CONTRACT REVIEW PROJECT John Mitchell Assistant Director - Contracts CIPFA NW Audit Group Weekend School February 2016

Confident Place, Confident People. What prompted the Review ? 2012 Public Interest Report on the Issues at Wirral Council. Concern was that similar risks would apply to most councils.

Confident Place, Confident People. Scope of the Review All Procurement, Commissioning and Contract Management (PCCM) activity across the Council and its partners. The full lifecycle of non-staffing spend, from concept to contract completion (capital and revenue) Initial review concluded formal process for letting large contracts was (and remains) robust. However…

Confident Place, Confident People. Limited oversight or accountability for outcomes or spend management over the life of the contract Less formalised approach to contract renewals or extensions Limited control over aggregated spend Spend via partners needed stronger client Requests for “exceptions” to CPRs were increasing in numbers

Confident Place, Confident People. And then there’s Austerity.. £100m budget reductions since 2010 Further £60m anticipated over next 3 years So, getting best value out of our £200m plus p.a. contracted spend is a financial “no-brainer”

Confident Place, Confident People. FREE MONEY

Confident Place, Confident People. The response: S151 Officer initiated the review Contracts Review Team established Corporate Procurement Group set up Implementation of Procure to Pay (P2P) Training programme for all PCCM Officers (including internal governance) Redefined role of corporate procurement

Confident Place, Confident People. S151 Officer – Director of Resources and Contracts Raises the profile of the contracting discipline (all aspects) Chair of Contracts Review Board Regular reports to members Link to Audit and Risk

Confident Place, Confident People. Contracts Review Team 3 lead officers - from legal, procurement and internal audit Complementary skills and experience Fixed-life project (to Nov 2016) Savings target £2.8m off base budgets Already 50% achieved

Confident Place, Confident People. Corporate PCCM Group Responsible for implementing Procurement and Commissioning Strategy Chaired by AD Contracts Representatives from across all areas Sharing best practice, co-ordinate training Emerging issues PPN’s/updates etc Focal point Sharepoint site

Confident Place, Confident People. Procure to Pay (P2P) Streamlining the whole process of ordering and invoicing Moving from paper based process to e- orders and e-invoices Increasing visibility of budget spend Ensuring responsibility for spend lies with budget holders Process efficiencies alone of £200k pa

Confident Place, Confident People. Training programme for all PCCM Officers Aiming for consistency in best practice Procurement and contract management skills Looking to standardise the approach across the Council and partners

Confident Place, Confident People. Challenges Understanding costs not just budgets Standing orders are mandatory, not just a hurdle to be overcome. Divided loyalties – provider or employer? Accountability for expenditure Cumulative “under the radar” spend Understanding outcomes Culture

Confident Place, Confident People. Examples of successes… Robust commissioning re-tendering Public Health contracts/market engagement “Fresh Look” at Children Services commissioning. Fostering and adoption, out of borough placements etc Ethical Home Care and Residential Care Social Housing contracting/DLO activity LCD Cartel class action

Thank you for your time and attention. Questions and Answers