Guidance, Policy and Practice

Combining efficiency (doing things right) with effectiveness (doing the right things) is a duty for Government. For the next decade the most urgent public policy question will be: how can public services achieve more for less - providing services that meet people's needs, while costing less.

This is the second edition of the best practice manual for practitioners of contract and relationship management in local government. The first edition proved to be very popular with local authorities, both in London and nationally, with thousands of copies being either downloaded and/or distributed.

Supplier Relationship Development (SRD) is the process of finding savings, efficiencies and improvements on existing contracts for the mutual benefit of both strategic, key suppliers and customers. This toolkit details the process methodology developed by the Capital Ambition Supplier Relationship Development project.

Supplier Relationship Development (SRD) is a proven technique that offers all local authorities an opportunity to reduce costs and / or improve outcomes from their major third party spend and contracts. This white paper lays out how and why you can't afford not to give it serious consideration.

The Capital Ambition Programme Board (CAPB) asked  for a report to be prepared which in broad terms was to: -

Look at the current organisation of the London authorities’ procurement teams responsible for acquiring, managing and controlling London’s £8.9B third party influenceable expenditure

Ascertain the opportunities for additional cashable savings / efficiency gains that could be derived from more collaborative working, shared contracting and the use of shared resources

Vehicle use is an important part of the environmental footprint of an organisation and careful vehicle selection is an essential part of meeting green and emissions targets. Read more about this excellent guide.

This study builds on a programme by Capital Ambition and London Councils to share best practice on reducing emissions among local authorities as part of the National Climate Change Best Practice Programme

The arrival of a new Coalition Government coupled with the widespread acceptance that our governance system has to change means that we have to build quickly on the Total Place thinking and lessons. Read more here ..

This edition brings you an update on the agency worker directive, information on collaborative contracts, our behavioural change initiatives and much more! Read on.......

The purpose of this paper is to outline high level options for a public purchasing body wishing to develop a procurement strategy for innovative products or services, whilst at the same time complying with the EU procurement rules. This paper was written by MVT Procurement Solutions Limited.

Although the Home Office does not have a specific Public Service Agreement target relating to prisoner diet and exercise, the Prison Service aims to ensure that prisoners live in safe and decent conditions. Read about the improvement to prisoners' diet and exercise here

The MOD is facing the challenge of delivering more efficient and effective services with less. However it is not enough to more with less as central Government has also challenged all Public Sector procurers to "lead by example" when spending tax payers money.

The Collaborative Food Procurement Report - Spring 2010 Update

The new strategy for food has been drawn up following the publication of the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit's reort in July 2008. Food Matters called for better integration of food policy across Government

Putting the Frontline First - In response to tightening local authority budgets, the Secretary of State asked Sir Richard Leese and Sir Steve Bullock to lead a Task Force to quickly develop proposals to identify how councils can be made more efficient without affecting high quality frontline services

Top Tips for making savings through better procurement of professional services

The scale and complexity of Government projects is unparalled.Many face issues which may carry risk to the delivery of their objectives to time and budget.This booklet outlines ways in which these can be addressed.

In 2007-08 central government spent over £12 billion on service contracts primarily in the areas of ICT, facilities management and business process outsourcing. This report issues guidance on contract management

Public Accounts Commitee reprt and minutes of meeting on food procurement in the public sector

Cabinet Office strategy paper on food and food policy for the 21st century - fuul paper

Executive Summary of Cabinet Office strategy paper on food and food policy for the 21st century

A National Audit Office report outlining how upto £224 million could be saved per annum by 2010 -11

This Fresh Look booklet from the School Food Trust provides practical guidance to assist schools and local authorities to respond to the Government's efficiency and sustainability agendas re school food

This OGC guide provides a series of key insights into multi-tiered supply relationships within the Government Procurement Environment.

Best practice guidance on developing a modern set of CSO's that address the commercial challenges in Local Government Procurement

A useful Guide produced by OGC which sets out how social policy can be applied across the procurement cycle

Produced by OGC and HMT, the guidance gives a clear steer as to when and how to use competitive dialogue.Fail to readit at your peril!

This guide brings together a number of recent examples of successful collaborative procurement that point the way towards how councils can deal with this complex set of challenges.

Environment Services

This studybrings together a selection of children's services case studies from the Regional Centres of Excellence, the Centre Procurement Performance of the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Improvement and Development Agency.

Children's Services

Produced by the National Procurement Project (NPP) for the RCE's this guide contains some useful tips on negotiating with consultants that are not included in the highly successful LCE Consultancy Toolkit

Consultancy and Professional Services

Produced by the LGTF and CIPFA this paper gives some good pointers and thoughts on ensuring that they are fit for purpose

Procurement Policy and Practice

The creation of the new insurance mutual in London (LAML) has prompted lots of interest as to what other techniques can be used to improve the value derived from insurance. This NPP guide has some of the answers

Insurance Services

Following on from the good work of Yorks and Humberside RCE, this guide shows how building products make an excellent area for local councils to practice collaborative working and start to leverage market influence

Construction

Published by the OGC. This paper sets out the benefits of dealing with the small and medium enterprises that employ near 60% of private sector employees.

Small and Medium Businesses

Published in July 2007 by the LCE – A step by step guide to managing contractors and building the relationship AFTER the contract has been let

The London Centre of Excellence has been working with recognised experts (including SPS) to develop pan-London strategies for a wide range of topical procurement issues. These papers will be of interest to individuals in the wider public and private sector.

Procurement Performance Measurement

As above

Procurement Classification

As above

Supplier Accreditation

As above

Low Value Strategy

As above

Supplier Relationship Developmen

SPS has written a set of guidance papers for the local government National e-Procurement Project (NePP). These papers are still highly relevant and will be of use to ANY public or private sector organisation looking to improve its procurement processes and systems.

Expenditure Analysis

NePP Guidance Paper

ICT Security

NePP Guidance Paper

E-Sourcing

NePP Guidance Paper

Procurement Process Optimisation

NePP Guidance Paper

ICT Implementation

NePP Guidance Paper

ICT Workflow

NePP Guidance Paper

ICT Project Management

NePP Guidance Paper

ICT Integration

NePP Guidance Paper

Managing Change