Committee
Report Checklist
Please submit the completed checklists with your
report. If final draft report does not include all the
information/sign offs required, your item will be delayed until the
next meeting cycle.
Stage 1
Report
checklist – responsibility of report owner
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ITEM
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Yes / No
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Date
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Councillor
engagement / input from Chair prior to briefing
|
Y
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26/01/26
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Commissioner
engagement (if report focused on issues of concern to Commissioners
such as Finance, Assets etc)
|
N/A
|
|
|
Relevant Group
Head review
|
Y
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28/01/26
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MAT+ review
(to have been circulated at least 5 working days before
Stage 2)
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|
|
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This item is
on the Forward Plan for the relevant committee
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|
|
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Reviewed by
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Finance comments (circulate to Finance)
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AB
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18/02/26
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Risk comments
(circulate to Lee O’Neil)
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LO
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04/02/26
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|
Legal
comments (circulate to Legal team)
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LH
|
03/02/26
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HR comments
(if applicable)
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|
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For reports with
material financial or legal implications the author should engage
with the respective teams at the outset and receive input to their
reports prior to asking for MO or s151 comments.
Do not
forward to stage 2 unless all the above have been
completed.
Stage 2
Report
checklist – responsibility of report owner
|
ITEM
|
Completed by
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Date
|
|
Monitoring
Officer commentary – at least 5 working days before
MAT
|
L Heron
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03/02/26
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|
S151 Officer
commentary – at least 5 working days before MAT
|
T.Collier
|
18/2/26
|
|
|
|
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Confirm final
report cleared by MAT
|
|
|
Standards Committee
25
February 2026
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Title
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Amendments to Contracts Standing Orders
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Purpose of the report
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To make a decision and a recommendation to Council
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Report Author
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Amy Gibson – Head of Procurement (Runnymede Borough
Council)
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Ward(s) Affected
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All Wards
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Exempt
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No
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Exemption Reason
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N/A
|
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Corporate Priority
|
This item is not in the current list of Corporate Priorities but
still requires a Committee decision.
|
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Recommendations
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Committee is asked to:
-
Approve the suggested amendments;
-
Recommend that the Council agree the revised Contract Standing
Orders and authorise the Monitoring Officer to update the
Council’s Constitution
-
Note the actions below
|
|
Reason for Recommendation
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The Procurement Act came into force in February 2025. The
changes requested are to align to the new terminology and to assist
in delivering a devolved model of procurement.
|
1.
Executive summary of the report (expand detail in Key Issues section
below)
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What is the
situation
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Why we want to
do something
|
|
•
The Contract Standing Orders (CSOs) form part of the
Council’s Constitution. They require an update to align
to the Procurement Act 2023 and to assist in delivering a devolved
model of procurement.
|
•
There is a requirement to update the CSOs to ensure that they are
relevant and up to date with new legislation.
|
|
This is what
we want to do about it
|
These are the
next steps
|
|
•
Amend current CSOs to ensure they are fit for purpose.
|
•
If approved, the next steps will be to publish the updated CSOs on
Spelnet and on the Council’s website.
•
The Procurement Team will also continue with training for
Officers.
|
2.
Key issues
2.1
The Contract Standing Orders (CSOs) are the part of the
Constitution that deals with procurement and contract
processes. The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on
24th February 2025, which has led to a review of the
CSOs being required.
2.2
Whilst minor amendments have recently been made, it is recommended
that a re-write of the CSOs is undertaken. The update of the
CSOs will align closely to those of the other Authorities that will
form part of West Surrey, including Runnymede Borough Council, who
are currently providing support to the Procurement Team.
2.3
It should also be noted that a recent audit found that the CSOs
needed to be updated to ensure compliance with the Procurement Act
2023.
2.4
The updated CSOs will allow for a devolved model of procurement,
meaning that Officers will be given more responsibilities to
undertake procurement activity under £100,000. This
will release the current Procurement Team to focus on more complex
and higher risk procurement activities. The current model is
unsustainable with a team of only 2 Procurement Officers.
2.5
To fully roll out a devolved procurement model, Officers will be
trained on the changes to the CSOs and will be provided with a
number of user guides and templates in order to complete the end to
end process. The Procurement Team will have full visibility
of any live procurements via the e-tendering system and will
undertake spot checks to ensure that procurements are compliant and
complete.
2.6
The devolved model does bring some extra risk but by training staff
and offering support and guidance this will be minimised.
Having reviewed the other Authorities that will form part of West
Surrey, they all operated this model too, with 3 of the
Borough’s Procurement Teams undertaking activity over
£100,000. The other 2 Boroughs have a much larger
procurement team so are able to undertake more.
2.7
It is likely that any unitary authority would also operate in this
way so this serves as a good opportunity to upskill staff.
2.8
The proposed changes ensure that the CSOs are the high-level
details and less operational. This has meant that some
sections of the CSOs have been removed. Operational guidance
will instead be included in a Procurement Toolkit which will be
introduced shortly.
2.9
It is proposed that that CSOs are split into 5 sections,
Introduction, Pre-Tender Preparations, Tender Process, Award of
Contract and Contract Management.
2.10
Please see Appendix A which sets out the main changes. Due to
the significant changes that have been made it hasn’t been
possible to provide a tracked change version.
2.11
In addition to the above a flowchart has also been produced to show
the process that is proposed.
2.12
The CSOs are also strengthening the role of the Procurement Board
and has recommended additional approvals by the Board to ensure
that decisions can be discussed and approved or rejected.
2.13
The flowchart in Appendix 2 details decision points and who will be
making those decisions. It should be noted that this
isn’t an exhaustive list of tasks to be undertaken but gives
an indication of those key tasks and assigns accountabilities.
2.14
The award report referred to within the flowchart will be a crucial
part of the process and will be the point where the details of the
procurement process and the outcome of the due diligence will be
included, such as financial checks and appropriate insurance
levels.
3.
Options appraisal and proposal
3.1
Option 1 – Preferred option – approve the
amendments to the Contract Standing Orders
-
The pros of this option are that the CSOs will align to current
legislation and devolved procurement can be unlocked.
-
This will also align more closely with the other Authorities that
make up West Surrey.
-
The cons are that potentially policies and procedures may be
mis-interpreted however, training and guidance that will be made
available will counteract this.
3.2
Option2 – not recommended – Continue with
current version of Contract Standing Orders (do nothing)
-
The pro is that this will result in very little change to current
practice.
-
The cons are that the new legislative requirements will not be
adequately reflected. The Procurement Team will not be able
to focus their attention on the projects that require more input
and will spend the majority of their time on procurements that
could be undertaken by Officers.
4.
Risk implications
4.1
Whilst there are risks around non-compliance, the Procurement Team
will keep open communication with Departments to ensure that they
are supported and are following the correct processes.
5.
Financial implications
5.1
There are no financial implications to this report. However,
within the revised CSOs, stronger financial checks are being
suggested. With all contracts over £25,001 requiring a
credit check to be undertaken to ensure sound financial position of
the Council’s suppliers.
6.
Legal comments
6.1
Local Authorities are required to have a set of standing orders
“with respect to the making of contracts by them or on their
behalf.” (Section 135(1) of the Local Government Act
1972).
6.2
By maintaining and updating these orders to reflect the relevant
legislative changes, the Council complies with its statutory
duties.
Corporate
implications
7.
S151 Officer comments
7.1
The S151 Officer recognises the importance of aligning the CSOs to
current procurement legislation and is supportive of the proposals.
As commented above, parallel to the above proposals, additional
checks will be put in place to evaluate and sign off procurements.
It is important that we have robust procurement arrangements both
to ensure value for money and also to support the transition into
West Surrey. The S151 Officer confirms the proposals do not
directly have financial implications impact on budget
provision.
8.
Monitoring Officer comments
8.1
The Monitoring Officer confirms that the relevant legal
implications have been taken into account.
9.
Procurement comments
9.1
As this report contains procurement comments, there is nothing
further to add here.
10.
Equality and Diversity
10.1
None arising directly from this report.
11.
Sustainability/Climate Change Implications
11.1
None arising directly from this report.
12.
Other considerations
12.1
None.
13.
Timetable for implementation
13.1
A recommendation from the Standards Committee will be considered by
Council at its meeting on 26 February 2026.
13.2
The amendments will take effect upon agreement by Council, and the
Constitution will be updated and published as soon as reasonably
practicable.
14.
Contact
14.1
Amy Gibson – Amy.Gibson@runnymede.gov.uk
Please submit any material questions to the Committee Chair and
Officer Contact by two days in advance of the meeting.
Background papers: There are
none.
Appendices:
Appendix A – Summary of changes
Appendix B – Flowchart of process
Appendix C – the revised Contract
Standing Orders
