Guidance

Crown Commercial Service update: January 2019

Published 14 January 2019

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crown-commercial-service-update-january-2019/crown-commercial-service-update-january-2019

1. What can you do to tackle modern slavery?

The International Labour Organisation estimates that 40.3 million people live in modern slavery. One in four are children, almost half of whom are aged between 5 and 11. It’s estimated that 13,000 people are victims of modern slavery in the UK alone.

Abolishing modern slavery from supply chains is one of the UK government’s top priorities and The Government knows that public sector procurement could be a powerful tool in the fight against modern slavery. It’s therefore important that public sector buyers need to understand how to map out the risks in their supply chains, and take steps to manage them.

To find out what CCS is doing to tackle modern slavery, and what steps you can make to tackle the issue, read our latest blog

2. Helping our customers review their energy portfolio generates £1.2m savings

When did you last check that your meters are included in your CCS portfolio? CCS and EDF Energy recently conducted an exercise, identifying 771 meters that customers had not added to their portfolios, and were therefore on ‘out of contract’ rates. Through the combined efforts of both EDF Energy and CCS, customers were contacted and asked to complete a site addition form to add the meters into a CCS basket.

For these customers, a combined saving of over £2.1 million has been achieved, by simply adding their new meters into their CCS portfolio and avoiding costly ‘out of contract’ or ‘deemed’ prices. This represents an average saving of approximately £5000 per meter, which our customers can invest on the priorities that matter most to them.

Find out how you could save

3. 9 education customers save £161,500 on IT hardware

CCS has helped education customers save on IT hardware equipment such as laptops, tablets and projectors through aggregation.

The technology hardware requirements of 9 educational establishments was awarded in October 2018, with a total of 2,417 devices being specified. This led to a total order value of £1,003 million which acquired savings of up to 13% for those involved.

If you would like to learn how you could make savings through our Technology Hardware for Education aggregation read our case study to find out more.

4. Could you make savings on your postal services?

Postal services remain an important part of public sector businesses, however following Royal Mail’s price increases that have come in to effect from 2nd January 2019, now is the time to review your postal services in order to mitigate against the impact of the increases which are on average 9%.

Our Postal Goods and Services agreement could save you on average 16.5% on your mailing costs whether it’s collection and delivery, international mail or full hybrid mail solutions - there’s something for every public sector client.

Customers who use it save on average 16.5% on their mail costs. Some have made savings of up to 30%.

To find out more and start saving today, visit our site

5. South Downs National Park Authority saves on new planning solution

After being appointed as local planning authority for 1600 square kilometres of the South of England, South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) required a supplier who would be able to implement a new planning solution to help them facilitate the provision of service and collection of data.

Following a competitive tender process using lot 3 of the CCS Local Authority Software Planning agreement (LASA), Idox Software Ltd was awarded the contract with the aim to deliver a streamlined and complex solution. CCS were also on hand throughout the entire process for support, advice and guidance.

As a result of SDNPA using the LASA agreement, they achieved significant cost savings over the term of the awarded contract and there was absolute confidence that the solution was being delivered to the highest standard.

If you would like to find out more about South Downs National Park Authorities new planning solution or learn how you can get involved, read our latest case study.

6. New year, new and innovative software framework coming soon

Our new Data and Application Solutions framework is set to launch at the end of February, which will provide a wide range of software services and ancillary hardware.

Read our latest blog to learn more and join our introductory webinar.

We would like you to help shape the next generation of commercial agreement for purchasing print and print related items? We are currently researching the type of print requirements across public sector organisations and would like your views to ensure the framework meets your needs.

Complete our short questionnaire to have your say and to find out more.

8. Unlock energy generation opportunities with our new agreement

‘HELGA’ (Heat Networks and Electricity Generation Assets) is now available as part of our Utilities and Fuels provision. The agreement allows public sector bodies to procure a range of energy demand management and generation products and services through a flexible, easy-to-use and compliant process.

Users of the HELGA agreement have access to a wide range of market-leading suppliers that provide a range of services from simple energy auditing to complex installation projects.

Find out more about how your organisation could benefit.

9. Transport Technology Infrastructure customer workshop

Transport Technology Infrastructure will enable the UK public sector to buy infrastructure for smart cities, plus traditional transport technology.

It will build on the success of Traffic Management Technology 2 (RM1089) through which the core components of highway technology - from street lights to road sensors - and supportive smart infrastructure can already be purchased.

Transport Technology Infrastructure will provide an easy route to market to purchase all highway and transport infrastructure, with or without a smart technology overlay.

We value your opinion of Smart technology, the structure of Traffic Management Technology 2 and what you would like to see from its replacement, Transport Technology Infrastructure. To let us know what you think, please share your views with us.

10. Government ICT

We will be attending this year’s Government ICT conference which will take place on 22 January at QEII Centre, Westminster.

The event will provide those in the public sector with insight on how local and central government can introduce best practice, to be able to assist with ambitious transformative strategies and implement streamlining of services.

Topics being discussed on the day will include:

  • The opportunities and pitfalls of Brexit
  • Cloud utilisation
  • Modernising procurement frameworks
  • Real world application of emerging technologies
  • The power of partnerships
  • Automation in government services

Find out more and register for your free place.

11. Government Property 2019

We are also looking forward to showcasing at Government Property 2019 which will take place on Thursday 14 February at QEII Centre, Westminster.

This years event will attract more than 300 high level delegates from across the public sector estate, and will aim to identify the key trends and challenges that will affect the property industry over the next 10+ years.

Find out more information and to book your free place

12. Technology webinars

We all know that the technology landscape is fast-paced and constantly evolving. Whether you are an experienced tech buyer or new to this area, our upcoming webinars are a great way to hear from our commercial specialists and ensure that you are getting the best solution for your organisation.

Register for one of our webinars today

13. Travel webinars

Interested in finding out more about how we can help you with your travel needs? Our travel agreement teams and suppliers are hosting a series of webinars to help explain what, and how, you can access travel and venue solutions through our agreement. Register for one of our webinars today

14. Buildings webinars

14.1 Estates Professional Services and PMFDTS

Looking to find new and innovative solutions to your property estates and project management needs? Our framework teams are hosting a series of webinars to help explain what, and how, you can buy estates professional services and project management solutions through our agreements. Register for one of our webinars today

14.2 Utilities and Fuels

Interested in finding out more about how we can help you with your Utilities and Fuels requirements? Our specialised Utilities and Fuels teams are hosting a series of webinars to help explain what and how you can buy through our agreements, and also providing insight into our trading and risk processes. Register for one of our webinars today

15. Latest aggregation opportunities

15.1 Mobile Voice and Data Services

Are you looking to make savings on mobile voice and data services for your organisation? We recently helped 13 customers save £1.9m – an average saving of 50% compared to the prices customers were paying. Why not join one of our customer engagement workshops to discuss the scope and approach in more detail, and gather your valued feedback and input to ensure we meet customer needs to deliver commercial benefit.

Or register for one of our introductory webinars for more information on how to buy from the aggregation.

15.2 Water, Wastewater and Ancillary Services

Following the success of the CCS led first UK aggregated further competition for Water, we will be running another further competition for Lot 1 – Water and Wastewater supply. We anticipate this competition will be held in April/May 2019 in order to provide customers with the ability to switch supplier during the Summer. This further competition is open to all public sector, non-residential premises, and the deadline is 28 February 2019.

If this is of interest to you, please get in touch Simply tick the aggregation box and quite Waste Water.

15.3 Payroll Services

Does your organisation need payroll services, or will your current contract be expiring over the next 4 years? We are considering running a series of aggregated procurements for payroll services commencing in March 2019 if enough interest is expressed.

At this early stage, we are seeking initial expressions of interest and indications of your ‘must have’ requirements, so if you would like to express interest in joining an aggregation and shaping the requirement, please complete this short survey If you are unable to access the survey or would like to talk to us first, please contact us via aggregation@crowncommercial.gov.uk.

16. Framework extensions

17. New frameworks

18.1 Public Procurement Review Service

You can view the latest Public Procurement Review Service results to see how the scheme is helping to improve procurement practices across the public sector and support our ambition to make doing business with government as easy as possible for small businesses.

18.2 Procurement policy

If you are looking for public procurement policy guidance please take a look at our public procurement policy page

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

18.3 Procurement tools

19. 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.

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 customer service team on 0345 410 2222

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

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