The Corporate Resources and Economy Scrutiny Committee (CRESC) convened to finalise a report on progressive procurement and to select a topic for scrutiny in the coming year. The committee agreed to focus its next scrutiny on addressing poverty and inequality, with an emphasis on identifying barriers to accessing council services for vulnerable groups.

Social Value and Progressive Procurement

The committee approved the final report and recommendations from its scrutiny review into progressive procurement, titled Supporting Islington’s Communities through Progressive Procurement . The report examined how the council can use its purchasing power to achieve social value, promote diversity in its supply chain, and support local businesses.

Caroline Wilson, Director of Inclusive Economy, provided an update on actions being taken in response to the review's findings. These include:

• Embedding social value in the commissioning board process, where potential contractors are scrutinised.
• Developing a social value statement to communicate the council's expectations to suppliers and the wider community.
• Identifying social value champions within council departments.
• Developing e-learning modules on social value, in light of the Procurement Act 2023¹.
• Defining key performance indicators (KPIs) for social value.
• Exploring the expansion of the use of the Social Value Portal² across more contracts.
• Looking into the feasibility of establishing a social value fund.
• Holding a roundtable with local businesses to identify barriers and enablers for social value.

The report made several recommendations, including that the council should work collaboratively with businesses, residents, other councils and partners to ensure best value.

Scrutiny Topic Selection: Tackling Poverty and Inequality

The committee chose supporting residents to financial resilience as its main scrutiny topic for the coming year. This decision followed discussions about various suggestions, including waste management and recycling, which Councillor Nick Wayne, Chair of Corporate Resources and Economy Scrutiny Committee, suggested would be more appropriate for the Environment Committee.

Councillor Benali Hamdache, Leader of the Independent and Green Group, suggested focusing on those in the most deprived communities and their experiences with council services. Councillor Toby North supported this, suggesting a review of actions to address the financial security of economically deprived and marginalised groups.

Councillor Saiqa Pandor, Women and Girls Champion, emphasised the importance of including young people's voices in the process, while Councillor Heather Staff, Chair of Licensing Committee and Migrants Champion, highlighted the need to identify barriers preventing communities from accessing services.

Caroline Wilson noted that the council had already been working with critical friends to critique its approach to supporting residents in poverty. She suggested focusing on the resident journey through council services and identifying barriers that different groups may face.

The committee agreed to prepare a scrutiny initiation document and a reading list over the summer, with the aim of gathering evidence and identifying specific areas of focus for the scrutiny. Councillor Hamdache suggested inviting written evidence from voluntary sector organisations during the summer to inform the committee's work. The committee set a deadline of 20 June for members to submit suggestions for stakeholders to invite and questions to ask.

Other Business

The committee noted the membership appointments made by the council on 15 May 2025, and the terms of reference for the committee for the municipal year 2025-26.