Annual Procurement Report 2023-24 considered by members
Highland Council’s Corporate Resources Committee today (Wednesday, 11 September 2024) considered the Council's Annual Procurement Report for 2023-2024. That report provided an overview of procurement performance against the Joint Procurement Strategy 2023-2026, with information on procurement activities, community benefits, financial efficiencies, and future procurement plans.
Key highlights from procurement activity in the financial year 2023-2024 include:
- Community Benefit Outcomes: A total of 617 community benefit outcomes were included, in process, or delivered during the reporting period.
Community Benefit Highlights include:
- The value of community donations / sponsorships and support during 2023/24 is £106,650;
- 34 Projects have received donations of materials / supplies;
- 21 jobs have been created;
- 14 Apprenticeships have been created; and
- 102 instances of training and development have been delivered.
Community Wealth Building:
- The report emphasises community wealth building, aiming to redirect wealth back into the local economy and support local economic development, this includes working with the Supplier Development Programme who provide free support in tendering to Scottish-based SME’s, providing training and access to engagement opportunities with public sector buyers.
In addition, financial efficiencies of £887,273 were achieved against a target of £654,000, with detailed savings from various initiatives across the financial year.
The report also illustrates that procurement spend with local suppliers for 2023-2024 successfully exceeded its 30% overall target and represented a marked increase on spend during the previous financial year. The Council spend with local suppliers during 2023/24 was £232m (49%), with £148m (31%) of this spend attributed to local Small to Medium Enterprises.
Cllr Derek Louden, Chair of the Corporate Resources Committee, said: “I’m pleased to see the positive performance set out in this Annual Report, in particular the increase in local supplier spend from the Council’s procurement, the level of community benefit outcomes, and the level of efficiency savings delivered.”
Craig Innes, Head of the Commercial and Procurement Shared Service, said: “The procurement mission statement within the Joint Procurement Strategy is to deliver procurement outcomes that support the wider strategic aims of the Councils and the communities they serve. The report demonstrates a strengthened commitment to the delivery of that statement".
The Highland Council’s Procurement is delivered under a shared service agreement with Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council, which together forms a Commercial & Procurement Shared Service (C&PSS).
The Joint Procurement Strategy is designed to enable partner Councils to achieve strategic objectives and meaningfully contribute to national priorities through innovative, compliant and collaborative market solutions demonstrating value for money and genuine return on investment.
The Strategy is made up of six key themes: Governance, Policy, Food Procurement, Climate Change, Net Zero & Circular Economy, Commercialisation and Community Wealth Building.
The full report is available to view here: https://www.highland.gov.uk/download/meetings/id/83834/11_annual_procurement_report_1_april_2023_%E2%80%93_31_march_2024