Lot 6 - Procurement & Supply Chain

The London Borough of Southwark has awarded a contract for a comprehensive Procurement and Third Party Spend Review. The project aims to enhance procurement effectiveness, optimise external spend, and strengthen contract and supplier management practices in line with the Procurement Act 2023 and the Council’s Southwark 2030 vision.

The review covers all categories of third party spend, assessing supplier relationships, benchmarking procurement practices against best in class standards, and evaluating governance frameworks and the contract lifecycle. The Supplier will deliver data driven insights and actionable recommendations to inform a redesigned procurement and commissioning operating model.

Expected outcomes include:

• Full visibility and categorisation of third party spend through development of the contract register.
• Identification, validation and prioritisation of at least ten high impact cost saving opportunities.
• A baseline and benchmark of the procurement lifecycle, with proposals for a redesigned operating model aligned to the Council’s ERP replacement programme Southwark360.
• Benchmarking organisational capability and workforce capacity against the National Procurement Policy Statement.
• Strengthened contract management and provider performance to ensure value for money, improve accountability and reduce risk.

The Supplier will provide practical deliverables including inception and progress reports, stakeholder engagement summaries, spend analysis dashboards, business cases, toolkits and a final strategic report consolidating findings and recommendations.

The contract runs from 6 October 2025 to 6 March 2026 and has been awarded under Lot 6 of the CCS RM6187 Management Consultancy Framework.

The London Borough of Southwark has awarded a contract for the provision of a comprehensive Procurement and Third-Party Spend Review under the Crown Commercial Service RM6187 Management Consultancy Framework 3, Lot 6.

The Council faces significant financial pressures and increasing service demands, and requires a structured, independent review to identify cost-saving opportunities, enhance spend visibility, and strengthen procurement and contract management. The successful supplier, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), will deliver an evidence-based review of procurement activity, supplier relationships, and third-party spend, producing actionable recommendations aligned with Southwark’s strategic objectives and the Procurement Act 2023.

The scope of services includes:

Conducting a comprehensive analysis of the Council’s third-party spend to establish full visibility and categorisation across all services.

Reviewing supplier relationships, contract efficiency, and off-contract spend to identify inefficiencies, risks, and opportunities.

Identifying, validating, and prioritising at least ten high-impact cost-saving opportunities, each supported by business cases, risk assessments, and implementation recommendations.

Benchmarking the Council’s procurement and commissioning operating model, governance structures, and processes against best practice and public sector standards, including alignment with the Southwark 360 ERP replacement programme.

Assessing procurement and contract management capability and workforce capacity in line with the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS).

Reviewing contract management practices, supplier performance, and provider accountability to strengthen value-for-money and reduce risk.

Delivering practical outputs such as spend dashboards, savings registers, governance assessments, toolkits, and a final strategic report to support sustainable improvement.

Key deliverables include:

An inception report and detailed project plan.

Spend analysis reports with interactive dashboards.

A prioritised set of savings opportunities with full business cases.

A redesigned procurement and commissioning operating model with governance and capability recommendations.

A contract and supplier management review with improvement actions.

A final consolidated report with benchmarking data, findings, and a phased implementation roadmap.

The contract is valued at £173,950.00 and will run from 06 October 2025 to 06 March 2026. This is a fixed-term arrangement with no option to extend. The supplier will be required to work closely with Council stakeholders, provide regular progress updates, and ensure knowledge transfer to support long-term improvements.