Agenda item

Resolved: that the Committee would share its views with Mayor and Cabinet as follows:

·         The Committee welcomes the social value policy. However, it urges Mayor and Cabinet to provide direct, sustained and determined political will in order to challenge officers to achieve the highest possible social value from all of Lewisham's contracts.

·         The Committee believes that the Council should be able to ensure that, where practical, the supply chain for Council contracts also provides social value to Lewisham.

·         The Committee recommends that there be regular and diligent monitoring of contractors to ensure that they are adhering to both the technical requirements and the wider spirit of the Council's ambitions for social value. The Committee also believes that consideration should be given to changing key performance indicators over time to ensure that the Council is achieving ongoing high quality value from its contracts.

·         The Committee believes that air quality and other environmental issues should receive much greater prominence in the new policy.

This item was considered after the income generation update.

6.1      Katherine Nidd introduced the report, the following key points were noted:

·         The Council was already compliant with the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012  but the report introduced a significant improvement to the Council's work in this area.

·         There was the potential for collaborative work with other public institutions in the borough via the work with the 6 anchor institutions formed following the Poverty Commissions report of 2017.

·         The Council's procurement processes were always fair and transparent but the new policy made it clear (to officers and suppliers) that the Council placed significant weight on social value both at the point of procurement but also throughout the life of each contract.

·         The policy built on best practice from other areas.

·         Consideration had been given to all of the Council’s existing strategies and policies in determining the proposed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measures of social value to be derived from contracts.

·         There was a social value officer at the Council who would assist in tracking the implementation and progress of social value measures in contracts.

6.2      Katherine Nidd responded to questions from the Committee, the following key points were noted:

·         The policy would complement the core areas of the service commissioning the contract within through the method statements of the procurement process.

·         Issues of social value had to relate to the works, goods or services being provided. Issues outside of the scope of the contract could not be taken into account.

·         The Council would keep the social value KPIs and measures under review, including the ongoing monitoring and collation of data - however - resources and officer time for auditing suppliers more generally was limited.

·         Reference to the 'healthy streets' initiative, the Council's ambition for the A21 spine and air quality would be referenced as appropriate in the new policy.

·         Consideration had been given to the potential for supporting local businesses through the policy.

·         The Council would encourage suppliers to meet the Council's ambitions for social value through the competitive tendering process, and that some initiatives would form part of the core contract requirements. For example, payment of the London Living Wage was a clear Council policy.

6.3      In Committee discussions the following key points were also noted:

·         Members recognised the limitations inherent in issuing and managing contracts but it was felt that the policy was too cautious.

·         The Council's legal advice on a number of issues had been overly cautious for a number of years.

·         The issue of asthma should be included in the area of the policy relating to health.

·         There was no need to include non-smoking in the workplace as a key performance indicator for contracts because it was already a legal requirement.

6.4      Resolved: that the Committee would share its views with Mayor and Cabinet as follows:

·         The Committee welcomes the social value policy. However, it urges Mayor and Cabinet to provide direct, sustained and determined political will in order to challenge officers to achieve the highest possible social value from all of Lewisham's contracts.

·         The Committee believes that the Council should be able to ensure that, where practical, the supply chain for Council contracts also provides social value to Lewisham.

·         The Committee recommends that there be regular and diligent monitoring of contractors to ensure that they are adhering to both the technical requirements and the wider spirit of the Council's ambitions for social value. The Committee also believes that consideration should be given to changing key performance indicators over time to ensure that the Council is achieving ongoing high quality value from its contracts.

·         The Committee believes that air quality and other environmental issues should receive much greater prominence in the new policy.