To update Cabinet on the progress of the collaboration procurement service, known as Essex Procurement Partnership and to seek approval for the Collaboration Agreement to be entered into, replacing the arrangement directly with Essex County Council and endorsing the proposed Procurement Strategy for Essex Procurement Partnership, as the interim strategy for the Council.

(REPORT IS “TO FOLLOW”)

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

(a)    agrees to enter into a Collaboration Agreement for the delivery of joint procurement services for a three-year period on substantially the same terms as set out in Appendix A of the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.2) with:

·           Braintree District Council

·           Castle Point Borough Council

·           Epping Forest District Council

·           Essex County Council

(b)    authorises the Director for Governance, being responsible for the Council’s corporate procurement function, to sign the final Collaboration Agreement on behalf of the Council;

(c)    agrees that Essex County Council should be the Accountable Body under the Collaboration Agreement acting as Lead Party, which includes responsibility for the day-to-day management of the service and its financial administration and managing seconded staff;

(d)    notes that the Collaboration Agreement provides for annual contributions from the Council, which can be met from within existing budgets, although subject to review as part of the annual budget setting cycle to respond to changes such as inflationary increases;

(e)    notes that further secondment or employment of staff to Essex County Council to support Essex Procurement Partnership, is fully and jointly funded by its Member Authorities;

(f)     supports exploration of additional resource to support the legal support to the Essex Procurement Partnership, in particular for procurement and contract legal advice;

(g)    endorses the continuous improvement approach as identified seeking views on the existing partnership and joint working through an internal questionnaire to feed into the arrangement for the next three years;

(h)    approves the Procurement Strategy for recommendation onto Full Council for adoption as required by the Council’s Policy Framework; and.

(i)     instructs Officers to regularly update the Portfolio Holder for Assets and Community Safety, as being responsible for procurement on the content and quality of the Council’s Contract Register and Procurement Project Pipeline ensuring it is kept up to date, enabling Council projects and business as usual can be delivered through the approved Essex Procurement Partnership Prioritisation Approach.

Cabinet considered a detailed report of the Assets and Community Safety Portfolio Holder (A.2) which update it on the progress of the collaboration procurement service, known as Essex Procurement Partnership and which sought its approval for the Collaboration Agreement to be entered into, replacing the arrangement directly with Essex County Council and endorsing the proposed Procurement Strategy for Essex Procurement Partnership, as the interim strategy for the Council.

Members were reminded that the collaborative partnership initially between Tendring District Council and Essex County Council for the delivery of procurement functions had begun on 1st October 2021 and continued until March 2025. 

Cabinet recalled that, in March 2023, it had approved Tendring District Council forming part of a wider partnership of Councils to explore the Shared Procurement Service for parts of Essex, now known as the Essex Procurement Partnership (EPP). 

Since 2023, the Council had worked in collaboration with Braintree District Council, Castle Point Borough Council, Epping Forest District Council and Essex County Council (the EPP Member Authorities) with the purpose to enable effective and efficient procurement, maximising the value for every pound spent by those local authorities across Essex for the benefit of local residents.

The collaboration would achieve this through a shared procurement team, with:

•    Pooled resource enabling a resilient procurement service.

•    The combination of expertise enabling well informed procurement activity to maximise value from the market and better value for Essex residents.

•    Shared procurement activity enabling savings through economies of scale and efficiencies in the use of the procurement team.

•    Standardisation of processes and documentation to support local businesses and SMEs in bidding for Essex opportunities.

Members were aware that this Council’s Portfolio Holder for Assets and Community Safety being the Executive Member responsible for procurement represented the Council at the Member Advisory Group (MAG) with elected Members from each local authority. The MAG had been established in September 2023 and provided executive member oversight of the EPP reviewing the performance of EPP in delivering against its objectives and acting as both critical friends and champions of the partnership. 

It was reported that, currently, the EPP Member Authorities were taking the Collaboration Agreement, Procurement Strategy and Social Value Policy through their respective Cabinets.  The concept of the collaborative procurement partnership and shared working approach had already been introduced and adopted through Cabinet.  Whilst existing delegations were already in place to complete a partnership agreement, it was felt that in the light of the substantial progress made through the collaboration, it was appropriate to seek full Cabinet’s approval and present the proposed Procurement Strategy for consideration.

Cabinet was advised that the core objectives of EPP, endorsed by the MAG were set out in Schedule 1 of the Collaboration Agreement provided at Appendix A to the portfolio Holder’s report (A.2), and transferred to Service Plan objectives, as follows:

“•  Contract Liquidity – To develop a clear contract register and forward plan to enable members to understand third party commitments and proactive procurement.

•    RFQ Process  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129