Agenda item - Procurement Compliance Update

Report of the Executive Director Governance, People and Resources

1)            That the Audit & Standards Committee notes the contents of this report including progress made to date and ongoing actions in response to audit recommendations detailed in Appendix 1.

11.1      The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Governance, People & Resources that updated on progress to implement the recommendations and agreed actions emanating from the internal audit reviews (Phase 1 and 2) of compliance with Contract Standing Orders, which assigned minimal assurance.

11.2      In response to a question from Councillor Meadows, it was explained that with the onset of Sourcing Solutions, attempts were being made to review all contracts over £25k in value. Due to resource pressures, Sourcing Solutions had recently been asked to review contracts up to a value of £250k where mini competitions were being undertaken in accordance with national frameworks. Publishing to the Public Register was now much more under control.

11.3      In response to a question from Councillor Peltzer Dunn, it was clarified that all actions were compliant or in progress and monitoring of recommendations and data analysis was being comprehensively applied.

11.4      In response to a question from Councillor Littman, it was confirmed that all actions had a completion date of before September 2022 and ongoing monitoring would be required in line with the specific Strategic Risk.

11.5      In response to a question from Councillor West, it was clarified that made an estimated saving of £2.5 - £4m per annum.

11.6      Resolved-

1)             That the Audit & Standards Committee notes the contents of this report including progress made to date and ongoing actions in response to audit recommendations detailed in Appendix 1.