Purpose

Cabinet is required to approve all key decisions with financial consequences of £500k or more. It is good governance to provide Cabinet with a summary of all proposed procurements, that individually were estimated to be a total value of £500k or more, prior to procurement procedures formally commencing. The Modern Slavery Transparency Statement is required for sign off every September in Law.

Decision

(a)           Cabinet considered the contents of the report (of 8 September 2026) in respect of proposed additional more than £500k procurement activity for 2026-27 that was listed in Appendix 1 of the report and the Modern Slavery Transparency Statement and approve and agree:

(i)             That the commencement of each of the procurement procedures (or variation) as listed (subject to an approved and available budget, business case) in the report. 

(ii)            That authority be delegated to the relevant Cabinet member, after consultation with the relevant Director to make the following decisions:

To agree final procurement documentation developed and refined with the broad scope of the procurement briefing notes (available on request)

To agree contract award subject to an approved and available budget (through a recommendation to award report provided the tender outcome are within + 5% of the budget agreed with Finance)

To note that approval of procurement activity within Appendix 1 of the report included authority to establish, join or utilise framework agreements, dynamic markets, and similar procurement arrangements where identified in the supporting procurement briefing note, together with the subsequent award of call-off contracts and associated agreements in accordance with the Council's rules.

(b)           That the Modern Slavery Transparency Statement 2025-2026, as set out in Appendix 2 of the report, be approved for publication.

Decision

To approve the proposed procurement pipeline and associated delegations for contracts exceeding £500k, ensuring appropriate governance, oversight and flexibility in the procurement process, while also reaffirming the Council’s commitment to ethical procurement practices through the publication of the Modern Slavery Transparency Statement.