Issue - meetings
Procurement Action Plan - Follow-Up
Meeting: 09/04/2026 - Audit & Governance Committee (Item 71)
71 Procurement Action Plan - Follow-Up 
PDF 537 KB
To present the Committee with an update on actions set out in the Procurement Action Plan (Annex B to the Procurement Investigation - Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit report, 30 September 2025).
To provide assurance to the Committee that the risks of fraud committed against the Council or within the Council are recognised, managed, and mitigated appropriately.
Additional documents:
- CDC Audit Governance Committee Report Procurement Action Plan UPDATE v1 - 2026 04 09 ANNEX A, item 71
PDF 539 KB
- Webcast for Procurement Action Plan - Follow-Up
Minutes:
The Chair noted that this item had been agreed at the Committee in September 2025, that this report provided a progress update, that a further update was expected in October 2026, and invited the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) Officer to introduce it.
The Officer presented a report on CFEU actions – noting Members had sought further assurance on procurement controls, which was included. Actions 1 through 4 were completed, and actions 6-9 were progressing well. Changes had been made to cost centres and payment approval hierarchies, including the implementation of the ‘No PO, No Pay’ rule, requested by Internal Audit. One mandatory procurement briefing for Members had been held in March and recorded for Members. Action 5 had been removed as it was no longer requires, having been superseded by controls implemented in Action 2.
In response to the Committee’s question regarding the “implementation of a procurement toolkit”, and assurance around its use, Officers confirmed that this toolkit was available on the Council’s internal system. They explained that the Commissioning and Procurement Board, chaired by the Monitoring Officer, would only approve requests submitted via the toolkit. Guidance had been issued to officers, and the team would be available to support those wishing to raise procurement requests. Members queried audit controls for expenditure below £5000 under the enhanced procurement process. Officers advised that such lower-value sums typically reflected time-limited or one-off purchases which were covered by the procurement process and considered lower risk. Procurement fraud was recognised as a risk area, with mandatory staff training in place. Officers also confirmed that a review of the process was underway, including monitoring for duplicate payments and supplier oversight, with findings to be provided to the Committee for its next meeting.
The Committee noted the report.