Last week I participated in a workshop for a dozen or so senior public sector procurement folk organised by Kavita Cooper of procurement services / consulting / recruitment firm Novo-K. It was held at Easthampstead Park, near Bracknell, which was an impressive venue – a beautiful building but well set up for meetings (and weddings) and not stupidly expensive (according to Kavita).
It was a good session, ranging across a handful of the top issues facing procurement leaders in the sector, including procurement with purpose (net zero, social value), as well as the “war for talent” and a few quick headlines on the new UK procurement regulations.
In terms of the purpose agenda, there was genuine enthusiasm from the participants, allied with the practical and pragmatic views you would expect from senior people in local authorities, agencies and other public bodies. “Sustainability is about performance” was one quote, and there was a strong theme that the worthy principles have to be turned into real action, delivery and benefits.
But sometimes the public sector approach to contracting can get into the way of (for instance) delivering carbon reduction. And it is essential that the issues are considered throughout the procurement process. We have to ask the right questions during the selection process; and many organisations are struggling with exactly how to evaluate the “social value” offerings being made by bidders. We need to make sure organisations have the capability to do that effectively.
Then we must make sure the delivery of social value is auditable through the delivery phase and ensure “that the benefits are directly attributable to the contract”. For example, if the winning bidder promises to take on apprentices, how do we check that they do that and that they really are incremental recruits, not just the apprentices they were going to take on anyway! That led on to a discussion of why contract management is still an under-valued activity in the public sector (and probably in the private sector too, to be fair).
Scope 3 carbon emissions reporting was another tricky topic that came up. Some of the ways of measuring it, based on industry averages, have serious flaws. One delegate explained that under one approach to measurement, because the emissions for beef are based on an amount per pound spent, the cheaper your beef, the less emissions you are “allocated”! This has the perverse effect that cheap meat transported in from deforested Amazon regions might supposedly be “better” for the planet than more expensive, but locally supplied and sustainably farmed product. Clearly that can’t be right, so more work needs to be done on some of these estimation tools for emissions.
Some of the challenges are also cultural. An impressive head of procurement from a local authority (not far from the venue) explained that engaging with local smaller businesses was a good way of educating them and encouraging them to consider bidding for council contracts. That fits the council’s social value agenda and can drive better value for money too. But some of her colleagues were nervous about this, and she had to explain that as long as it is done properly, “it is not against the rules to talk to SMEs”! Clearly, you can’t just choose your own favourites to talk to, but as long as there is openness and transparency, early market engagement of all types is to be encouraged.
Finally, there was general agreement that it was good to be in a room with real people. For some, this was their first live procurement “event” for well over 2 years. It does make a difference to meet in person; the networking and connections being made last week are the elements missing from Zoom and Team meetings. Of course there will always be a place for virtual gatherings, and we’ve learnt a lot about how valuable and positive they can be.
But those conversations over coffee and croissants, that end up with someone saying “I’ll send you that report I mentioned” or “perhaps we can get together and look at a joint effort on that” can have lasting value - and aren’t easily replicated when we’re all sitting in our own living rooms.
Peter Smith