effective oversight of procurement projects to ensure compliance with legal requirements and procurement regulations. This helps to prevent anti-competitive behaviour, mitigate the risk of litigation, and avoid potential penalties. It also enables the council to meet its Best Value duty by conducting competitive procurement processes that deliver value for money, while also considering other important factors such as quality, social value, and environmental sustainability.
6.2 Corporate Directors are responsible for ensuring procurement activity is undertaken within the council’s existing budget envelope and decisions are made in line with the council’s Contract Standing Orders and Financial Regulations which establish additional internal controls and clarify officers’ responsibilities and delegated authority limits.
Finance officer consulted: Haley Woollard Date: 25/02/26
The proposed adoption of the Procurement Forward Plan aligns with the transparency requirements outlined in the Procurement Act 2023. All procurement activities undertaken by the Council must continue to adhere to the Council’s Contract Standing Orders and applicable procurement legislation. The adoption of the Procurement Forward Plan does not supersede these obligations; rather, it should be viewed as a complement, ensuring that each procurement process is carried out in accordance with legislation and the Council’s internal Contract Standing Orders on a case-by-case basis.
Lawyer consulted: Siobhan Fry Date consulted:02/03/26
8. Equalities implications
9. Sustainability implications
9.1 Whilst the visibility of the Procurement Forward Plan does not directly impact sustainability, increased transparency regarding future projects provides the authority with a better opportunity to evaluate the sustainability considerations of each individual project within the plan.
10. Health and Wellbeing Implications:
10.1 There are unlikely to be any health and wellbeing implications from the introduction of the forward plan process.
11. Procurement implications
11.1 The Cabinet Adviser for Contract Management and Procurement and the Lead Cabinet Member have been involved in the production of the forward plan.
11.2 Social value considerations will be considered as part of the individual projects on the plan.
12. Conclusion
13.1 In conclusion, it is recommended that Cabinet approve the Procurement Forward Plan for the financial year 2026/27 in accordance with the requirements of the Procurement Act, thereby supporting the Council’s objective of being a responsive authority with efficiently managed services.
13.2 Decisions regarding updates to specific projects will be implemented in accordance with the details outlined in the report.
13.3 Summary of Procurements with a value of over £1m - 2026/2027
Supporting Documentation
Appendix 1: Annual Procurement Forward Plan Template 2026-27