Agenda item

The report provides an overview of proposed updates to the Procurement Strategy and the proposal to introduce an Ethical Procurement Policy and Ethical Code of Conduct for Suppliers.

Contact: Ruth Calladine – Head of Procurement and Commissioning Support

A report was submitted which provided an overview of proposed updates to the Procurement Strategy and outlined the proposal to introduce an Ethical Procurement Policy and Ethical Code of Conduct for Suppliers.

Samantha Lawton, Service Director for Legal Governance and Commissioning and Ruth Calladine, Head of Procurement and Commissioning Support introduced the report, highlighting the issues below.

Councillor Nosheen-Dad, the Corporate Portfolio Holder, was also present for the item.

·       Further to the introduction of the new Procurement Act 2023, which came into effect on 25^th February 2025, and a recommendation from the external auditor, the opportunity had been taken to review and refresh the Council’s Procurement Strategy.

·       The refreshed strategy continued to be structured around five strategic key themes, which were:

-       Delivering social value

-       Promoting inclusive procurement

-       Developing a category-led approach

-       Innovation and improvement

-       Good governance

·       Significant progress had been made since 2022 in implementing the original strategy and improving processes and further work was ongoing.

·       It was proposed that an Ethical Procurement Policy and an Ethical Code of Conduct for Suppliers be introduced. This was a key aspiration under the ‘good governance’ theme.

·       The Ethical Procurement Policy set out the Council’s commitment to ensuring that all procurement and contractual activities were conducted in accordance with ethical standards. It set out the legal framework, including measures to prevent modern slavery and defined the procedures for maintaining high levels of professional conduct within the Council when undertaking procurement.

·       The Ethical Code of Conduct for Suppliers would apply to all suppliers/individuals and subcontractors acting on behalf of the Council, for all contracts valued over £25,000 (excluding VAT) where the procurement commenced on or after January 2026.

·       Both documents had been developed in line with those of other authorities in the UK and benchmarking had been undertaken against similar policies adopted by other local authorities including Oxford, North Somerset, Rotherham, Doncaster, and Sheffield.

Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       In relation to the proportion of the Council’s expenditure directed to local providers/suppliers and how this was monitored year?on?year, the Procurement Team monitored the top 300 spend suppliers and, during the 2024/25 financial year, the local spend had been 59% with these suppliers. Work was ongoing with the Council’s Data and Insight Team to extend analysis to the whole of Council spend, with the aim of producing more comprehensive data during the next financial year. Procurement colleagues had also started working more closely with the Council’s Business Team to increase understanding and knowledge of local suppliers who could be encouraged and supported to bid for Council contracts and to provide those links.

·       The Council had started publishing its procurement pipeline. The Procurement Act required the publication of contracts valued above £2 million but Kirklees had chosen to publish details of lower?value procurements, up to 18 months in advance, with this information also being shared with the Business Team, to help local suppliers prepare to bid.

·       The work being done on this was welcomed and it would be interesting to see the progress being made; it would also be useful to capture the reasons why local suppliers could not be used in some cases.

·       In terms of the limitations on the Council in implementing ethical procurement policies assurance was given that the approach taken had gone as far as was reasonable. If approved by Cabinet, the Ethical Procurement Policy would be considered when contracts came up, or for renewal; it would not apply retrospectively. Consideration would also have to be in line with the exemption criteria set out in the Procurement Act.

·       It was noted that the Government had previously issued a Procurement Policy Note (PPN) to advise that authorities stop contracting with Russian suppliers where it was reasonable and practicable to do so but had not done so in respect of suppliers from any other countries.  The Authority had to comply with the legislation. If Government guidance changed, then Kirklees would apply it as appropriate.

·       The Council was contracted with Barclays Bank until 2032.

·       With contracts valued above the procurement threshold, any decisions must comply with guidance ‘to the letter’ to avoid exposing the Council to significant risk.

·       It was noted that the pool of financial institutions who dealt with local government finance had been very limited at the time of contracting.  When the contract approached renewal, work would be undertaken to explore the viable options.

RESOLVED –

(1)  That the Corporate Portfolio Holder and the officers be thanked for attending to update the Committee.

(2)  That it be noted that the updates to the Procurement Strategy and the proposals for the implementation of an Ethical Procurement Policy and Code of Conduct for Suppliers will be submitted to Cabinet for approval on 2^nd December 2025.

(3)  That it be noted that the Council’s current procurement approach is in line with that of other local authorities and will continue to be regularly reviewed and as and when further government guidance is received.

(1)  That the work being undertaken to increase the amount of Kirklees spend going to local businesses be welcomed.