North West Centre of Excellence

News Update

Week Ending 25th August 2006

Bargain Hunt

Have you made your bid to attend the NWCE Bargain Hunt yet?

The NWCE has identified saving opportunities of more than £100 million for local authorities in the region, covering everything from energy and contract commissioning to online recruitment and postal services.

On 3^rd October 2006 the Bargain Hunt will reveal how these savings opportunities can be made.

The event is aimed chiefly at finance directors, chief executives, members and procurement officers and there will be a series of workshops with a team of experts on a wide range of topics.

Places at the event are limited. To book your place contact Rebecca McDevitt on 0161 342 4080.

NWCE E-Procurement Newsletter – Summer 2006

Please download the Summer 2006 E-Procurement newsletter from the North West Centre of Excellence. 

4Ps Gateway Review Training

The Gateway Review training events have been extremely successful with every venue being fully booked and feedback has been extremely positive.  The NWCE is therefore considering hosting one further Gateway Review training session at a date to be decided.  Many people were interested in attending but were unable to do so, particularly as the events coincided with the holiday season.  If you would be interested in attending please contact Bev Brooks at NWCE as soon as possible.

NWCE Survey

NWCE are carrying out a survey to help us continually improve our services to you.  We would be grateful if you could spare a short amount of time to complete this survey for us (it takes no longer than two minutes!).  Please follow this link - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=584832460953

We are grateful for any responses.  Please refer any queries relating

to this survey to Bev Brooks at NWCE.

New Procurement guidance Leaflets from OGC

Two leaflets have just been published by OGC and can be downloaded directly from the OGC website
OGC Notes PPN 03_(143K)  provides advice on below threshold procurements and other procurements not fully subject to the EU Public Procurement Directives.
OGC Note PPN 04_(92K)  provides guidance on the Competitive Dialogue procedure and requests information on your experiences of this procedure to inform further guidance that OGC will produce on Competitive Dialogue.

If you have any queries or require further assistance please contact the OGC Service Desk in the first instance, Tel: 0845 000 4999 E-mail: servicedesk@ogc.gsi.gov.uk

OGC Vehicle Leasing Initiative

Many of you may be aware, the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency are leading on a Pan-Government Vehicle Leasing Contract which is due to commence April/May 2007. 

The public sector operates approximately 100,400 lease vehicles (60,400 Central Civil Government, 40,000 Local Government).  The NHS fleet alone is currently 35,000, who already enjoy very competitive annual rentals.

The scope of the new contract is cars and car derived vans and will include many innovative features not currently utilised within the public sector including open book accounting, profit sharing as well as the ability to utilise pan government or own contracts for tyres and the acquisition of the vehicles.

The new contract details, upon award, will be communicated to you all by means of an interactive web-site.  The site will also contain full terms and conditions, latest news, lease company special offers and useful links.

To further progress towards implementing this initiative please click here.

Guidance on OGCbuying.solutions’ Frameworks

Please download the latest guidance on OGCbuying.solutions' frameworks.   This guidance incorporates the latest interpretation of relevant legislation provided by the Procurement Policy Unit in OGC.   

“Ahead of the Game” - NWCE Stakeholder Event 2006

Manchester City Football Stadium, 14 September 2006

THERE are just 20 days to go before the NWCE’s stakeholder event – Ahead of the Game – kicks off.

Have you entered your name on the team sheet to attend?

Tickets for the day-long event at the City of Manchester Stadium on September 14 are limited and, with Phil Woolas MP lining up as the star player for the day, demand for places has been high.

Ahead of the Game will celebrate the way local authorities in the region are leading the field in making efficiencies and improvements in the delivery of services.

It will also provide the opportunity for you to assess your local authority’s game plan

and how your performance can be improved.

To book your seat, contact Viv Greatwich on 0161 342 3762 or email

viv.greatwich@tameside.gov.uk

eProcurement Process Discussion Event

ValueAdded.Com will hold another free session in conjunction with the Cumbria Procurement Initiative and the NWCE.

The session, open to all NW authorities and free of charge, will be an opportunity to share experiences with like minded Councils who are attempting to improve the efficiency of their procurement through the introduction of electronic processes.

Places are limited but can be reserved by emailing richard.coombes@valueadding.com.

View the agenda.

Licensing Shared Services Workshop

The Achieving Cumbrian Excellence Programme (ACE) and the Connected Cumbria Programme (CCP) have been tasked by CLASB (Cumbria Local Authority Strategic Board), to support the development of a shortlist of prioritised Shared Service projects which would deliver clear outcomes and enable sustainable collaborative working practices across the county.

The starting point for the ACE and Connected Cumbria Shared Service programme has been a workshop programme run in conjunction with 4ps (the LGA body tasked to support authorities in delivering partnership programmes)  to develop a common vision, outcomes and objectives for candidate projects identified by CLASB and other stakeholders such as CCIP at an initial workshop in March.

Following the workshop to clarify collaboration opportunities, further workshops have explored Building Control and Property Rationalisation in sufficient depth to allow CLASB to allow these candidate projects to move towards Outline Business Case. 

Subsequently, CLASB now wish ACE, CCP and 4ps to undertake a similar, exploratory workshop exercise for Licensing services.  For further information please click here.

Nomad - At the Centre of Mobile & Flexible Working in Local Government 

Invites you to attend:

·                     The first series of Nomad Autumn 'Regional' 1-Day Events
10 October 2006 - Bristol  [NRE1]
15 November 2006 - Manchester (with the t-Gov Autumn EXPO) [NRE2]
22 November 2006 - Edinburgh [NRE3]
29 November 2006 - London [NRE4]

·                     The Nomad Wireless: "Cutting the Wires" 2-Day Education Seminar
18/19 October 2006 - London  [NW1] 

*Formal registration for these events will be available soon. 
 

For further information please click here.