North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership

North West Centre of Excellence WEEKLY NEWS
week ending August 3 2007

Dear Colleague,

Welcome to this week's edition of the NWCE weekly news.  Our weekly newsletters are also available via our website -
click here to access.
We want to hear good news stories and lessons learned from around the region for inclusion in our news updates - particularly relating to improving efficiency or partnerships/collaborations.  If you have news you want to include in our update, please contact Beverley Brooks.

Kind regards,
North West Centre of Excellence

 Featured News

Open the gateway

                                    
A NEW web-site is being developed by North West Employers, specifically for council members.

The Elected Member Gateway will offer information and advice to help councillors to do their jobs better – and provide them with training to help them develop their skills.The North West Improvement Network has provided significant funding for the site, as part of its continued commitment to member development.

Vic Hewitt, chief executive of North West Employers, said: “This innovative venture will help local authorities to support their own members in dealing with the many challenges they face.
“It will also provide access to members themselves to identify their own personal development needs and ways of meeting them.”
For further information contact North West Employers or telephone 0161 214 7104.

 Procurement News

Hot air

TEN local authorities in the north west are being given the chance to join the pilot of a ground-breaking project – and take advantage of some substantial early benefits.

The NWCE and the Local Government Unit are funding the innovative carbon budget and trading scheme that will look at measuring and monitoring carbon emissions, carbon pricing, budget management and trading, and carbon emission reduction.

The scheme will be developed by the 10 participating authorities in 2007, giving them early insight and knowledge into a rapidly growing area, and will be launched in 2008 to the entire region.

The prospectus for the scheme can be found here.
http://www.lgiu.gov.uk/images/uploaded/Pospectus.pdf

A number of councils already have already expressed an interest, so time is short.  Please send expressions of interest to Neil Hind by August 9 2007.

The power to perform

                                    The NWCE has supported Wigan Borough Council in a successful drive to become more energy efficient – and is now offering other authorities a slice of the action.

The borough has started to use a simple technology that reduces energy consumption called powerPerfector, and now has the potential to save more than £183,000 a year.

A case study has been produced detailing how the project was implemented and the benefits Voltage Power Optimisation (VPO) is bringing. Click here.
Wigan now wishes to open a framework with other interested councils in the region for the purchase of powerPerfectors.

Anyone interested in joining with Wigan – and experiencing potentially significant savings – should contact Steve Flyn, energy manager, at Wigan MBC on T: 01942 705516 or s.flyn@wiganmbc.gov.uk

Focus on a Framework - Save with Cannon UK

The NWCE's 'focus on a framework' highlights key frameworks or agreements councils can use. Fired up for efficiencies? This week's offer can help councils to save money on  multifunctional photo copiers.
Click here for further information.

Waste Management News

Cash for trash

                                          FOUR north west councils have been given more than £112,000 by Defra to reduce the amount of business waste sent to landfill.
Defra’s Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme will fund projects by Manchester CC, Rossendale BC, Fylde BC and South Ribble BC that will work with businesses to implement sustainable waste management practices.

Manchester plans to select a group of manufacturing companies who will work with waste and energy experts to help them become more resource efficient.

Rossendale wants to set up a trade waste recycling collection scheme and to raise awareness among businesses of the benefits of sustainable waste management.
Fylde plans to develop a waste recycling service for SMEs and to provide advice on waste management and efficiency.

South Ribble wants to introduce an ‘opt in’ recycling service, providing different sized containers for those businesses with storage problems, and looking at each business’s capacity for recycling.

 Events   

Postal Procurement Project Feedback Meeting
August 7 2007,  Lancashire Red Rose Hub

Meeting to receive feedback on the data collection exercise, explore opportunities and define next steps.
An agenda will be available shortly.  For further information click here.

Procurement Planning
August 17 2007, Red Rose Hub, Preston

The NWCE wants to submit a bid to CLG to continue its work on third party spend and needs assistance from heads of procurement and procurement experts to help with this submission.
The session will focus on the work done to date and what areas may need further investment.
For further information click here.

P-Cards: what next?
September 20 2007, Wigan Investment Centre

This session is aimed at those with procurement card projects underway and those still planning to implement them.  It will bring together latest thinking from OGC.buying.solutions and Barclays with local authority case studies.  For further information and/or to book a place click here.

Sourcing Sustainable Solutions – Meet the Buyers
November 21 2007, Manchester

THE NWCE will be supporting a sustainable procurement event in Manchester in November.
Sourcing Sustainable Solutions - Meet the Buyers will provide delegates with the opportunity to meet suppliers who can provide innovative environmental and sustainable products and services.
The NWCE will also be presenting The Chest, the new portal for local government business opportunities.
A unique feature of the event will be pre-arranged meetings with suppliers, selected according to delegates’ criteria. Delegates can tell the organiser their specific areas of interest, when booking, and the information will be used to research and identify suppliers that match their criteria. On the day of the event, delegates can take part in a series of private, pre-scheduled meetings with the pre-matched suppliers.
The event on November 21 is free to attend for buyers. For further information and/or to book a place click here.

For more information, contact Emma-Jane Allen on tel: 020 7700 0008 or e mail emma-jane@actionsustainability.com