SUSTAINABLE SCOTLAND NETWORK 2008 ANNUAL CONFERENCE - ACCOUNTING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable Scotland Network's annual conference will be held at Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh on 13-14 November 2008.

Dorothy Cowie, Director of Scotland Excel, will be speaking on day two of the conference on the subject of 'Moving Scotland Forward'.

For further information please click on the following link:

Accounting for Sustainable Development

SCOTLAND EXCEL SUPPORTS PROCUREX 2008

Procurex 2008 is Scotland's first dedicated private and public sector procurement exhibition. The event takes place on 29-30 October in the SECC, Glasgow and will provide a unique opportunity for Scottish businesses to gain an in-depth insight into the vast array of opportunities that exist within today's ever-changing procurement marketplace. The event is supported by the Scottish Government and will provide an unrivalled opportunity to develop new partnerships and opportunities to maximise overall business growth.

Attendance at Procurex 2008 is FREE and you can register at http://www.procurexscotland.co.uk.

 

NICK BOWD, DIRECTOR OF THE SCOTTISH PROCUREMENT DIRECTORATE, RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Nick Bowd, Director of the Scottish Procurement Directorate, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious Government Opportunities (GO) magazine Excellence in Public Procurement Awards 2008.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the pinnacle of the GO Awards and is presented to those who have furthered the public procurement profession during their career, and in doing so set a powerful example for others to follow.

Since joining the Scottish Government in 1997 Nick has led the Procurement Directorate through a substantial period of change culminating in the Public Procurement Reform Programme, which has transformed the way the whole of the Scottish public sector buys goods and services. The approach to collaboration across all sectors of public sector life has been championed throughout by Nick as the Programme SRO, and the savings and long term benefits which accrue will undoubtedly help in the delivery of improved services to the public.

The Public Procurement Reform Programme, instigated as a result of the Review of Public Procurement in Scotland, 2006, aims to implement revised, capability and processes to provide continuous improvement in procurement across the Scottish Public Sector in order to deliver Value for Money improvements and support increased efficiency.

Under the leadership of Nick, the Programme has seen the development of Centres of Procurement Expertise for each sector buying commodities and services common to all their customer organisations; Central Government (CGCoPE); Health (NHS National Procurement); Local Authorities (Scotland Excel); Universities and Colleges (APUC); and Procurement Scotland which places contracts across all sectors.

It is also working with the business community to ease access to public sector contracts with the adoption of the Suppliers Charter and soon to be launched advertising portal.  To support buyers, the Programme instigated a National Conference which attracted 700 delegates in 2007, and this year’s event including Procurex taking place on 29 October will be even bigger and better. 

 

2008/09 SCOTLAND EXCEL CATALOGUE

The first edition of the Scotland Excel Catalogue is available to view/download from the Members Area of the website. Each of the contracts/frameworks are available in PDF format. If you wish to access the Members Area, existing usernames and passwords remain valid, however, if you have not requested a username and password previously, please click here and complete the online form.

If you require any further assistance, please contact the Scotland Excel HelpLine on 0845 606 8726. 

TIMBER MATERIALS FRAMEWORK

Scotland Excel are pleased to announce that the Framework for the Supply and Delivery of Timber Materials (Schedule No: 15/08 – PC/5) has been awarded.

The contract is divided into four lots, broken down as follows:

Lot 1 - A range of doors
Lot 2 - A range of sheet materials
Lot 3 - A range of timbers
Lot 4 - A range of fencing

The contract duration is 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2010 (with an option to extend to 31 March 2011). A downloadable PDF with all the new information is available in the Members Area.

For further information, please contact the Scotland Excel HelpLine on 0845 606 8726.

 

PLUMBING MATERIALS FRAMEWORK

Scotland Excel are pleased to announce that the Framework for the Supply and Delivery of Plumbing Materials (Schedule No: 17/08 – PC/5) has been awarded.

The contract is divided into eleven lots, broken down as follows:

Lot 1 - Brass and copper fittings
Lot 2 - Cast iron products
Lot 3 - Copper and lead products
Lot 4 - External plastic pipe materials
Lot 5 - Heating materials
Lot 6 - Internal plastic pipe products
Lot 7 - Sanitary ware products
Lot 8 - Showers and accessories
Lot 9 - Sink tops and taps
Lot 10 - Water storage tanks
Lot 11 - Plumbing sundry products

The contract duration is 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2011 (with an option to extend to 31 March 2012). A downloadable PDF with all the new information is available in the Members Area.

For further information, please contact the Scotland Excel HelpLine on 0845 606 8726.

 

ELECTRICAL MATERIALS FRAMEWORK

Scotland Excel are pleased to announce that the Framework for the Supply and Delivery of Electrical Materials (Schedule No: 13/08 – PC/5) has been awarded.

The contract is divided into ten lots, broken down as follows:

Lot 1 - A range of cables
Lot 2 - A range of cable management materials
Lot 3 - A range of circuit protection materials
Lot 4 - A range of heating materials
Lot 5 - A range of lamps
Lot 6 - A range of light fittings and accessories
Lot 7 - A range of security/safety products
Lot 8 - A range of ventilation products
Lot 9 - A range of wiring accessories
Lot 10 - A range of electrical sundry materials

The contract duration is 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2011 (with an option to extend to 31 March 2012). A downloadable PDF with all the new information is available in the Members Area.

For further information, please contact the Scotland Excel HelpLine on 0845 606 8726.

 

BUILDING MATERIALS FRAMEWORK

Scotland Excel are pleased to announce that the Framework for the Supply and Delivery of Building Materials (Schedule No: 14/08 – PC/5) has been awarded.

The contract is divided into nine lots, broken down as follows:

Lot 1 - Aggregate materials
Lot 2 - Dry lining and plastering materials
Lot 3 - Masonry materials
Lot 4 - Roofing materials
Lot 5 - Roofing tiles
Lot 6 - Ventilation materials
Lot 7 - Ceramic wall tiles
Lot 8 - Miscellaneous building materials
Lot 9 - Volatile items that include damp proof course and zinc ridge materials

The contract duration is 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2010 (with an option to extend to 31 March 2011). A downloadable PDF with all the new information is available in the Members Area.

For further information, please contact the Scotland Excel HelpLine on 0845 606 8726.

 

CLASSROOM MATERIALS CONTRACT

Scotland Excel are pleased to announce that the contract for the Supply and Delivery of Classroom Materials (Schedule No: 04/08 - PC/1) has been awarded on a shared basis to five suppliers.

The contract is divided into nine lots, broken down as follows:

Lot 1 - Arts and Crafts
Lot 2 - Card and Board
Lot 3 - Drawing Paper
Lot 4 - Activity Materials
Lot 5 - Pens, Pencils and Crayons
Lot 6 - Modelling Materials
Lot 7 - Decorative Crafts
Lot 8 - Miscellaneous
Lot 9 - Discounts

The successful suppliers are:

Grosvenor House Papers (Lots 1 to 8)
Office Depot UK Ltd. (Lots 2 to 8)
Pisces Scotland (Lots 1 to 9)
Specialist Crafts (Lots 1 and 9)
W Enterprises (Abdn) Ltd. (Lots 3 and 9)

The contract duration is 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2010. A downloadable PDF with all the new information is available in the Members Area.

For further information, please contact the Scotland Excel HelpLine on 0845 606 8726.

 

SPORTS, GAMES & PORTABLE PE EQUIPMENT CONTRACT

Scotland Excel are pleased to announce that the contract for the Supply and Delivery of Sports, Games and Portable PE Equipment (Schedule No: 01/08 - PC/1) has been awarded on a shared basis to two suppliers.

The contract is divided into three lots, broken down as follows:

Lot 1 - Sports and Games
Lot 2 - Portable PE
Lot 3 - Mats

The successful suppliers are:

Foams 4 Sports Ltd. (Lot 3)
Newitts (Lots 1 to 3)

The contract duration is 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2010. A downloadable PDF with all the new information is available from the Members Area.

For further information, please contact the Scotland Excel HelpLine on 0845 606 8726.

 

CONFERENCE 2007

Scotland Excel held its inaugural National Procurement Conference and Exhibition - ‘Building for the Future’ - on 28 November 2007 at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh. The conference provided a unique opportunity for procurement professionals to learn more about the changes ahead for local authorities and suppliers – from those implementing the changes – and how these will affect their organisations and the wider procurement landscape. The conference attracted almost 400 delegates including representatives from local authorities, partner organisations, suppliers and interested parties.

Speakers at the event included Ruth Parsons, Scottish Government; David Martin, Renfrewshire Council; Dorothy Cowie, Scotland Excel; Stephen Gribben, Executive Development; and Kim Godwin, Head of Supply Chain, BAA.

 

Key messages from the day:

“There are clear benefits to working collaboratively at sectoral and national levels.  The Scottish Government’s expectation is that all local authorities will engage positively with the Centres of Expertise.” - Ruth Parsons, Scottish Government

 

 

 

“I do believe that the whole issue of Scotland Excel and collaborative public procurement is an enormous opportunity for Scottish councils to prove that we are serious about the shared services and efficient government agenda. It is absolutely clear to me as a chief executive of a local authority that this is something councils should be interested in, even if they have some reservations on the detail.” - David Martin, Renfrewshire Council

 

 

“Scotland Excel’s Inaugural Conference has brought us to a landmark in the creation of a new public sector organisation designed to meet the challenges of the 21st Century procurement landscape.  Local authorities have a long history of collaboration but for the first time a real opportunity exists to create a platform to raise procurement standards, improve performance and apply consistent practices and procedures for all stakeholders across Scotland.  Collaborative working and sharing of best practice is at the heart of the changes not just between local authorities but for suppliers also.  Scotland Excel will be at the forefront of bringing these changes to fruition and providing an opportunity for local authorities to work together to deliver best value. This event has been a great success in bringing the procurement community together and the process of bringing the new organisation into operation by 1st April is well underway.” - Dorothy Cowie, Scotland Excel

 

SAFETY ALERT! - FOLDING CHAIRS

We have been advised by Gopak that there MAY be a fault in a small batch of Folding Chairs.

The chairs, with product codes - Y/C090 and Y/C050 were produced in March 2007.  Affected chairs can be identified by looking under the chair and checking the two date wheels as shown in the picture below. 

Customers should note that Gopak are in the process of contacting customers who may have chairs from this batch and that not all chairs in this batch are affected. However any customer who has a chair with the 3/07 marking should contact the Scotland Excel HelpLine on 0845 606 8726 for further details.

 

THE SCOTLAND EXCEL PROJECT - BRIEFING PAPER - JUNE 2007

THE SCOTLAND EXCEL PROJECT
BRIEFING PAPER - JUNE 2007 (download in PDF format here)

Background

Funding has been received from the Scottish Executive for the Scotland Excel project which aims to deliver best value for local authorities across Scotland by creating a centre of procurement expertise.

Local authorities have positive experience of collaborative procurement and the Excel project aims to build on this and to provide a framework to enable the sector to work together across Scotland to secure further benefits in cost and supplier quality, whilst building capacity and excellence in procurement practice.

The original Scotland Excel bid was supported by 21 partner organisations including the existing 12 abc Member Councils, the 4 abc Associate Member Councils, the Highland Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Strathclyde Police and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Services.

A Scotland Excel Steering Group was established in December 2006 and is chaired by David Martin the Chief Executive of Renfrewshire Council. The Steering Group has broad representation of Chief Executives and Senior Managers from across local authorities in Scotland and includes representatives from the Scottish Procurement Directorate, the Improvement Service and the Scottish Local Government Procurement Forum.

Aims and Objectives of the Scotland Excel Project

The objectives of the project are to create a customer-oriented organisation which will work with local authorities and partner organisations across Scotland to deliver best value public services by:

• Securing significant cost reductions and increase the quality of service from suppliers through collaborative procurement initiatives. The centre of expertise will act as the delivery agency for local authority category ‘B’ (sectoral) commodities, in line with the McClelland review recommendations. It will also play a role in the category ‘A’ (national) commodities and category ‘C’ (local) commodities, acting as the main point of contact and co-ordination for national initiatives and supporting the development of council procurement initiatives and facilitating cluster initiatives at a local level.

• Improving best practice procurement capacity and capability across the sector by  developing a comprehensive coaching, mentoring, training and development framework, aimed at all relevant staff in all functions.

• Creating a forum and communication medium for engaging with suppliers to deliver business benefits within the supply community by fostering innovation and effective partnerships with key suppliers, small-sized and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), trade associations, and other public and private bodies.

The resources and functions of the existing abc organisation will be incorporated into the new centre of procurement expertise and will form a key foundation to the establishment of the new organisation.  The new centre of procurement expertise will be both a larger organisation and also significantly different from abc in terms of organisation design, scope of services provided and approach to the delivery of key objectives.

Current Status

The project Steering Group was established to ensure that the project has the appropriate support and guidance from an early stage.   A project team is now established and, under the guidance of the Steering Group, has developed the detailed plans to manage the transition to the new centre of expertise in line with the McClelland recommendations and timescales. 

A number of workstreams have been established under the project these include:-

• Project Management
• Collaborative Procurement and Contracts Renewal Programme
• People, Organisation and Skills
• Communications and Change Management
• Customer Relationship Management
• Supplier Relationship Management
• IT

Work is ongoing to design the new organisation and to define the governance arrangements and best practice processes and procedures that will be adopted by it.  A key focus for June is to work closely with our procurement colleagues across the local authorities and partner organisations to clarify and confirm the commodities that will be managed collaboratively through the new organisation and to establish the timescales associated with these into three delivery “waves”.

Once these key work activities have been completed, it is proposed that a further series of updates be issued and workshops held to ensure that all key stakeholders, including the supply base, are kept abreast of the changing face of procurement in the local authority sector.

If you require any further information or have any views on the Scotland Excel Project, please contact Dorothy Cowie, Project Director, dorothy.cowie@scotland-excel.org.uk, Tel: 0141-842-6665.

 

THE SCOTLAND EXCEL PROJECT - BRIEFING PAPER - FEBRUARY 2007

THE SCOTLAND EXCEL PROJECT
BRIEFING PAPER - FEBRUARY 2007 (download in PDF format here)

Background

The funding for the project “Scotland Excel – Delivering Best Value for Local Authorities by creating a Centre of Procurement Expertise” is in place and the project is now in its first stage of development and is gathering momentum.

Local Authorities have positive experience of collaborative procurement and the funding will allow the Local Authorities to develop new collaborations and progress with delivering savings. The original bid was supported by 21 partner organisations including all 12 abc Member Councils, the 4 Associate Member Councils, the Highland Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Strathclyde Police and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Services and since then almost all other Local Authorities have pledged their support.

 

Aims and Objectives of the Local Authority

The aim of the Scotland Excel Project is to create a Local Authorities Centre of Procurement Expertise and to achieve Best Value public services by securing cost reductions, by 2010, of £47.8M per annum through increased collaboration and improved procurement performance, capacity and capability.  
 
As part of the development of this new Centre, abc is undergoing a significant process of review, organisational and operational design to ensure that it is appropriately integrated to support the delivery of the Excel vision and objectives.

 

The key objectives of the new organisation will be working with partner organisations to:

 Reduce cost and increase the quality of service from suppliers through collaborative procurement initiatives. The Centre of Expertise will act as the delivery agency for Local Authority category ‘B’ (sectoral) commodities, in line with the McClelland Review recommendations. It will also play a role in the category ‘A’ (national) commodities and category ‘C’ (local) commodities, acting as the main point of contact for national initiatives and supporting the development of Council procurement initiatives and facilitating cluster initiatives at a local level.

 Facilitate more effective dialogue between procurement professionals and partner service departments by creating a customer-oriented organisation.

 Increase the level of expertise and capacity in Local Authority procurement by developing a comprehensive coaching, mentoring, training and development framework, aimed at all relevant staff in all functions.

 Deliver business benefits within the supply community by fostering innovation and effective partnerships with key suppliers, small-sized and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), trade associations, and other public and private bodies, at all levels.

 Develop an approach that is scaleable for all Scottish Local Authorities.

 Manage the transition to the Centre of Procurement Expertise, in line with the McClelland recommendations and timescales.

 

Current Status

A Project Steering Group has been established to ensure that the project has the appropriate support and guidance from an early stage.  There will be a broad representation of Chief Executives and Senior Mangers from across Scotland including representatives from the Scottish Procurement Directorate, the Improvement Service and the Scottish Local Government Procurement Forum.

A Project Team is being established to assist with the work to design and develop the new organisation and establish the detailed plans to manage the transition to the new Centre of Expertise in line with the McClelland recommendations and timescales.  The Project Team, which will be based initially in Renfrewshire Council HQ, will comprise of representatives from the Local Authorities and abc staff and will be supported by temporary agency, contractor or consultancy support, as appropriate. The Project Director is Dorothy Cowie, Director of abc.

The main terms of reference for the Project Team during the initial stages will be:

 To assist in the review of the current abc organisation and the design and development of the new organisation.

 To gather and analyse data re contract spend, renewal dates to assist in the development of the detailed transition and implementation plans.

 To input into the development of a communications/stakeholder management plan to ensure that all key parties are aware of Scotland Excel, how it is being developed and the implications for their organisation/staff.

 To actively participate in the promotion of Scotland Excel both within their own Authority and to a wider audience as appropriate.

 To identify key performance indicators to ensure the project is on track in terms of the deliverables, the timescale and the allocated costs.

 To develop the key measures and reports to track such KPIs’s.

 To assist in the drafting of appropriate Service Level Agreements.

 To provide HR support in facilitating the changes and in establishing the new organisational structure.

 

The main work streams for the Project Team will be:

 Collaborative Buying

 People & Organisation

 Governance and Finance

 Marketing

 Customer Relationship Management

 Policy & Advisory

 Learning Development & Training

 Process & Technology

 Benefits Tracking

 Supplier Management

 

If you require any further information please contact Dorothy Cowie, Project Director, dorothy.cowie@scotland-excel.org.uk, Tel: 0141-842-6665