Archived decisions

Appendix One

Policy and Resources Policy Review Committee

Proposal of Scrutiny Review of Hampshire County Council's Furniture Purchasing and Replacement Policies and Costs.

Contact: Scrutiny Officer

1. Group Membership

Cllr Carol Leversha

Cllr Charlotte Bailey

Cllr Rod Baulk

Cllr Robin McIntosh

2. Introduction

At a meeting of the Policy and Resources PRC on 1 February 2007 it was agreed that a scrutiny working group be appointed to examine furniture procurement costs together with the County Council's furniture purchasing and recycling policies. The decision to pursue this piece of work came about following two reports to the Committee from the Director of Property Business and Regulatory Services regarding the refurbishment project for Ashburton Court.

3. Rationale

3.1 Purchasing Policy

It has been established that Hampshire County Council does not have specific policies in relation to the selection and purchasing of furniture, although the Council follows legislation such as Health and Safety and Display Screen Equipment when embarking on furniture replacement programmes. The purchase and replacement cycles for furniture are decided within individual departments. The County Council's Supplies Service is able to negotiate best value rates on furniture for departments by belonging to a regional network of buyers and has established a range of framework contracts to facilitate this. Large scale requirements, for example, those relating to the Enhance programme or to the Discovery Centres tend to be tendered individually. Most furniture replacement programmes are driven by either the requirements of legislation (as mentioned above), or the demands of improving the use of office space.

A Review of this area could investigate whether current arrangements for the purchasing of furniture are sufficiently robust and whether a corporate policy on furniture purchasing and replacement could bring benefits in terms of value for money and improved corporate responsibility towards the environment and Hampshire's communities.

3.2 Recycling Policy

It has been established that Hampshire County Council does not have a specific policy for the recycling of furniture. However, where furniture which has been replaced is deemed to have a potential use, a store at Bar End is available in which to keep items until the need arises. In the case of the Ashburton Court redevelopment, a complete audit of all existing furniture is being undertaken which will enable an assessment to be made as to its suitability for re-use. Some of the Council's preferred suppliers offer to recycle replaced or redundant furniture for use elsewhere in this or other countries.

A Review of this area could investigate whether current arrangements for the recycling of furniture are satisfactory and whether a corporate policy on furniture recycling could bring benefits in terms of value for money and improved corporate responsibility towards the environment and Hampshire's communities.

3.3 Finance

The purchase of furniture is not budgeted centrally at the County Council but is embedded in a number of places. It is possible that further economies of scale could be achieved by being more centrally prescriptive, but this could impact on local choice and specification to meet particular demands.

A Review of this area could attempt to quantify the amounts currently spent on furniture purchasing and replacement and establish whether economies could be achieved through the implementation of central policies on furniture purchasing and recycling.

3.4 Timeliness and relevance

3.4.1 Issues of sustainable procurement are currently high on the agenda. Two very recent publications - The UK Government Sustainable Procurement Action Plan (Defra, March 2007) and Transforming Government Procurement (Treasury, January 2007) both address the steps that need to be taken by Government and the wider public sector in order to create supply chains and public services that are low carbon, low waste, water efficient, respect biodiversity and deliver wider sustainable development goals.

The Action Plan's Initial Sustainable Procurement Policy Framework defines sustainable procurement as `...a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment.' Furniture is listed in the Action Plan as one of the broad categories of expenditure on which public sector procurers need to focus attention in this respect.

3.4.2 A major refurbishment project of Ashburton Court at Hampshire County Council is currently underway. Advice from the Project Team shows that the refurbishment programme is being developed in line with sustainability principles, but does not as yet contain specific plans for furniture and equipment. The first requirement for furniture and equipment in the refurbished building is not until the end of 2007 and so decisions on selection, reuse and procurement will not be made for some months.

3.4.4 The importance of avoiding sending waste to landfill has recently been increased by the Government's announcement of an £8 per tonne increase in landfill tax each year from April 2008 - 2011.

4. Scope of the Review

1. Financial

i. To establish a picture of how much departments spend on office furniture and fittings.

ii. To establish whether the implementation of corporate policies on procurement and recycling of furniture would achieve greater economies and value for money.

Possible lines of enquiry:

· How is furniture purchasing and replacement currently budgeted for?

· How frequently is furniture bought or replaced? Is this planned or ad hoc?

· How much is spent by Departments on buying new or replacement furniture?

2. Procurement

i. To review Hampshire's current procurement protocols and practices and identify elements of good practice.

ii. To identify areas of good practice regarding furniture procurement not currently employed within Hampshire County Council

iii. To establish whether a specific corporate procurement policy for office furniture and fittings would help to achieve increased economies, value for money and improved corporate responsibility towards the environment and Hampshire's communities.

Possible lines of enquiry:

· Is there consistency across the Council in applying sustainable practices when purchasing office furniture and fitments?

3. Recycling

i. To review Hampshire's current approach towards the recycling and responsible disposal of office furniture and fittings and identify elements of good practice.

ii. To identify areas of good practice regarding furniture recycling not currently employed within Hampshire County Council.

iii. To establish whether a corporate furniture recycling policy would help to achieve increased economies, value for money and improved corporate responsibility towards the environment and Hampshire's communities.

Possible lines of enquiry:

· What is the impact of legislation and policy on Hampshire's ability to recycle furniture effectively?

· How much office furniture and fitments does HCC send to landfill? What is the cost of this to the Council?

· Is there consistency across the Council in the approach to recycling of furniture?

· How do other local authorities and organisations approach the issue of furniture recycling?

5. Anticipated outcomes of the Review

1. That current expenditure on office furniture and fittings is quantified in departmental budgets.

2. That any areas for improvement in the current systems for purchasing, replacing and recycling furniture are identified.

3. That the possibility of creating a specific corporate policy on furniture purchase, replacement and recycling is investigated, with recommendations communicated to the P&R PRC and Executive.

6. Indicative Key Stakeholders

· Devolved finance units in Departments

· Departmental Resources Groups

· Adult Services Capital Team (for information about nursing homes, day services etc.)

· Hampshire Architect and Design Service (Steve Clow - Head of Architecture; Annie Templeton - Head of Interior Design)

· County Supplies (Corporate Procurement Team; HCC Furniture purchasing teams: Nigel Lacey and Karen Wright)

· HCC waste management officers

· Furniture recycling organisations i.e. Greenworks

· Other local authorities with experience of implementing policies on furniture replacement and recycling i.e. Croydon, Lambeth

7. Proposed approach

A full select committee style review is recommended, commencing April 2007 and running for six months. A review of this type will involve an initial phase of `desk research', followed by the collection of written evidence from key stakeholders and, finally, a series of oral evidence - or `select committee' style - sessions. Site visits are also possible during the course of the review.

8. Initial Project Plan