Introduction and background
Introduction
This strategy builds on Coventry City Council’s (“the Council”) previous procurement strategies, following significant legislative change, and sets out the Council’s focus in procurement activity over the next five (5) years. The overarching purpose of this strategy is to ensure that our procurement activities are undertaken consistently to the highest standard, efficiently and economically against a backdrop of legislation and policy whilst helping achieve the priorities of the One Coventry Plan.
Expenditure through our contractual arrangements help to deliver statutory, essential and discretionary services to the citizens of Coventry. Procurement Services sits at the heart of the organisation to deliver these solutions in a compliant manner, working collaboratively with the service areas across the organisation.
Background
The Council has a revenue spend of approximately £277.5m per annum on bought in goods, services and works (2024/25). In addition, the Council has a variable annual Capital programme which adds significantly to the total annual spend per annum. In 2024/25 the Capital spend was circa £157.5m. The Council uses a variety of approaches and contract types to deliver this expenditure in an open, fair, transparent and effective way. This includes the use of simple standard contracts for low value / low risk procurements, frameworks, specific industry contract types and partnership arrangements.
Spending this money well through effective procurement is fundamental to achieving organisational success and for supporting prosperity across Coventry and the wider West Midlands region. The Council’s procurement activity contributes to a wide range of socioeconomic benefits including a successful local economy, a thriving voluntary sector, community empowerment, equality, consideration for the environment and value for money. Hence, whilst making savings is still an important driver for procurement activity, leveraging social value and delivering additional outcomes and sustainability in supply chains, at no extra cost, will be a significant focus of future activity in support of the One Coventry Plan.