Cornwall Council

Can you briefly describe your role at Cornwall Council and your involvement in procurement or health & safety?

Our health and safety team acts as the competent advisors to the Council. Our role includes providing professional and strategic health and safety advice across the organisation, as well as supporting procurement and commissioning teams to ensure that contractor arrangements meet legal and organisational standards.

What types of services and contractors does Cornwall Council typically procure?

Cornwall Council procures a wide range of services, including construction and infrastructure works, highways and maintenance, facilities management, housing-related services, care and support provision, environmental services and specialist professional services. These contracts vary significantly in size, complexity and risk.

What were the main challenges you faced in assessing supplier health and safety competence before engaging with SSIP?

Before adopting SSIP, assessing supplier health and safety competence often involved suppliers completing multiple, similar questionnaires for different tenders.

This created duplication, increased administrative effort, and did not always result in consistent or proportionate assessments, particularly for lower-risk contracts.

Were there any risks or inefficiencies that concerned you?

Yes. The main concerns were duplication of effort, delays within procurement timelines, and the potential for inconsistent or overly subjective assessments of health and safety competence.

There was also a risk that the health and safety team, procurement team and contract managers were spending time reviewing detailed health and safety submissions for lower-risk contracts where this was not proportionate or necessary.

How did you hear about SSIP and what was your main reason for becoming a Supporter Member?

SSIP is a well-established and widely recognised health and safety assessment framework within the public sector.

Becoming a Supporter Member has allowed Cornwall Council to adopt a consistent, trusted approach to assessing supplier competence, reduce duplication for suppliers, and embed a more proportionate, risk-based process within procurement.

How does SSIP align with your procurement or compliance strategy?

SSIP aligns well with the Council’s approach to good governance, regulatory compliance and risk-based procurement.

By accepting SSIP certification, the Council can be confident that suppliers have been assessed against common core health and safety criteria, while allowing contract-specific risk controls to be addressed separately where required.

How do you use SSIP within your procurement processes today?

SSIP certification is used as part of supplier selection where health and safety competence is relevant.

Rather than requiring bespoke questionnaires, suppliers can demonstrate SSIP status, which is then supplemented by contract-specific risk assessments and method statements. This ensures assurance remains proportionate to the nature of the work.

What have you found to be the main benefits of being a Supporter Member of SSIP?

The key benefits include improved consistency, reduced administrative burden and increased confidence in supplier health and safety competence.

SSIP has streamlined procurement processes and supported a more efficient use of health and safety and procurement resources.

We have also provided a link on our health and safety guidance pages that allows procurement teams and contract managers to self-serve and verify SSIP certification directly.

Are there examples of how SSIP has helped eliminate redundant health and safety assessments?

Yes. SSIP provides reassurance that suppliers have been independently assessed against recognised standards.

This gives procurement officers and contract managers greater confidence in baseline competence and allows attention to focus on managing contract-specific risks effectively.

Has it improved confidence in supplier health and safety competence?

Yes. SSIP provides reassurance that suppliers have been independently assessed against recognised standards. This gives procurement officers and contract managers greater confidence in baseline competence and allows attention to focus on managing contract-specific risks effectively.

Are there any measurable results?

While exact figures are difficult to quantify, we have seen clear time savings during pre-contract assessment stages and quicker progression through procurement processes.

Importantly, SSIP has helped reduce risk by ensuring that health and safety assurance is consistent, proportionate and focused where it adds the most value.