Archived decisions
P3/pf/1432
6 October 2008
Councillor Michael Cartwright
Chairman
Policy and Resources Select Committee
Hampshire County Council
The Castle
Winchester
Dear Michael
RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FURNITURE SCRUTINY REVIEW GROUP
First of all I would like to begin by thanking you and your Select Committee for all its hard work in undertaking this review. The work has been thorough and helpful in putting into context the work already being undertaken by the County Council and helps shape our future direction.
I accept the general thrust of the recommendations and challenges of the review findings. In particular it is pleasing to note that the Review Group found that overall, the County Council demonstrates good practice and a clear understanding of sustainability and value for money in its approach to the procurement of furniture and fittings.
I set out below my response to each of the recommendations:
FINANCIAL ISSUES
Recommendation 1:
That stronger messages about the need to consider whole-life approaches to procurement, examples of how this can be undertaken with indications of associated costs, and information on where to get further assistance, are communicated throughout Hampshire County Council. |
The need for a stronger message regarding whole-life cost approaches to procurement has been substantially addressed through the development of professional procurement capacity, particularly for larger procurements and through the Buying Guides that the County Supplies Service has in place for the County Council. Advice and guidance is offered through County Supplies and this is promoted through their publications. This does not guarantee departmental awareness and compliance with good practice, but good progress has been made and I would support the recommendation that this approach continues to be developed within the County Council. The new draft corporate Business Case template being developed by the County Treasurer includes guidance on costing techniques including whole life costs and the template is being launched in October 2008 and has already been successfully trialled in a couple of departments. A progress update on this can be made available to the Select Committee in Autumn 2009.
Recommendation 2:
That a standard approach to coding purchases of furniture and fitments in HCC's SAP system - advised by the model currently used in the County Treasurer's Department - is agreed and used by all HCC departments. |
The SAP guidance is very clear about the coding that departments should use on all orders (including furniture and fittings) but despite such a clear model it is for local training and awareness to ensure compliance with the model. All corporate contracts available within the SAP electronic catalogue of goods and services are coded correctly when staff place orders. However, order initiators can amend the coding to suit local reporting requirements and this makes it difficult to monitor activity. The County Treasurers Department have taken up the matter of coding with Heads of Profession in each department and it anticipated that this will see results in the near future.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Recommendation 3:
That guidance for HCC departments is developed outlining the various options for socially and environmentally responsible disposal of furniture and fitments in order to rationalise the various departmental approaches to disposing of furniture and fitments. |
The County Council has published information for departments about Removals and Disposal Contracts with further advice and guidance available through County Supplies. However as with (1) above this does not always guarantee compliance. County Supplies also specify that all suppliers must have environmental management accreditation such as ISO14001 and preference is given to suppliers whose products contain a large percentage of recycled material and are recyclable at the end of their life. Every endeavour is made to find better ways to re-use, recycle and dispose of office furniture and fittings which are no longer required and fit for purpose.
Recommendation 4:
That the full range of options for reuse, recycling and disposal of furniture are considered within the Strategic Property Review to ensure that maximum social and environmental benefits are achieved in all office moves, refurbishments and reorganisations, with due consideration of cost-efficient planning, management and use of space. |
The re-use, recycling and disposal of furniture in an environmentally and socially responsible manner is a central part of the Hampshire Workstyle programme. The refurbishment of Ashburton Court and Capital House has afforded invaluable insight into the purchase of environmentally sound furniture and the disposal and recycling options available. It is the intention to build on this knowledge and apply throughout the Hampshire Workstyle programme.
Recommendation 5:
That Gateway Reviews, which include the requirement to undertake Sustainability Impact Assessments, and allow for full consideration of environmental and social factors on a whole-life basis, are undertaken for all HCC's future major procurement projects and evidence be made available to show how this consideration has been made. |
Gateway Review processes are being piloted and are likely to be adopted for all contracts being tendered with a value of £1m or more (including single tenders). The implementation of a Corporate Gateway Review process across the County Council will assist in meeting the County Council's key objectives contained within its Corporate Procurement Strategy and ensure procurement projects are delivered efficiently and effectively.
In terms of providing evidence, County Supplies have in the past undertaken a number of audits of existing furniture and have identified what is suitable for reuse within the project and within the remits of current health and safety requirements. County Supplies can then advise who to use for disposal of unwanted furniture to ensure that the furniture is reused or recycled responsibly by one of the contracted suppliers.
Recommendations 6(i), 6(ii) and 6(iii)
That further work is undertaken to realise community benefits in HCC's procurement activity. To include: i. Inviting suppliers to propose additional community benefits for major contracts. ii. Simplification of procurement documentation and processes in order to facilitate tenders from small and medium sized enterprises and third sector organisations. iii. Ensuring that tendering processes are proportionate to the value of the contract and the risks associated with it. |
The County Council can demonstrate that the local economy is benefiting from a very substantial proportion of its expenditure on contracts and that local people are benefiting from the multiplier effect of this expenditure. The requirement to realise community benefits for major contracts is being approached mainly in relation to large scale procurements such as waste disposal, highways maintenance and property construction (areas of expenditure that are well in excess of our furniture requirements) and recent contracts in these major projects have explicitly contained requirements to propose additional community benefits. This would include the highways maintenance contract. The County Council is doing much to proactively engage the involvement of local suppliers across its procurement activity.
To a large extent, the complexities of tender processes are driven by the total value of the contract as required by the County Council's Contract Standing Orders and European Union Procurement Directives. Contracts below £25,000 require three written quotations, below £100,000 require a locally-run competitive tender, above £100,000 require a full competitive tender with the contract awarded by the Chief Executive and above £140,000 require a tender in accordance with EU Procurement Directives. Any new tenders must be checked over carefully to ensure that there are no legal loopholes that could leave the County Council open to challenge. However, the County Council does work closely with local suppliers and Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) to provide guidance on how to complete the tender documents in accordance with EU regulations both at briefings for tenderers for each project and at local 'meet the buyer events'. Pre-qualification questionnaires are now much shorter and easier to complete as demonstrated in the Procurement Best Practice Guide.
Unfortunately tenders which come under EU legislation (i.e. in excess of £140,000 over the life of the Contract) must follow the EU tender process. This is a very lengthy process because there is a specified length of time for each stage. Again the County Council works with local suppliers to help them understand the processes both at briefings for tenderers for each project and at local 'meet the buyer events'.
Recommendation 7:
That HCC reviews the findings of the cost-benefit exercise undertaken by the London Centre of Procurement Excellence in their Sustainable Furniture Project and advises the P&R Select Committee of any learning points which can be taken forward within HCC. |
Officers have carefully considered the findings of the Sustainable Procurement project undertaken by the London Centre of Procurement Excellence (led by the London Borough of Camden). Elements of the Furniture Disposal Toolkit and some of the practical options will assist the County Council in enhancing the sustainability element of the tendering process. The County Council already has Contracts in place which cover recycling, reuse and waste disposal. It is anticipated that in the future there will be more capacity to concentrate our efforts and explore other options, particularly in relation to managed social recycling networks.
POLICY AND COORDINATION ISSUES
Recommendation 8:
That awareness of the aims of the Corporate Procurement Strategy, and ways of achieving these aims, are improved in all parts of the County Council, particularly in relation to the concept of `whole-life' costs of procurement. |
The new Procurement Best Practice Guide:
will be launched in October and contains very comprehensive guidance on procurement practice which is fully aligned with the Corporate Procurement Strategy. In addition the corporate business case template will be launched in October 2008 which includes guidance on financial analysis and options appraisal including whole life costing. The Corporate Procurement Strategy is being re-written in 2009 and the new version will be promoted widely throughout the County Council through presentations to Departmental Management Teams and staff briefings.
OTHER ISSUES
Recommendation 9:
That the results of staff wellbeing and productivity surveys relating to the office environment pre and post the Ashburton Court refurbishment are made available to the P&R Select Committee in October 2008 for consideration in the light of this review. |
The staff wellbeing and productivity surveys relating to the office environment
pre and post the Ashburton Court refurbishment have recently been trialled
on a small number of staff. The intention is to survey staff during October
2008 and it is anticipated that the results will be available to share with the
Select Committee at its next meeting on 20 January 2009.
I trust that this response covers sufficiently each of the recommendations of the Review Group.
Yours sincerely
Ken Thornber
Executive Member, Policy and Resources