Healey's support gives lift to
councils
 THE amount of
CLG funding to support the north west's councils with their
efficiency and improvement programmes has been announced.
The region, via the North West Improvement and
Efficiency Partnership, will receive £22,025,278 over the next three
years.
The allocation is part of a wider £185million funding package
announced by Local Government Minister John Healey that will go to
the nine Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships to pioneer
innovative ways to transform and improve services, and cut
waste.
The North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership has been
allocated £5,952,778 in year one and £8,036,250 in each of the two
subsequent years. The money will be split between the five
sub-regions and the central NWIEP programme to support councils to
achieve at least 3% per annum gains in the region which, based on
the targets in the 2004 Spending Review period, amounts to
£753million for the north
west. |
|
This is the biggest job on the
page!
 THE post for
chief executive of the new North West Improvement and Efficiency
Partnership has now been advertised.
Adverts have been run in The Guardian and the Local
Government Chronicle this week for the post.
Click here for the advertisement and
associated
documents.
|
|
Are you sitting comfortably?
 A PROJECT that
aims to make savings on councils' spend on non-library books and
periodicals has scored success.
The group of councils, supported by the NWCE, who have
been looking at how much local authorities in the region spend on
journals, magazines and books have reached agreement with a
Manchester supplier who is prepared to offer 13 per cent discount on
general books, 25 per cent discount on school book orders over £100
and a 20 per cent discount for school book orders under
£100.
Said NWCE programme manager Beatrice Fraser: "The
spend on books and journals across the region is significant and
there are substantial savings to be made. This supplier is prepared
to offer the discounts to any council in the region and it would be
worth councils carrying out an audit of their spend to establish
what savings can be made."
For further information
email beatrice.fraser@tameside.gov.uk
|
|
ProClass - The Next
Steps
 THE
development of ProClass - the common classification which will help
councils across England gain a new understanding of what they are
buying and from whom - has taken a step forward.
Regional Directors of the Centres of Excellence have
now agreed a plan that will lead to full implementation of the
ProClass system.
ProClass is owned by local government
- so there is no cost - is easily incorporated into existing systems
and allows councils to identify exactly what they are buying and
make direct comparisons with others. It also provides a mechanism
for encouraging councils to accelerate collaborative working and
implement category management strategies.
A wealth of information and the latest version of the
system is available on the ProClass web pages, including a series of
case studies and a ProClass toolkit.
A marketing and communication strategy has
also been drawn up that shows how councils will be able to get the
maximum benefit from ProClass, including the delivery of regional
training and education events. |
|
Train to
gain
 THE first of
the councils to start their BPI training have completed the initial
wave of training.
Groups from Wirral, South Ribble and Preston
Councils are among the first to complete activity 1 of the free
training being offered by the North West Centre of Excellence.
Rosemary Ramirez, NWCE shared services programme
director, commented: "The feedback from councils who have started
the training has been excellent and they are gaining the benefits
from having taken early advantage of it."
She added: "There are several councils who have not
followed up their initial interest in undertaking the training and
they are missing out on huge opportunities. They still have time to
sign up for the training and, to miss out on £6,600 added value per
staff member, would seem to be contrary to the current efficiency
and improvement agenda."
Councils who want to enrol on the training should
contact rosemary.ramirez@tameside.gov.uk
|
|
Better
waste-lines
 GREATER
Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) have announced increases
in recycling levels - exceeding all their targets.
Recycling and composting levels more than doubled from
2004/5 to 2006/7, and there have also been increases in recycling
and composting from household collections for Greater
Manchester.
Results are set to get even better when a new approach
for managing waste in Greater Manchester is signed off at the end of
March. The new approach will make it even easier for
residents to recycle more waste, and will extract valuable
recyclables and green energy from material that would previously
have gone to landfill, leading to huge reductions in the region's
greenhouse gases.
Councillor Neil Swannick, GMWDA chair, commented: "It
is a pleasure to see continuous improvements in performance in this
important area. The largest congratulations really have to go to the
residents of Greater Manchester, as the results are only made
possible by their participation."
|
|
The sweet smell of
success
 TWO new How to
be Successful guides, showing good practice in commissioning
children's services and procuring waste services, have been
published by the Regional Centres of Excellence procurement
programme.
The 'How to be Successful' guides have been
produced to help local authorities continue to raise standards and
deliver efficiencies, by bringing together local government
innovation, industry insights and technical know-how in key areas of
activity.
Each of the expert guides marks the latest in a range
of products and services published by the Regional Centres of
Excellence and are designed to help local authorities to continue to
transform local authority procurement and raise standards of service
delivery across the country.
Click here to view all the 'How to be
Successful'
guides. |
|
Efficiency
express
 THE fifteenth
edition of Efficiency News, the newsletter from CLG is now
available.
This newsletter is produced for local authorities and
for others with an interest in all of the issues around the
efficiency agenda as it affects local government.
This issue includes information on how the
transformation, improvement and efficiency agendas are going to be
tackled together during CSR07; the latest news from CLG; news from
the Regional Centres of Excellence and news from the national
process improvement project.
|
|
4ps bridge the skills gap
 4PS is set to
deliver the first formal training course specifically designed for
project directors after signing a contract with University College
London.
The programme will advance the leadership skills,
procurement expertise and commercial awareness of project directors
involved in the development of private finance initiatives, public
private partnerships and other complex projects.
|
|
WINning
ways
 THE latest
Waste Information Network (WIN) bulletin is available to view
here.
This bulletin includes help and guidance to take
you through the waste procurement process from beginning to end, a
local authority geographical data map and details of how to achieve
greater efficiencies, improvements and cashable
savings. |
North West Centre of Excellence
Room
5.15, Council Offices, Wellington Road, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 6DL
|
|
| |
