Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chair has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to consider.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)         any business on the agenda

b)         any urgent additional items to be considered

c)         any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To consider the minutes of the previous meeting held on 17^th April 2024.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Sandra Peake

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Employment and Personnel Committee held on 17^th April 2024 be approved as a correct record.

The Committee considered a report which sought approval to make changes to the Procurement Service.

The report set out the current structure of the Procurement Team and information regarding the work they currently undertook for other Councils.

The report stated that new procurement legislation, the Procurement Regulations 2024, would come into force in October 2024 and would place additional requirements on local authorities and their procurement teams.  There was also likely to be an increased demand for procurement services as a result of the £15m regeneration funding that had been awarded to the Council. 

The report set out the proposal, which was to end the shared service arrangement for procurement services with North East Derbyshire District Council and create a small Bolsover focussed team.  This team would concentrate on the Council’s procurement needs and Dragonfly Management (Bolsover) Limited, as well as providing a service to Dragonfly Development Limited where required.

It would be necessary to create a new senior procurement position (1 FTE) to work with the current Procurement Assistant (0.5 FTE) post.  This would be equivalent to the current Procurement Manager role.  An increased budget of £54,684 would be required to fund the new structure.

The Committee discussed the proposals and in response to a question it was confirmed that officers were confident that there would be enough work for the size of the proposed team and there was also potential in the future to generate income by carrying out work for other organisations, such as parish councils, as capacity allowed, and in turn could reduce the net cost of the service through income generation.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Tom Munro

RESOLVED that (1) it be agreed to end the shared service for Procurement and create a dedicated team providing procurement services to the Council and its companies;

(2) it be recommended to Council that the Procurement budget be increased to fund the new post.