Agenda and minutes

The Members had before them

A.     The Agenda papers  (previously circulated)

B.     A copy of the Commercial Team's new staff structure (circulated at the meeting)

A copy of documents A and B will be attached to the signed Minutes.

Apologies were received from Mr M H Broomfield.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services  in writing or by e-mail indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 3 November 2015).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

None.

The Director of Commercial and Change, the Head of Commercial and the Strategic Commissioner - Service Transformationwere invited to provide an update on:

·         the development of the Commercial Team; and

·         in relation to already commissioned services such as the Design Unit, ICT Managed Services and IBS Schools, how the quality of service provided is being monitored.

The Leader/Cabinet Member for Finance also took part in the discussion.

Development of the Commercial Team

The Director and Head of Commercial updated the Panel on the development of the Commercial team which included progress to date, the vision for 2020 and how success would be judged as outlined in the agenda report.  In addition to the detail in the report, the Panel was advised that:

• A standardised approach to commissioning and contracting across Worcestershire County Council did not necessarily mean that all services would be commissioned in the same way – there would be a variety of different models.

·         There were currently 60 staff in the Commercial Team, which had been developed to effectively support the Strategic Commissioners with the commissioning of their services.  Staff whose roles were defined as providing 'Centralised Commissioning Support' had moved in from existing Directorates.  A copy of the new staff structure was circulated at the meeting. In summary, the Commercial Team was responsible for commercial, market, and procurement management as outlined in paragraph 6 of the agenda report (and as per Appendix 1 of the agenda report):

Ø Commercial management – all Contracts were now listed in one place which helped with the management of the contracts register.  The team supported the ongoing review of existing contracts to ensure value for money throughout their lifecycle.  A draft Procurement Plan was being finalised to allow prioritisation to ensure best value for money and to monitor the upcoming activity of commissioning on a rolling 12 month basis.  Having a good relationship with the service provider or supplier was of key importance in managing and maintaining commercial relationships.

ØMarket management – the Council tried to ensure there was a vibrant supplier market to commission services from.  Where there was none, the local supply chain and volunteering would be encouraged.

ØProcurement management – included ensuring: legal compliance; compliance with the Council's Standing Orders; and positive outcomes underpinned by performance management across the organisation.

Early achievements includedsecuring Liberata as the preferred provider for Transactional HR and Finance Services.  It was anticipated that a contract would be awarded later this year subject to due diligence.  Another early achievement was supporting the Worcestershire Youth Music Service to become a Company Limited by Guarantee with charitable status.  This was a good example of where a commercial contract would not be most appropriate.

Other early achievements included: the launch of Place Partnership Ltd.; developing a market engagement strategy to support future transport and Fleet provision; and, working with the Institute of Public Care to undertake a robust analysis of market risk around adult social care providers both locally and nationally.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 148.