Agenda item

                 Report of the Chief Executive

Cllr Nick Botterill, Cabinet Member for Finance, Development Management and Strategic Planning presented a report detailing proposals to support the introduction and adoption of a Socially Responsible Procurement Policy in the Council’s procurement process.

Cllr Botterill explained that the Policy is in response to the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 which came into force on 31 January 2013 and requires public authorities to have regard to economic, social, and environmental well-being in connection with public services contracts; and for connected purposes. It was noted that consideration of the Act is embedded in the Council’s procurement and commissioning processes and the Policy enabled the Council to adopt a formal approach to social value. The report indicated that the Policy aimed to provide an overarching framework and unified approach and identified five priorities that represented the Council’s values and beliefs. This would ensure the Council maximises the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being that it delivers through its procurement activity.

Cllr Ian Thorn welcomed the initiative and commented on the following:

·       Referenced a recent discussion by Cabinet on procurement process for a New Term Highways contract and asked how the objectives of the Policy were factored into the Council’s ambitions and impacting decisions made. In response, officers described the processes leading to discussions on these matters and the use of toolkits suitable to the procurement situation which led to appropriate decisions based on the category of spend.

·       A concern that the new approach would lend itself towards favouring larger organisations, with local and smaller organisation unable to bid for contracts due to their inability to demonstrate ethical procurement impacts. In response, officers referred to the Wiltshire first approach detailed in the appendix to the report and the prioritisation of local organisations.

·       Referred to the five priorities and how they would be employed during the procurement process. In response, the Leader and officers confirmed that all the priorities held equal importance and how they were employed would depend on the type of contract being considered.

Cllr Graham Wright, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee reported that the Management Committee considered the draft Policy at its meeting on 15th November 2022 and supported the introduction of a Policy to help drive social value into the council’s procurement activities.  The Management Committee pointed out that there was no information within the policy to specifically outline benefits, timescales, requirements, how the council would buy better or how the potential impact would be measured. There was also some concern raised that the policy might limit the choice of who the Council could outsource to if the policy was over-prescriptive. Given this, the Committee resolved to receive a further item on implementation of the Policy in the New Year, specifically looking at how the impacts of the Policy will be measured and evaluated and the Socially Responsible Procurement Toolkits.

Cllr Dr Brian Mathew commented on the time difference between the Act coming into force and the adoption of the Policy. In response, Cllr Botterill confirmed that consideration of the Act has been embedded in the Council’s procurement and commissioning processes for many years and the Policy enables a formal approach to social value.

Cllr Clare Cape referred to the interpretation of the Policy aims as detailed in the report. In response, Officers confirmed that the Policy is overarching and would have regard to the aims during the procurement process.

Resolved:

a)    Support the introduction and adoption of a Socially Responsible Procurement Policy in our procurement processes

b)    Endorse the five key priorities identified in the Policy, which include:

·       A Wiltshire first approach

·       Local training and employment

·       Partners in the community

·       Green economy and sustainable environment

·       Ethical procurement and well-being focus

c)    Note the proposed governance arrangements within Appendix 1

d)    Endorse that the Director of Procurement, in consultation with the Corporate Director Resources/Deputy Chief Executive, can make appropriate amendments to ensure smooth implementation of the policy in line with changes in business needs

e)    Agree that the Portfolio Holder for Finance – Commissioning and Procurement acts as the Council’s social value champion

f)     Note the development of a Social Responsibility Toolkit to support both suppliers and commissioners to maximise the delivery of social value

g)    Endorse awareness of the Council’s social responsibility objectives to ensure that suppliers and contractors are clear about what we want them to deliver

h)    Support the development and implementation of a Socially Responsible Procurement Delivery Plan for inclusion in tender documents so that suppliers, providers, and contractors can set out how they will support implementation of the policy

i)      Endorse the adoption of a social value impact reporting system to measure and evaluate the qualitative and quantitative benefits delivered through procurement activity

Reason for Decision:

The policy is in response to the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 which came into force on 31 January 2013 and requires public authorities to have regard to economic, social, and environmental well-being in connection with public services contracts; and for connected purposes. Consideration to the Act is embedded in our procurement and commissioning processes at Wiltshire Council, however, this policy will ensure a formal approach to social value.

The policy places a particular focus on the three National Procurement Policy drivers; creating new business, new jobs, and new skills; tackling climate change and reducing waste; improving supplier diversity, innovation, and resilience.

By delivering this Socially Responsible Procurement Policy, Wiltshire Council intends to meet its requirements of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and the National Procurement Policy Statement by setting out Wiltshire Council’s overarching framework for the delivery of the policy, taking into consideration the wider associated legislative and policy driven requirements and importantly, delivery of the Council’s own commitments set out in the Business Plan Principles 2022 - 2032.

Wiltshire Council’s vision is to create strong communities. Social Value is how we, the council, in collaboration with our supply chain partners, can actively add benefits to our community and measure the positive impacts on the wellbeing of our economic, social and environmental activities, in order for the county of Wiltshire to thrive and prosper.

This policy ensures that Wiltshire Council maximises the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being that it delivers through its procurement activity.