9 HOW COULD GENERAL PROCUREMENT PRACTICE BE IMPROVED?
9.1 Respondents were asked what practical changes their authority could make to help staff improve their commissioning / procurement practice. They were also asked, at the end of the questionnaire, whether they had anything to add: a number did add a further comment, and as there was some cross-over between the two sets of answers, both are covered in the section below.
9.2 Some respondents identified that improvements to procurement policy and practice were already underway, for example:
We have done a lot of work over the last year to improve our commissioning/procurement practice, and this work is continuing.
We are two years into a four year procurement strategy - hardest part is convincing departments to change their practices to comply with current legislation and to be aware of changes to the national agenda.
9.3 It is clearly not the case that authorities are being passive - some, if not necessarily all, are taking active steps to develop procurement practice. However, respondents did identify a number of areas in which improvements might be made, and these are grouped thematically below.
9.4 One theme that came across clearly was the need for additional training and guidance for procurement staff in procurement issues, with the core point being that consistency is key. A number of respondents mentioned the need for more training 'to all involved in procurement issues', with a few stressing that senior officers also needed education 're the importance of compliant procurement'. In terms of consistency, a number of responses indicated that not all personnel in an authority were following the same procurement practice:
Clearer guidance on processes and a consistent approach from each department within the council (at the moment we all do different things).
Have clear instructions and guidelines and have all personnel following the same practice.
Have a central contracts database, link contract numbers to p2p system, have a more joined up approach to procurement throughout the council, encourage departments to embrace the concepts of procurement...
9.5 Unsurprisingly, perhaps, people and resources were another issue mentioned by some respondents, for example:
[We need a] stronger contracts team - currently only one person within SW services - difficult to monitor ongoing work and be part of new development
9.6 A further theme was developing better structures and mechanisms for supporting procurement. For example, developing a Commissioning Strategy for Care which 'gives emphasis to commissioning approach rather than pure procurement'; or setting up an e-Procurement and e-tendering system 'to give us better management information, where we do not have any at the moment'.
9.7 A number of comments referred to a need to simplify and streamline the procurement process, which would seem to have benefit for the third sector, although this is not explicitly spelt out. Here are two examples:
Make the tendering process as simple as possible ( i.e. to the scale and complexity of the requirement); advertise using the procurement portal (which we already);explain why we do what we do; meet the buyer events; communicate more readily.
1) Provide a simple framework and set of forms for completion that meet the needs of big contracts over a given sum of money. 2) Develop and include a quality assurance assessment - as cheapest does not necessarily mean best. 3)I accept that there are some items such as paper, furniture and other equipment and large items such as new buildings that may result in significant financial savings, but there needs to be an acknowledgement that more people based services need to be commissioned on an individual basis including the training that goes with it.
9.8 A few comments mentioned the importance of involving users, carers and service providers in consultation and service design and procurement, for example:
Better consultation with service users & providers, look at negotiation as alternative to tender at end of contracts.
Better initial consultation with provider organisations/service users and carers on tendering proposals= develop longer time scales for submission/evaluation of bids and contract awards
All comments from these questions are provided in full in Annex 1.