Guidance

Crown Commercial Service customer update: April 2016

Published 25 April 2016

This guidance was withdrawn on

This article has been withdrawn because it’s over 4 years old.

© Crown copyright 2016

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crown-commercial-service-customer-update-april-2016/crown-commercial-service-customer-update-april-2016

1. NHS Improvement has approved CCS health temporary staff frameworks

Following the NHS Improvement announcement that all 5 CCS health temporary staff frameworks are on their list of approved frameworks for agency staff, we are pleased to announce a series of free workshops to help NHS trusts use the CCS frameworks to meet their obligations under the new rules.

The workshops are taking place at 4 locations across the country:

  • Bristol, Tuesday 17 May
  • Manchester, Tuesday 17 May
  • Birmingham, Wednesday 18 May
  • London, Thursday 19 May

Find out more about the 5 frameworks

Book your place at a workshop

2. Applications now open for next Commissioning Academy

The next wave of the national Commissioning Academy will begin on 9 June 2016. The deadline for applications is 27 May and we’ve already had lots of interest, so if you are keen to take part please apply soon.

The Commissioning Academy is run by a social enterprise on behalf of the Cabinet Office and is suitable for decision-makers from across central government and the wider public sector who define policy, shape public service provision or allocate resources for services to citizens.

The academy takes place on 5 days over 5 months and aims to help participants develop the skills and confidence to address the challenge of public service transformation.

Over 1,000 senior leaders have already attended the academy and feedback is consistently positive. Following his participation, Tom Alexander, Head of Strategic Business, Customers, Commissioning & Governance Division, London Borough of Sutton commented:

“The Commissioning Academy proved to be a valuable experience [that] enabled me to make connections with people that has led to ongoing learning and sharing, gave me space to formulate ideas and test them with people facing similar issues and to keep up to speed with what is going on nationally. I was particularly pleased with the topics that were covered as they introduced ideas from outside of the traditional commissioning ‘space’ which has helped improve our local practice.”

Further details about the Commissioning Academy

The Commissioning Academy application form

3. Civil Service Live 2016

We will be attending Civil Service Live 2016 events throughout June and July, presenting a series of workshops on commercial as a profession. The events will enable civil servants and organisations to share best practice and innovation across government:

  • Thursday 16 June, SECC, Glasgow
  • Wednesday 22 June, City Hall, Sheffield
  • Wednesday 29 June, Ricoh Arena, Coventry
  • Tuesday 5 July, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff
  • Tuesday 12 and 13 July, Queen Elizabeth II Centre, London

Delegate registration is now open

There are opportunities for suppliers to get involved. To discuss sponsorship opportunities please call Paul Sanders on 020 7593 5605 or email paul.sanders@dods.co.uk

4. Upcoming events

4.1 Customer briefings: a better way to buy Network Services

In partnership with Innopsis, we are hosting a series of customer briefings on using the Network Services (RM1045) agreement to showcase how buyers and suppliers can work together to achieve best value and enter into contracts. We will explain the structure of the agreement and showcase supplier perspectives on how to get the best from the market. Events are being held across the country and are free for public sector buyers to attend:

Places are limited, so book your place now by clicking on the link above for your chosen date and venue.

4.2 Insurance Services

Following the recent launch of the new Insurance Services (RM3731) agreement we are hosting a customer event in London on 12 May from 10.30am to 1.30pm for customers wishing to learn more about using the agreement.

The event will give buyers the opportunity to meet the specialist insurance team from Crown Commercial Service, along with agreement partners, YPO, ESPO and NEPO.

Book your free place at the event

4.3 Public Sector Show

For the 6th year running we are partnering with the Public Sector Show, which is taking place on 28 June at ExCel, London.

Our interim Chief Executive Malcolm Harrison will be delivering a keynote speech explaining exactly why commercial matters and discussing how procurement policy is supporting innovation.

He will be joined by managers and directors from a range of business areas including commercial delivery, customer operations and policy who will be on hand throughout the day to answer your questions.

In the CCS open theatre we will also be presenting an overview of each of our category strategies, sharing our insight into doing business with SMEs and discussing how the Commissioning Academy is supporting service transformation across the public sector.

The event is free to attend for all public sector professionals and you can register on the Public Sector Show website

5. Technology webinars

5.1 Software Licensing webinars

We will be hosting a software licensing webinar on 10 May at 2.30pm covering latest news and updates, Microsoft software assurance (part 2) and our Oracle services. The webinar will also be repeated on 13 May at 10.30am.

Register for your preferred date using the links below:

5.2 G-Cloud webinars

We run regular webinars for customers interested in learning more about G-Cloud, the Digital Marketplace and the buying process.

The next webinar will be on 11 May at 10.30am. The session will last about an hour and include a presentation and Q&A session.

It may be of interest to you if you are looking to buy commodity based, pay-as-you-go cloud services.

If you cannot make this date, the next sessions are scheduled for 10:30am on:

  • 22 June
  • 10 August
  • 14 September
  • 12 October
  • 9 November

To register for a webinar email cloud_digital@crowncommercial.gov.uk with your choice of date.

6. Case studies

We’re keen to work with customers to develop a range of case studies to share your experiences, best practice guidance and views on the benefits of using CCS agreements. If you have a case study you would like to share please email jo-anne.edge@crowncommercial.gov.uk

7. CCS on social media

We share regular news and updates throughout the month on Twitter and LinkedIn so if you are not already following us why not take a minute to do so now?

You can follow us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn

8. Procurement policy notes

8.1 Procurement policy note 03/16: publication of payment performance statistics

This note explains how public sector contracting authorities are required to start publishing annual payment performance data from March 2016.

View the procurement policy note

8.2 Procurement policy note 02/16: Utilities Contracts and Concession Contracts Regulations 2016

This note explains that the regulations have been laid in Parliament and came into force on 18 April 2016.

View the procurement policy note

Looking for a particular procurement policy note? View the collection of all procurement policy notes

9. Latest Mystery Shopper results

The Mystery Shopper scheme allows suppliers to report tenders they did not understand or instances of what they believe to be poor procurement practice. We use this information to help procurers across the public sector ensure they are transparent and open. The scheme publishes the results of investigations monthly and since 2011 we have received over 1,000 cases.

View the latest Mystery Shopper results to see how the scheme is helping to improve procurement practices and support our ambition to make doing business with government as easy as possible for small businesses.

10. New agreements

Merchant Acquiring Services (RM3702) is now live and available for customers to use.

The following agreements have also recently awarded and will go live shortly:

11. Agreements expiring shortly

12. Agreement extensions

13. Recently expired agreements

  • Information Management and Learning Services (RM1500) expired on 22 March. Customers requiring these types of services should now use G-Cloud 7 (RM1557vii)

  • Financial Analysis Services (RM1559) expired on 31 March and is not being renewed.

  • PSN Connectivity (RM860) expired on 24 April. It has been replaced by Network Services (RM1045)

14. Contract notices

You can view details of all ongoing or planned procurements on our procurement pipeline. Recently published contract notices include:

15. Sign up for email alerts

You can sign up for immediate, daily or weekly email alerts which will tell you what we have added or updated on the GOV.UK website. It is a great way to stay up to date with the latest news and information from CCS.

Sign up for email alerts by providing your email address and selecting the frequency you wish to receive updates.

eSourcing log on

eMarketplace log on

If you use these tools frequently why not save them to your favourites for easy access? Not yet registered? Find out how to register:

If you need further information about anything in this update please do not hesitate to contact us by email info@crowncommercial.gov.uk or call our helpdesk on 0345 410 2222

You can also follow us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn

Back to top