Whatever happens in a Brexit deal, the EU rules concerning procurement will change in the long-term. Now therefore is the time to influence any plans for a different, hopefully less onerous, post-Brexit procurement regime as delegates at The MJ/Marston Holdings round table agreed.
One delegate explained that the procurement process was very expensive, time consuming and could be frustrating, saying they wanted to get more out of their contracts. But will Brexit offer the right opportunity to reform the system?
‘Brexit is hugely challenging for everyone, but it is also an opportunity,' one participant said. ‘In terms of local government, it could be an opportunity for us to plough our own farrow in a way.'
Council bosses remain uncertain about the impact leaving the EU will have on procurement in the UK. Some believe it could streamline the process, while others believe in the hands of Whitehall mandarins the legislation could end up being just as bureaucratic – if not more so.
One delegate said: ‘I'm not convinced where we will end up will be any better. If it ends up with civil servants will it be any better? I honestly do not know. But I'm never convinced about solutions that aren't local.'
But not everyone was so sceptical. ‘In terms of procurement, I don't know what the impact of Brexit will be' one council director said. ‘Perhaps naively I think it will be easier and less bureaucratic. It feels to me like we have got an opportunity in terms of doing things differently and being much more focused on outcomes.'
If Brexit is an opportunity to reform the way councils procure, there is a consensus that focusing on outcomes is the only direction to go. One delegate said: ‘With more pressure on budgets, it's all about how you make things more efficient. If you turn it into a process, that loses sight of the fact you are serving people. It is about how you go from process to people and outcomes.'
Another agreed: ‘An outcomes focus is definitely the direction of travel and it feels absolutely the right thing to do. If we can have better for less cost, it's a win-win for the authority and the service user. Everything you procure has to have an outcome. Ultimately that should be the focus when you go out to procure.'
One council chief explained how the council had recently gone out to procure drugs and alcohol support services and were taking a more outcome-focused approach. The participant said: ‘We are going to take 20% out of the cost but we believe it should get better outcomes. We are currently working to chart our most expensive service users, customers, clients. What we are finding is, with that focus on outcomes, we are managing to reduce costs significantly and people are living much more independent lives. We are not saying we have cracked it but measuring these outcomes is the difficult bit, isn't it?'
He added: ‘We are on that road to a more outcomes-based business planning approach at the moment and it has been a bit rocky. I firmly believe that if you understand where the costs of delivering outcomes are, you can refocus your budget.'
One delegate raised the age-old debate about silo working. Does ‘departmental competition, petty politics and silo working' remain a barrier when it comes to procurement? Most council bosses agreed those days had been left in the past.
‘The silo thing isn't really an issue for us anymore', one delegate said. ‘I think a "one authority" approach is how most people operate these days.' Another said their council procured everything through a ‘central procurement unit' and ‘never procure through a single department anymore'.
As ever with local government, the discussions turned to locality. Brexit could prompt a shift towards more local procurement and the formation of partnerships with smaller, local businesses.
‘A lot of money is wasted from our procurement processes', one delegate said. ‘We have got to do it differently. If we can direct some funding into local areas, if we can save money and procure local, it makes sense to do that.'
Another said: ‘How do we use Brexit as an opportunity to rethink local, restoring civic pride and bringing pride to one area? How do we get people more engaged with their local area and get them to think local?'
‘The other thing about using local firms is reputation,' another delegate chimed in. ‘If you use local people and local firms, there is a huge pride. If you start to get stuck there's more control and it's a lot easier to fix.'
According to one round table participant, the challenge that must remain consistent with any specific Brexit rules and changes is that all sectors, private, public and third, need to become much better at managing contracts collectively and in collaboration. ‘What I would hope from that is a better use of micro-businesses in the local community. They have great difficulties finding opportunities to work directly with local government and other public bodies. That is made harder when there are these big name companies that "cannot go wrong".'
But Brexit doesn't only offer an opportunity to think locally, according to one delegate; councils have the chance to think more globally, too. ‘People will have a worldwide, not just EU, reach. We are taking not a relaxed view but a worldwide view on the economy. We are also moving much more towards locality management. That is changing the way we are procuring – and it's increasingly local. That is slightly less efficient but there is more community engagement. But on the other hand, for the bigger stuff we are looking worldwide. It's like two ends of the spectrum.'
But of course, nobody at this stage knows how things will change when Britain leaves the EU. That in itself is a cause for concern. As one participant said: ‘We are stepping from EU control, which is a known quantity, to national government. If they decide the sector is not delivering, will they try to impose something more stringent on local government? We have to use this as an opportunity to empower ourselves. There's no one answer to all of this.'
Conversation moved onto action, and the need to ensure the sector is speaking with a single voice when it is lobbying. One delegate commented: ‘Who are we lobbying? Government? We have to be wide in our lobbying. We don't want it to turn into vast bureaucratic exercise again. I say we start lobbying now. We have got to get it embedded.'
Others were less keen to jump in straight away, calling instead for the sector to get its message clear before raising its voice. ‘We need to start a new narrative. If the sector has a consistent narrative that's when we should start lobbying. We have got to make the case for more flexibility but we have to be very clear about what we are asking for, otherwise we will have civil servants trying to come up with something quick enough to get a deal done.'
Despite having said that, the delegate was pessimistic about getting the message across: ‘Politically, they are not going to listen to local government. They don't normally and they won't now. If there is going to be an advantage from Brexit, what is that and what do we ask for? We are not one homogenous group; that's part of the problem. If we ask around the table we will get slightly different answers from districts, counties and larger unitaries.'
Uncertainty is perhaps the biggest problem Brexit poses. But that also means there is room to shape the future. Councils need to form a united front if they are to ensure post-Brexit procurement rules work for them.
The MJ/Marston round table attendees
Meredith Teasdale, Director of education, City of Wolverhampton Council
Mark Taylor, Strategic director, people, City of Wolverhampton Council
Melvyn Ingleson, Digital strategy adviser, MJI Business Solutions
Paul Shevlin, Chief executive, Craven DC
Janice Lowndes, Assistant director, Salford City Council
John Henderson, Chief executive, Staffordshire CC
Jason Comer, Director of marketing, Marston Holdings
Andrew Kerr, Chief executive, Edinburgh City Council
Michael Burton, Editorial director, The MJ (chair)
Sam Clayden, Features editor, The MJ
