North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership

North West Centre of Excellence WEEKLY NEWS
week ending August 10 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

Buying Power               

THE nine centres of excellence are collectively sponsoring the procurement category at the LGC Awards 2008.

With combined spending worth more than £70bn a year, councils are among some of the biggest and most sophisticated buyers in the UK economy.

Judges will be looking for examples of excellent traditional procurement processes and technologically advanced ways of obtaining best value for bought-in goods and services. Entries could be team or project-based.

The closing date for entries is October 12 with the winners being announced at the Grosvenor House Hotel awards ceremony in London on 17 March 2008 and the NWCE would be delighted to see councils in the region rising to the challenge set by the judges
Further details are available at www.lgcawards.co.uk.

 Procurement News

Professional advice

PROCUREMENT experts have been asked how they would manage councils’ third party spend in the north west.

Their suggestions are revealed in the fifth newsletter for the NWCE third party spend project that is now available.

The experts who have worked with the likes of MARS, BT, Unipart, British Nuclear Group, central and local government and the NHS were asked, particularly, to look at how spend would be managed and by whom.

They reckon the numbers needed to handle the region’s local authority third party spend vary from 40 to 65, of which 30-50 would be professionally qualified and experienced procurement personnel.

For further results from the experts and for the rest of the project news, view the newsletter here.

Case study reveals £4.8m savings  

The information behind a project which is set to save around £4.8million can now be revealed.
Lancashire County Council and OGCbuying.soutions joined forces to look at making savings on print production and have enjoyed some stunning results..
A case study has now been produced revealing how the project was started and the benefits it has reaped.
To view the case study, click here. 

 

Focus on a Framework - Agreement for Lease Cars

The NWCE's 'focus on a framework' highlights key frameworks or agreements councils can use.This week's offer can help councils to save money on leasing cars via a website.

Councils will be able to get their hire cars on–line, following the development of a new set of frameworks for the NHS. Framework agreements for lease cars have been issued to 10 suppliers and will be available on a web site, from September 1.

The frameworks will also offer annual advance rental based on a three- year term, fully inclusive of maintenance.

For further details please email the application form to: transport@pasa.nhs.uk

Waste Management News

Revealing waste measurement

CHESHIRE councils could save around £84.5M over 15 years on their waste collections and recycling.

That’s according to the most recent version of the outline business case for the Cheshire Waste Partnership.

Consultants are producing the business case, supported by the North West Centre of Excellence, to help the six authorities in Cheshire identify the best collaborative collection and recycling contract strategy for the region.

The latest draft of the business case reveals that one of the options in the business case could produce a 15-year saving in cash flow of £84.5m pounds, or a £63m net present value saving.

The partnership’s authorities - Chester City Council, Congleton Borough Council, Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council, Ellesmere Port & Neston Borough Council, Macclesfield Borough Council and Vale Royal Borough Council) and Cheshire County Council - must now decide how best to realise the savings identified by the study.

Events

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