North West Centre of Excellence

News Update

Week Ending 18th August 2006

£100m BARGAIN HUNT

Make your bid now! 

Sign up for our Bargain Hunt event at the Palace Hotel, Manchester which will take place on October 3, 2006.  Contact Rebecca McDevitt on 0161 342 4080.

Viewing day 

Keep visiting our website for a preview of what the day will hold.

Ask the Experts 

There will be experts on a wide range of topics, including collaboration, energy, contract commissioning and postal services, available for discussion and consultation throughout the day.

Bargain Hunt is your opportunity to discover hidden treasures - real savings that can be made by your local authority over a wide range of commodities and services - from energy and transport to credit cards and building contracts.  These deliverables have been identified by the North West Centre of Excellence. On October 3, we'll show how they can be achieved. There'll also be a live e-auction for £8million worth of  IT equipment for you to watch.

Can you afford to miss out?

National Procurement Programme

THE NWCE has given its backing to a national procurement programme designed to pool the resources and expertise of all nine regional centres.

The programme is seen as a major driver to improving council services by enabling the release of millions of pounds in efficiencies that councils can reinvest in better front-line services.

A key part of the programme will be the creation of procurement action groups (PAG) – multi-disciplinary teams of procurement experts – to deliver efficiency gains in key markets.

Each PAG will prepare top quality guidance for councils in the form of ‘how to’ guides to help them

get the very best deals around.

The guides will be promoted by the NWCE and the other eight regional centres who will be on hand to advise councils on how to migrate their spend onto new, more advantageous contracts.

Purchase Spend Analysis – Updated Information

Further Spend Analysis Data has been added to the sharepoint site on the individual regions (Merseyside, Cumbria, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Lancashire).  To view please follow this link (you must be registered with Sharepoint to access this site – please contact NWCE for further details).

Strategic Service-delivery Partnerships

Strategic Service-delivery Partnerships (SSP) are collaborative relationships between local authorities and other organisations in the public, private and/or voluntary sectors, to improve the delivery of services. The three-year SSP research and development programme established the Strategic Partnering Taskforce to help authorities form successful partnerships. The Taskforce put together the Knowledge programme, which includes a comprehensive A-Z guide to partnerships and produced a Final Report drawing together its findings and conclusions. Continued development of SSP is being taken forward as part of the Government's commitment to assist local authorities in achieving the efficiency gains expected in the 2004 Spending Review.

Strategic Partnering Short Summary (PDF, 16 pages, 262KB) 

Strategic Partnering Full Summary (PDF, 100 pages, 2690KB) 

Or for more information please go to the DCLG website

Green Light for Plans to Unlock Millions in Council Efficiencies

Councils are set to benefit from plans agreed by the Regional Centres of Excellence (RCEs) designed to unlock millions of pounds in local government efficiencies. All nine regional directors have given their backing to the principles behind the national procurement programme which is set to transform local government procurement and make major efficiencies in the billions spent each year by the sector on goods and services. NPP Read More (PDF, 3 pages, 25KB)

National Framework for Telecare Services

The Department of Health will release £80m over the next two years via the ‘Preventative Technology Grant’ to help local authorities and their partners address the challenges of a changing and ageing society.

Telecare is an increasingly important element in supporting the vision of enabling older people to live independently and with dignity for longer.  Recognising that this is an integrated health, housing and social care service the Department of Health has facilitated engagement across a variety of agencies with the intention of employing an integrated approach to delivering telecare.

The South East Centre of Excellence, as lead Centre for Adult Social Care, has been involved in ensuring that local government stakeholders views and needs have been reflected in the strategy for this initiative.

For more information please click here.

Comprehensive Spending Review 2007

As part of its preparations for the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR07), the Government is taking forward a fundamental assessment of its expenditure, with the aim of maximising value for money across all public spending.  An interim report ‘Releasing the resources to meet the challenges ahead: value for money in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review’ was published on 13^th July 2006, setting out progress on both the implementation of the current efficiency programme and the Government’s strategy for driving further value for money improvements over the CSR07 period.

EVENTS

Raising Awareness of Sustainable Procurement Issues

The regional centres of excellence are joining forces to deliver a series of road shows across the country to raise awareness of sustainable procurement issues.

The road shows will be held at nine venues and are being run by OGCbuying.solutions and the MOD’s Disposal Services Agency (DSA), in conjunction with the Society of Procurement Officers (SOPS).

The road shows, called Sustainable Solutions: Procurement and Disposal, are being run from September 5 to October 19 and will cover areas such as energy conservation and management, water management and disposal of IT equipment and furniture.

At each show there will also be a small exhibition of OGCbuying.solutions and DSA suppliers who can offer advice and guidance on their sustainable products and services. 

For further information, or to register, go to: http://livegroup.co.uk/ogcsustainablesolutions/

Making the Most of Purchase Spend Analysis Data

The North West Centre of Excellence is running a series of one day workshops on making the most of the Purchase Spend Analysis data that the majority councils have collated. These workshops will be completely subsidised by NWCE and as such will be completely FREE to you all.

The workshops provide a great opportunity for Local Authorities to gain the tools needed to make the most of Purchase Spend Analysis. The skills and knowledge you will walk away with will enable your authority to use the expenditure data effectively to help support future planning, to achieve efficiency and cashable savings and to identifying areas where collaborative working is likely to deliver the best results.  One workshop will be held in each sub-region of the North West throughout September and October. The following workshops have been arranged so far:

-                      Tues 19 September – Cumbria

-                      Wed 20 September – Greater Manchester

Attendance for the workshops is strictly set at 16 people from the region the event is being held in. As such places are limited to 2 members of each council.  Download a short two page summary of the workshops, providing details of the contents and format of the day.  If you wish to sign up for this event then please email Rebecca McDevitt at NWCE as soon as possible to avoid disappointment as places will fill up fast.

Details of further events will be provided shortly.

eProcurement Update

As the eProcurement programme is now well established, with most councils involved in some way, it has been decided to make the eProcurement newsletter quarterly as apposed to monthly. The summer edition will be available over the next new days and include updates on project progress and future plans. However, a quick summary of future meetings is below:

eAuction Collaboration:

A meeting of a number of sub-regional collaborations to look at a shared eAuction Programme.

2pm 8^th September at Lancashire County Council

Procurement Card Project Board:

An update on the P Card project with a presentation from Barclays supplier

adoption programme and (to be confirmed) a demonstration of the OGC

P Card management system.

10am 21^st September at Tameside Council

Portal Project Board:

An update on the portal project with an update on the Supply2Gov project.

12.30pm 21^st September at Tameside Council

eProcurement Programme Board:

An update on sub regional and regional eProcurement projects. 1pm 26^th September at Tameside Council

For further details on the eProcurement Programme or any of the above meetings please email Neil Hind. 

Framework Agreements Workstream Meeting

The next meeting of the Framework Agreements workstream is taking place on 20^th September 2006 at Kirkby Civic Suite from 2pm to 5pm.   If you are a member of this workstream please check this date is in your diaries.  For further information please contact Rebecca McDevitt at NWCE.

4PS GATEWAY REVIEW TRAINING - Unmissable opportunity!

The 4Ps Gateway Review training events are booking up fast.  The Manchester event on 22^nd August is now fully booked.  There are very limited places available for the Liverpool and Chester events (30^th and 31^st August respectively).  Do not let your council miss out on this opportunity!  For further information please contact Beverley Brooks at NWCE or book here as soon as possible, to avoid disappointment.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR