News Update

Week Ending 2nd June 2006

Energy Procurement

Discussions have been taking place with the Office of Government Commerce about the purchase of energy.  OGCbuying.solutions would appear to offer the most cost effective solution for the public sector with typical savings against existing contracts in excess of 10%.  We intend to pursue this, initially through a series of meetings/seminars with OGCbuying.solutions Will all those authorities who are interested in either attending the meetings and/or adopting the OGCbuying.solutions approach please provide contact details to Bev Brooks at NWCE.

IT Hardware – eAuction

OGCbuying.solutions are due to hold an eAuction later this year.  Typical savings from their past IT ones have been 20%.  Part of the savings result from commitment to using one supplier, e.g. for PCs.  Will all those interested in participating please provide contact details to Bev Brooks at NWCE.

NWCE High Cost Placement Project – Update

Since our invitation to all Authorities in the North West to participate in the High Cost Placement Project (the audit of adult residential and care support for adults with learning/physical disability in the North West) another 8 Authorities have signed up (15 in total).  We are very much hoping all commissioning authorities will accept our invitation – so that everyone benefits from the richer picture that will be achieved.  For further information contact Bev Brooks at NWCE.

Framework and Contract Agreements

The Frameworks group is looking to collate a list of all framework agreements and contracts in place within North West authorities or collaborative groups. Work is underway to have all agreements information available online in a searchable format. Please email Rebecca McDevitt at NWCE with any details you may have.

Leadership of Government Connect

Janet Callender, Chief Executive of Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council and Chair of

both the NWCE and NWeGG, writes about taking on the leadership of Government

Connect, creating a catalyst that will deliver transformed services all

across government.  Read more.

NWeGG May Newsletter

The May edition of the NWeGG newsletter is now available.  To access it, please follow this link - http://www.nwegg.org.uk/interface/view_document.asp?id=1338 

EGov Monitor

Latest issue – with sections on Shared Services, Voluntary Sector, Transformational Government and more.

News for Public Sector Construction Procurers

Following the Office of Government Commerce Mandatory Guidelines for Construction Procurement issues last October, LGTF have recently released guidance to and further advice for Local Government and other Public Bodies.   For further information please click here.

Converting Administrative Costs to Investment in Front Line Services

One of the big opportunities for efficiency gains is over-hauling the historic administrative processes and the correspondingly high costs that still remain in many areas of local authority operations.  This LocalGovTV programme looks at the potential to reduce the paper mountain and streamline the processes that support a wide variety of services. It considers how techniques like Business Process Reengineering, Workflow, Document Management, and Content Management can be harnessed to improve effectiveness. http://www.egovtv.tv/programmes/Converting%20Administrative%20Costs%20to%20Investment%20in%20Frontline%20Services

Guidelines for the Efficiency Measurement Model (EMM)

The Centre for Procurement Performance (CPP) has been working with HEFCE to develop guidelines to support the use of the EMM in the higher education sector. These will help new and existing users of the EMM put fair valuations on the efficiencies they achieve by providing values for a variety of efficiencies including: e-tendering, collaborative procurement and deferred payments.

The EMM, which helps universities measure their activity and identify where they have made efficiencies, was launched at the Conference on University Purchasing in September 2005.  CPP see it as one of the key reporting tools which has the potential to be used across the whole education system.

Download these guidelines by clicking here.

Audit Commission Report: Use of Resources – Guidance for Councils

The 'use of resources' judgement assesses how well a council manages and uses its financial resources. The assessment focuses on the importance of having sound and

strategic financial management to ensure that resources are available

to support the council's priorities and improve services. 

Access the Audit Commission report here.

Local Area Agreements

Local area agreements (LLAs) are a way of striking a deal between central government, local authorities and major local delivery partners. This web page links to guidance, advice notes and a prospectus, setting out the department's proposals to pilot LLAs as part of the strategy to build a new relationship between central and local government.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1161635

People Finder

People Finder was developed in partnership with participating local authorities, SE Centre of Excellence and DCLG.  It provides an up to date, online peer support network to encourage officers in the local government sector to work with each other and business support, building on the esd-toolkit community’s willingness to share nationally to improve services locally.  People Finder allows users to search the ever-increasing membership database of esd-toolkit participants for other users who might be able to offer comment and advice in specific areas of the local government improvement agenda.  For more information access this document or log on to the toolkit www.esd-toolkit.org and access People Finder from the Tools drop down list.

EVENTS

eProcurement Reference Day – 10am Tue 6^th June – The Hub Preston

There are still a limited number of places available for this reference day. Subjects include:

·                     Removing the Legal Barriers to Collaboration

·                     Innovative uses for Procurement Cards

·                     Portal Software – A Market Update

·                     eInvoicing – An introduction

Please email Rebecca McDevitt to reserve a place.

eInvoicing Workshop – 10am 16^th June – Wigan Investment Centre

There are still a limited number of places available for this workshop.  This workshop will cover the issues around eInvoicing and look at some of the lessons learnt from other regions. Please email  Rebecca McDevitt to reserve a place.

OGC Procurement Conference

The Office of Government Commerce will hold the second Government Procurement Service Regional Conference on 12 July 2006 at the Congress Centre in London.  
Further information is available here.

GovNet EXPO – Public Service Reform

The Public Service Reform agenda is one of the most significant issues in Modern Government.  Leading public policy influencers will be speaking at this event on 17 and 18 October 2006 at the Olympia Conference Centre, London. For more information, or to register click here.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR