Forward
Cllr Richard Brown, Cabinet Member for Finance
There have been a lot of legal changes to the way the public sector manages its procurement activities, and this is part of the reason why we’re refreshing our own procurement strategy. Having a legislative framework and robust internal governance processes is vital but it’s also important to ensure we remind ourselves about, and set out, the way we should involve different businesses in helping deliver the hundreds of services that the Council provides - while maintaining consistent high standards.
I’m very proud of how we, as an organisation, manage public finances and that’s why the way we procure goods and services is a fundamental part of this. People in the city expect this careful approach to the Council’s finances. This applies whether it’s our budget reporting processes, our auditing processes, or in this case, our procurement processes.
This strategy covers a number of key areas, including our contract and supplier management - where we are committed to cost savings and non-financial benefits - and maximising the use of digital tools to improve services; we also want to understanding better the barriers that some organisations face by market testing and meeting the buyers at community events.
We are also committed to ensuring the professional development of our staff in all aspects of good procurement practices, as well as strengthening our social value commitments, and being transparent in the way services are procured.
Importantly for me is that this strategy will also look at ways to carefully monitor how small and medium enterprises are accessing opportunities with the Council and consider how to support them in the tender process. This all means that the Council will actually go above legal requirements and is a positive step to make.
All of our financial planning is based on improving services within the limits of our budget, and we will continue to do this carefully and effectively for all our Coventry residents and businesses. This is all about improving services within the limits of our budget and we will continue to do this carefully and effectively for all our Coventry residents and businesses.