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Partnership
plans on the horizon
 DISCUSSIONS are underway about the new North West Improvement
and Efficiency Partnership, which will bring together the North West Centre
of Excellence and the North West Improvement Network.
The NWCE has now
put forward its business plan to the IDeA, who
will produce a final proposal for CLG based on information from the
programme boards and sub-regional groups.
The final submission to CLG is
expected at the end of January, subject to approval from the steering
group. It is hoped funding will be approved by March 2008.
Consultation documents can be viewed
on the CLG site. Access is by registration only.
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Mingle
with the masterclass
 THE North West Centre of Excellence will be hosting a masterclass for councils in buying and managing
consultancy services at the Red Rose Hub, Preston
on February 22, 2007.
The three hour
event will give participants the confidence, insight and best practice to
get the most from their consultants.
The event,
delivered by The Consultant Connection Limited, will provide an
understanding of the business models, commercial drivers and motivations of
consultants. It will cover the importance of councils being in
control of consultant arrangements and these arrangements being clear
and easy to understand - and how this can be done. Delegates
will also learn the techniques to decide whether to engage a
consultancy or develop resources from within the council.
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One-stop
shop for consultants
 COUNCILS can make major savings on their consultancy bills
by using a new register created by the North West Centre of Excellence.
The framework
agreement register for consultancy services provides local authorities with
a one-stop shop where they can instantly view contracts held by other
agencies and spot opportunities to join existing agreements.
The information
for every agreement listed covers the agreement reference, duration, a
brief overview of the service, the management approach and the name of the
suppliers.
Beatrice
Fraser, NWCE project manager, commented: "Having
the information at their finger-tips could save council officers
around a day's worth of their time - if not more - and, by sharing contract
information, councils should be able to use their combined buying power to
gain a better deal from suppliers."
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 THE NWCE and East Lancs Partnership
are looking at buying anti-virus software in bulk.
It is expected that the procurement exercise will use
the OGC.BuyingSolutions framework, followed by an
eAuction.
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 THE North West Centre of Excellence is sponsoring a high profile
waste event, headed by keynote speaker Joan Ruddock MP, Minister for Waste
and Climate Change.
Government Office
for the North West
is staging the sustainable waste conference on February 4 at Lancashire
Cricket Club and the event is 'must' for all waste, recycling and
sustainability officers.
The north west is the
largest generator of household waste in England
- 581k per head in 2002-2003, compared with the average for England of
521k. And, at 14 per cent, its recycling and composting rate is three per
cent below the national average.
The conference, in line with the Government's Waste Strategy
for England 2007, will feature workshops on carbon reduction, climate
change and recycling.
The day will be led by Alistair MacDonald, former BBC environmental
correspondent and other speakers include Colin
Cram, regional director NWCE and Steve Creed, director
business growth, WRAP.
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 THE next What's in it for us? event - Tracking the Big 5 -
will be held on January 23, 2008 at Wigan Investment Centre.
Lindsey McKenna
wildlife conservationist and motivational speaker will be revealing how
local authorities can learn a lot about operating effectively and
efficiently from the animal kingdom.
There will also be updates on activity from the Big 5 - the
sub-regional shared services groups.
The event will also train its sights on the regional
improvement and efficiency partnership - there'll be an update on the bid
for funding.
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 COMMUNITIES and Local Government has produced a
report that gives advice
and answers questions about measuring and reporting
value for money
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 THE Efficiency Agenda: Preparing for the future and learning
from the past is a new paper from the Improvement Network, looking at
councils' approaches to delivering efficiency.
The paper is based on copies of annual efficiency statements
that were submitted by members of CIPFA's Finance
Advisory and Performance Improvement Networks in 2007.
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 ANALYSES of both backward look 2006/07 and forward look
2007/08 Annual Efficiency Statements are now available from the ESD Toolkit
site.
To access the
information, register at: http://www.esd.org.uk/esdtoolkit/Aes/AESRoot.aspx
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Sustainable
procurement project meeting
February
5, 2008, Nelson
Town Hall
 The agenda for the next meeting of the sustainable
procurement project is now available.
The sustainabile procurement project
was created to help co-ordinate sustainability work across the region, and
takes account of other regional and national initiatives.
The February meeting will include a discussion about the
draft sustainable procurement policy, written by the NWCE, and the local
government response to the sustainability strategy.
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Get
the inside track on CSR07
4th
National Public Sector Procurement Conference
February
7, 2007, City of Manchester
Stadium
 THE NWCE will be playing a major part in a national
procurement event that will throw new light on meeting targets set by
CSR07.
The 4th National Public Sector Procurement Conference 2008 will be chaired
by the centre's regional director, Colin Cram.
The event on February 7 will be at the City of Manchester Stadium and is a must for
everyone in local government who is concerned with CSR07.
Speakers confirmed for the event include Howard Bernstein,
chief executive of Manchester City Council, and Helen MacCarthy,
director, NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency.
Some of the seminar areas that will be covered include: a
guide to implementing a successful e-commerce strategy, procuring
sustainable goods and services and ensuring their provenance and
identifying quick wins in procurement.
Tickets for the event are discounted for a limited period at
£175 + VAT.
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North West Centre of Excellence
Room 5.15,
Council Offices, Wellington
Road, Ashton-under-Lyne
OL6 6DL
www.nwce.gov.uk
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