Issue - meetings

Commissioning and Procurement Strategy

Meeting: 19/11/2018 - Audit, Governance and Standards Committee (Item 58)

58 Contract Management Update pdf icon PDF 106 KB

Minutes:

Mrs Georgia Hawkes, Head of Commissioning and Business Improvement, presented her report providing an update on the Council’s position with regard to contract management, including the key findings of a recent Internal Audit report.  Mrs Hawkes explained that:

 

·  Since her last report to the Committee in September 2017, progress had been made, but more work was required.

 

·  With regard to the Council’s largest contracts, the news was good.  Management of the Hazlitt Theatre and Park and Ride, which had both originally received a weak level of assurance in 2016/17, had been revisited and the level of assurance had improved to sound in each case because of improvements put in place in terms of the management of the contracts.  There had been further improvements in the management of leisure and culture contracts under the current Contracts and Compliance Officer (Leisure and Culture).  However, more work was required in relation to the corporate understanding and control of contracts and contract management and ensuring that all contracts across the Council are well managed.

 

·  Some improvements had been made after the new procurement processes were put in place earlier in the year, but a recent Internal Audit of contract management controls across the organisation resulted in a weak level of assurance rating.  To improve the situation, the whole of the Commissioning and Business Improvement portfolio had been restructured, including the creation of a Procurement and Contracts Manager with responsibility for ensuring good contract management across the organisation.  Unfortunately, the newly appointed Procurement and Contracts Manager left the Council after only three weeks, and alternative temporary arrangements had been put in place.

 

·  Details of the improvements planned to address the recommendations arising from the Internal Audit were set out in the report.  Currently, there were insufficient corporate contract management resources in the organisation so, in the short term, temporary external expertise would be sought to help implement the improvements in a timely manner.  In the longer term, the team structure would also be considered to ensure that there was sufficient staff resource devoted to ensuring good contract management practice across the Council going forward.

 

In response to questions by Members, the Officers explained that:

 

·  There was no single underlying reason for the turnover of staff in the Procurement and Contracts Team.  It was difficult to recruit as people could earn more elsewhere.  Every effort would be made to ensure that there were sufficient staff resources.  The situation was not unique to Maidstone.

 

·  In terms of contract end dates, the Park and Ride Contract had been extended to May 2019; the Parking Enforcement contract had been re-let; and the CCTV Monitoring contract was still being carried out by Medway Council.

 

RESOLVED:  That the update report on contract management and the proposed actions to improve contract management across the Council be noted.