To receive a verbal update of the Director of STAR Procurement.

The Joint Committee received a presentation of the Director of STAR Procurement providing new Members with an overview of STAR’s work. It was agreed that the presentation would be circulated to Members following the meeting, as well as links to the various strategies listed on the third slide.

The Director of STAR Procurement welcomed the decision to add Tameside Borough Council as a fourth member of STAR. The mobilisation phase was underway, and the commencement of the implementation plan was set to begin on 3 September 2018, with a focus on ensuring that current standards were maintained whilst aligning with the new fourth partner.

The presentation outlined STAR’s ‘building blocks’ and the move away from ‘shared services’ to ‘collaborative transformation’. The presentation also highlighted current procurement trends and STAR’s successes to date. Members were advised that STAR would give consideration to adopting the GMCA policy on social value (SV), which may require tenders to meet a 20% threshold for SV. Any decision relating to this would be brought to the Joint Committee for consideration.

STAR was also exploring new business in local markets and innovation, as well as collaboration with the NHS. To date, £20.2m worth of procurement savings had been delivered over 4 years, and 43% of procurement activity across the Greater Manchester authorities was undertaken by STAR, demonstrating how STAR were considered the procurer of choice.

Members discussed lines of communication between the STAR member Authorities and STAR Procurement regarding Council motions. Councils regularly adopted motions, agreed at full Council meetings, some of which could directly impact STAR’s procurement strategy. A recent example of this was Trafford Council’s adoption of a motion on the Charter Against Modern Slavery. It was agreed that Member Authorities should be mindful of STAR when drafting motions in future, and suggested that a formal line of communication with STAR Officers be opened to advise of any motions which could affect procurement procedures. The Joint Committee acknowledged the difficulty with consulting with STAR on motions in a timely manner, as these were usually submitted only days before full Council meetings.

Further to the discussion on motions, it was noted that an appropriate balance would need to be struck when adopting motions which may affect STAR’s Procurement Strategy. Councils would need to ensure local firms, who could find some of the requirements difficult to undertake, were not frozen out of the process. The Joint Committee was reminded that the Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) allowed for local conditions where local frameworks could apply. The CPRs provided commonality, with the local conditions allowing Authorities to apply some local frameworks without falling foul of the CPRs.

Members discussed whether the local regulations would disappear following Brexit. It was expected that these would be replaced by something similar to the current regulations, and the Joint Committee were reminded that the UK was the main author of the European legislation, meaning it would be unlikely that these would change significantly.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the update be noted.

2)    That consideration be given to opening a formal line of communication between Elected Members / Officers who draft Council motions and the STAR Procurement Team to ensure STAR are aware of any motions which could affect procurement procedures.