Agenda and minutes

Councillor Stephen Peters welcomed everyone to the Meeting, which he would be Chairing as apologies had been received from Councillor Kit Taylor.  

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 23 January 2017).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

None.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 15 November 2016 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Transformation and Commissioning, the Head of Commercial and the Market Management and Research Manager, Commercial Team attended the meeting to discuss how the County Council were supporting local businesses in terms of the Social Value Act and locally procured services.

During the Overview and Scrutiny Board's consultation on the annual Work Programme for 2016/17, this area was agreed as a priority for the Panel.

As part of Worcestershire County Council's (WCC) Open for Business Agenda, and its commitment to promote a World Class Worcestershire, the Council supported and promoted local business in the County or those relocating to Worcestershire in a variety of ways:

·         Growing existing businesses

·         Direct support, particularly for start-ups to help them survive and then grow

·         Improving skill levels in the County and supporting the development of a skilled workforce

·         Attracting inward investment into the County

·         Acting in a business friendly way

This was in line with the Council's economic vision and was supported by the Council's Economic Development Team, Worcestershire Business Central and Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP).

The Panel received a presentation which covered:

·       Supporting the Local Economy

·       The Commissioning Cycle

·       Thresholds for quotes and tenders including Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) Thresholds

·       Example analyses – commissioned spend by value, market, size and location of supplier

·       Social Value Act

·       How the Social Value Act was built into the Council's Commissioning Cycle

·       Ongoing developments in social value

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

·       The Council supported local businesses through the procurement of goods and Council services. Low-value procurement (less than £25,000) could be done by the Council seeking multiple quotes from suppliers. Any service that would cost more than £25,000 must be procured through an open tender process and if the value of the contract was greater than the threshold for the OJEU, the tender must also be published in this journal. (Current OJEU thresholds for local authorities were £164,176 for service contracts and £4,104,394 for works).

·       The majority of the County Council's procured spend was tendered (i.e. above £25,000 in value) which means that for a supplier to be in with a chance of winning Council contracts, that supplier must tender for the work through the Council's e-tendering platform, called InTend.

·       The CMR advised that the results of the Viewpoint Survey had suggested that there was a perception that there had been a reduced opportunity for local businesses to contract with the County Council, particularly in Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest. It was suggested that a lack of awareness could be as a result of the new procurement system, called InTend, which  it was acknowledged needed more promotion and publicity.

·       The CMR then mentioned the Commissioning Member Briefings and urged Panel Members to attend these Briefings, which were programmed to meet four times per year and give Councillors an opportunity to be appraised about commissioning proposals, implementation and review. Some of the Briefing sessions had already looked at market engagement tactics, engagement events, and procurement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 194.