Successful procurement in the local authority sector – the key ingredient

Procurement is a critical part of the local authority and wider commercial housing sector – and it can also be the part that causes the most trouble if done badly, as I highlighted in my last blog in September

In terms of local authorities, the first issue that any procurement team faces is the obvious reality that spending public money is subject to regulation and scrutiny. The rules are tested and interpreted by case law, with guidance regularly published, along with articles and case studies produced in order to support compliance and best practice. It is a thick forest that needs navigating, or a swamp to traverse, depending on your point of view!

The rules and their complexity are often perceived as the most difficult aspects of public procurement. The key, however, is often the operational team’s understanding of what is required at the beginning, throughout and at the end of the contract period.

For procurement professionals the procurement rules and all associated documentation, processes, risk identification and mitigation, planning and administration are fairly consistent across all subject matters, types of procurement and systems used. If a manager can describe what is needed from the procurement process, the procurement team can translate that into tender documents, pricing schedules and quality assessments.

Describing what is wanted is often complicated and difficult, especially in a contract lasting more than a couple of years, and perhaps seeking something different from what is currently in place. Managers will have to consider what is needed at contract start, sometimes 12 to 18 months after the publication of the advert, and all through the contract length, including all possible extension periods.

This means that managers will have to turn their attention away from the day job to estimate, design or just guess what will be needed for the next few years and express requirements that may appear to be very obvious to them in words that a non-expert can understand. This is a key point that is overlooked: procurement requires focus and dedication that means the procurement process itself needs to become the day job.

This can often be a shock to operational teams. Some will consider it the job of the procurement team to ‘go and buy x’. The secret ingredient is ‘x’, and this can only be defined and explained by the teams who will use what is bought. The better this is defined and understood, the better the procurement process. Clarity around ‘what, why, when and how’ will ensure a straightforward process that is easy for bidders and evaluators alike. A lack of clarity will confuse all participants in the process. Confusion can result in a torturous process and a contract doomed to fail.

Successful procurement requires procurement experts, but cannot be done without operational managers being given the space, time and support to consider and explain what the service needs from the procurement process.

With that focus, procurement can deliver not only suppliers, contractors and partners, but also savings, efficiencies, shared risk and social value benefit.

Rebecca Shaw, Just Housing Consultant.