Issue - meetings

The Contract Standing Orders set out the rules for procuring contracts on behalf of the Council. This report outlines the amendments to the Contract Standing Orders including changes to the level of threshold.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Approve the amendments to the Contract Standing Orders and recommend to Council that the Constitution be updated accordingly.

The Committee received a report outlining proposed amendments to the Contract Standing Orders including changes to the level of threshold.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Benchmarking. Following a question from a Member, the Committee was informed that the proposed amendments to Contract Standing Orders had been benchmarked against those set by Surrey County Council and the other 11 Surrey Borough and District Councils. The proposed thresholds set by the amended Contract Standing Orders aligned with 80% of the benchmarked authorities.

b)            Percentage of spend within threshold levels. Following a question from a Member, the Committee was informed that 80% of the Council’s procurement spend currently fell within threshold 1 and 2.

c)            Sustainable procurement. The Committee noted the Contract Standing Orders provided guidance to officers on consideration of sustainable procurement and social value, and that these issues were embedded within the council’s procurement processes. It was noted that an amendment would be made to paragraph 13.2 of the Contract standing orders to where appropriate, ask suppliers bidding for all contract opportunities to demonstrate awareness of relevant environmental issues.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Approve the amendments to the Contract Standing Orders and recommend to Council that the Constitution be updated accordingly.