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week ending September 21, 2007 |
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www.nwce.gov.uk |
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Welcome to this
week's edition of the NWCE weekly news. Our weekly newsletters are also
available via our website. Click here to access. Kind regards, |
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Procurement News |
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The successful completion of phase one of the NWCE standards
project has led to the launch of the 'Docking Station' - a one-stop shop,
offering a blue-print for buying. The Docking Station contains documents and guidance for
councils to buy goods and services simply and efficiently and is supported
and validated by experts and representatives from Documents include contract award and rejection letters,
contract procedure rules, equality and diversity, financial thresholds,
pre-qualification, tendering and terms and conditions, from which councils,
large and small, can pick and mix. Following this success, the group are looking at further areas
of work including clarification of EU rules for shared services; guidance for
suppliers; training information; evaluation models, toolkits and much
more. The next meeting, on October 26, will look at taking this work
forward. For information about joining the standards group contact Beverley Brooks. |
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A briefing note is now available from the OGCs Commodities Steering Group - read it here. Neil Hind, NWCE Procurement Programme
Manager, will be representing the Please send any comments or questions about the briefing note to Neil Hind. |
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The NWCE's
'focus on a framework' highlights key frameworks or agreements that councils
can use. Does the cost of agency nurses leave you
feeling ill? This framework agreement can help councils save
money when recruiting agency nurses. The framework agreement can be used by
the entire English public sector and delivers, for the first time, a standard
agency nursing agreement for all English NHS regions outside |
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The NWCE has been made aware that a
number of organisations have complained to BT about recent changes to their
billing practices. The NWCE is looking to approach BT as
a region in a consolidated way so if you have already raised issues then
please email details to neil.hind@hind.co.uk. A number of other RCEs have already made approaches to BT so a national approach may also be considered. |
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Shared Services News |
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The training, originally offered in June by
the Initially there was little or no interest
in this opportunity to improve the skills of the workforce and deliver
bottom-line benefits to the authority's budget, but following recent
publicity, many councils have expressed an
interest. Check the NWCE website and weekly newsletter for
updates. In the meantime to express an interest contact Rosemary Cowgill as soon as
possible. |
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The Both These
governance arrangements and bids can now be found on the shared services area of the
NWCE website. The other sub regions are in the process of
submitting bids to obtain their ring fenced funding. |
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National News |
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The
September edition of CATALYST, the national publication from the Regional
Centres of Excellence, is now available. This
edition includes an update on CSR07 and regional partnerships, and reveals
how councils and the highways agency have joined forces in a groundbreaking
highways partnership. Please note that £5 million cashable efficiency savings quoted in this issue is not officially confirmed. The final figure will be confirmed when CSR07 is announced. |
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A new web-based resource providing
practical guidance on the workforce implications of setting up shared services, has been developed by the Local Government
Employers (LGE) in partnership with the IDeA. This new resource is hosted on the IDeA's Knowledge website alongside
information and guidance for HR departments managing the practical,
legal, financial and cultural issues posed by the creation of shared
services. It also has links to a private community of practice where
heads of HR can discuss their experiences together. This resource can be found on the IDeA Knowledge - click here. |
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The report by the Open University says
large-scale centralised facilities, such as those developed under Private
Finance Initiatives, may appear desirable to meet statutory obligations, but
raise concerns for the long term. |
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There are updates on the draft efficiency
delivery plan, customer insight, guidance on place shaping, and a call for
your feedback about two tier working. |
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It highlights the actions of those chief
executives who are leading the way by prioritising people management and
future workforce challenges.
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Events |
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F U L L
Y B O O K E D
The next sustainable procurement meeting
has been arranged. This meeting will give an update on
regional and national work and an outline plan for implementing the flexible
framework. The meeting will also discuss the possibilty
of carrying out a regional risk assessment on one category - possibly staff
uniforms. For further information or to reserve a
place on the waiting list for the meeting click
here. |
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October 30, 2007, QEII Conference Centre Two for one offer THE NWCE has an exclusive offer for council
representatives who wish to know more about the impact of CSR07. The NWCE's
regional director The conference will look at CSR2007 and its
effect on local government, and will focus on the recommendations made in the
Local Government White Paper - 'Strong and prosperous Communities' with
regard to re-shaping public services and partnership working in the
challenging financial climate. The standard rate is £195 plus vat and the
2 for 1 offer is on a first come, first served basis. |
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November 13 2007, FREE training on sustainable procurement is
being offered to councils in the The NWCE is working with ActionSustainability to deliver training to help
delegates to discover the tools and techniques of sustainable procurement, look at the tools and techniques available
and identify and manage how sustainability affects council's supply chains. Normally £350 per delegate, this training
is free of charge to one delegate per council if accompanied by a supplier. For more information click here. |
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THE NWCE
will be supporting a sustainable procurement event in 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 |
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New Frontiers for Transformation
Delegates will hear from the government on
its latest strategy to modernise public services through Transformational
Change, understand the need to be customer focused, examine
the key role that technology can play in redesigning services for the benefit
of both citizens and government alike and network to share best practice and
seek answers to the challenges councils face. There will be six seminars designed to deal
with different aspects of delivering effective change in local government. For further information click
here. |
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Tel: 0161 342
4080 Fax: 0161 342 3390
email: nwce@tameside.gov.uk |
