To note the membership including Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the STaR Joint Committee for the Municipal Year 2015/16.

As the STaR Joint Committee only met for the first time in October 2014, Members were in agreement that Councillors Allen Brett and Iain Roberts would continue as Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively for the municipal year 2015/16. It was confirmed that a Member from Stockport Council would Chair the Committee in 2016/17, followed by a Member from Trafford Council in 2017/18.

RESOLVED: That the Membership of the Committee for the 2015/16 Municipal Year, be noted:

Councillors Allen Brett (Chairman), Patrick Myers, and Iain Roberts (Vice-Chairman).

To note the Committee’s Terms of Reference.

            RESOLVED: That the Committee’s Terms of Reference be noted.

To receive and if so determined, to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 22 April, 2015.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the STaR Joint Committee meeting held on Wednesday 22 April 2015, be approved as a correct record.

Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code(s) of Conduct.

No declarations of interests were made by Members.

To receive a report of the Director of STaR Shared Procurement.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement). The report outlined STaR’s progress to date, highlighting staffing improvements, the importance of social value, the Business Improvement Plan, and STaR’s plans for the future. The Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) thanked all parties involved for the progress made so far.

The Chairman invited the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) to give a short presentation to their informal cabinet along with the three Scrutiny Committee Chairs.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To receive a report and presentation of the Director of STaR Shared Procurement.

The Committee received a report and presentation of the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement).

The report confirmed that the harmonised Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) had now gone through the full governance schedule, and had been incorporated into the constitutions of all three Councils. It was also confirmed that training dates had been scheduled for all three councils to explain where and how the CPRs had changed.

The Committee’s Terms of Reference state that the CPRs could be updated annually, and the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) advised Members that these would need to be reviewed as the STaR Procurement Services develops.

The presentation demonstrated to Members how the Procurement Handbook would work. The Handbook was created as a resource to help explain to users how to use the CPRs. It was designed to be user friendly and includes a navigation page to allow quick access to certain topics. The Handbook will be an online resource and is currently accessible through each Council’s intranet system. A standalone STaR website is hoped to be in operation by next quarter.

            RESOLVED: That the report and presentation be noted.

To receive the following reports and presentation of the Director of STaR Shared Procurement.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) detailing the STaR Revenue Budget Outturn 2014/15.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) detailing the STaR Revenue Budget Monitoring Report – First Quarter 2015/16.

The Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) gave a summary of the variance for the year so far, explaining that this was mostly related to additional staffing costs.

Members asked about the possibility of creating its own recruitment agency to reduce the costs incurred by going through private agencies. The Chairman suggested that this possibility be discussed in future meetings with Human Resources managers.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Committee received a presentation of the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) detailing the current structure of STaR and the vacancies that were recently filled and advertised.

The recruitment process for the appointment of Heads of Strategic Procurement for Place and Professional was successful, with the new appointments set to be in place by 14 September 2015. Recruiting for the post of Head of Strategic Procurement for People is ongoing. It was noted that those staff who are acting up to various roles and positions within the STaR structure had performed well in the interim.

The Head of Legal (Trafford) pointed out that the full time equivalent (FTE) of solicitors assisting STaR would be 1.4.

The Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) updated Members on sickness statistics confirming a total of 149 days were lost over the year. However it was noted that 140 of these days were accounted for by three staff members, two of whom had since left the organisation. It was hoped that the recent staffing changes would see these figures improve.

            RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) highlighting the current risks that STaR face and the actions being taken to mitigate them.

The high risk attached to ‘The Capacity of the Senior Management Team’ was discussed, with this being mitigated by two of the three vacant posts being successfully advertised. The risk relating to the harmonised Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) was updated from ‘agreeing the CPRs’ to ‘managing the change process as a result of introduction of the CPRs across the three Councils’.

The Board was advised that there would be some external legal assistance commissioned from Rochdale MBC for two days a week.  This is a temporary arrangement until the end of the financial year and will equate to 0.4 full time equivalent (FTE) giving a total Legal resource of 1.4 FTE. Previously the resource had been 1.5 FTE.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To receive the following reports of the Director of STaR Shared Procurement.

The Committee considered a draft report of the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) setting out the strategic direction and priorities for procurement for the participating partners of STaR, highlighting STaR’s vision and objectives.

The Chair enquired what scrutiny was in place in relation to STaR Procurement Services. The Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) confirmed that her attendance is required annually at Stockport’s Audit Committee, Trafford’s Accounts & Audit Committee, and Rochdale’s Audit and Governance Committee, to discuss STaR’s performance.

Members were happy with the proposed Procurement Strategy and Introductory Statement. It was confirmed that these would be published on the intranet sites of each Council and would be accessible through STaR’s website once developed.

RESOLVED: That the proposed Procurement Strategy and Introductory Statement be approved.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement), presenting Members with the STaR Branding and Style Guide.

Members were advised that ‘STaR’ would be changed to ‘STAR’ going forward, to which there were no objections. All relevant documentation would be updated to reflect this change.

Members were pleased with the STaR Branding and agreed to the use of the proposed logo. Members were presented two options for a STaR letterhead: Appendix one (page 42) and appendix two (page 43). Members agreed that the letterhead in Appendix two was most appropriate, although it was noted that the script should include the word ‘Councils’ after naming the three authorities, and should therefore read as ‘STAR Procurement is the shared procurement service for Stockport, Rochdale and Trafford Councils’.

RESOLVED:

(1)  That use of the proposed logo be agreed.

(2)  That Appendix two be used as the STaR letterhead, incorporating the suggested change to the script.

To receive a presentation of the Director of STaR Shared Procurement (presentation attached in advance for information).

The Committee received a report and presentation of the Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) detailing the current position of STaR’s performance against the four parameters of the balanced scorecard. It was confirmed that the audit plan had now been agreed across the three authorities, and that training was being given to commissioners.

The Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) discussed the responses received from questionnaires distributed to service users, commenting that these had been mostly positive and demonstrated improvement.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To confirm the arrangements for the next meeting(s).

The Committee agreed that the next meeting would be held at 5:30pm on Wednesday 28 October 2015, at Stockport Town Hall, Stockport, SK1 3XE.

The Director of Procurement (STaR Shared Procurement) and the Democratic and Scrutiny Officer advised they would work to create a schedule of upcoming meetings.