Guidance

Crown Commercial Service update: May 2016

Published 26 May 2016

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1. Overview

The monthly customer update from the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) provides government and public sector buyers with the latest information about developments in procurement policy, the range of CCS agreements available, new commercial agreements being developed, training opportunities and events.

2. Procurement policy and guidance

Information on the Public Contracts Regulations, Utilities Contracts Regulations and Concession Contracts Regulations is available on our public procurement policy page
Guidance and training materials are available on the EU procurement directives and the UK regulations page

Crown Commercial Service update: May 2016 Looking for additional public procurement policy guidance? View our public procurement policy page

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

3. New model services contract

The government has this month released the next version of the Model Services Contract, which is used for high-end IT and outsourcing deals. The first version was published in April 2014 and has seen use by a number of public sector bodies. Since then policy developments, regulatory changes and feedback from the field have resulted in this new version.

With this version you will see:

  • support for prompt payment through the supply chain, benefiting SME suppliers in particular
  • reinforcement of the move to greater transparency, giving the public insight into how these high-end contracts actually work in practice
  • a shift to making software developed for government available as open source, encouraging greater innovation
  • encouragement for those suppliers who have invested significantly in patent-protected innovation to make this available for public sector use.

Also with this version we are making available guidance for the use of the Model Service Contract, aimed at business users who do not necessarily have legal / commercial backgrounds.

4. 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

There is also a range of 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

5. Upcoming events

5.1 Complying with NHS agency rules

Following the NHS Improvement announcement that all 5 CCS health temporary staff frameworks are on their list of approved frameworks for agency staff, we have been running a series of free workshops to help NHS trusts use the CCS frameworks to meet their obligations under the new rules. Due to popular demand an extra date has been added in London on Wednesday 1 June from 10am to 12.30pm. If you would like to attend please email healthteam-workforce@crowncommercial.gov.uk

5.2 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. 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.

5.3 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.

Interim Chief Executive, Malcolm Harrison, will be delivering a keynote speech explaining exactly why commercial matters and discussing how procurement policy is supporting innovation. At the show you will also be able to talk to our commercial and policy experts about the work we are doing to ensure procurement policy is supporting commercial innovation and how our commercial expertise is helping our customers make significant savings.

During the day we will be presenting an overview of the work of each of our 4 category teams (technology, people, buildings and corporate solutions) and discussing how we are constantly striving to achieve the best possible value for our customers. We will also be sharing our insight into doing business with SMEs and explaining how the Commissioning Academy is supporting service transformation across the public sector. If you’re interested in attending, it is free to attend for public sector professionals and you can register on the Public Sector Show website

5.4 Education ICT Summit 2016

We will be speaking about simplifying procurement routes for ICT at the Education ICT Summit 2016 in London on 29 June.

5.5 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 22 June 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:

  • 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. Mystery Shopper scheme

The Mystery Shopper scheme allows suppliers to report public sector tenders they did not understand or instances of what they believe to be poor procurement practice. View the latest Mystery Shopper 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.

7. New agreements

The following agreements are now live and available for customers to use:

8. New contract notices

The following contract notices for new procurements have recently been published and are available for supplier applications:

You can view details of all ongoing or planned procurements on our procurement pipeline.

9. Agreements expiring shortly

10. Agreement extensions

11. Recently expired agreements

  • Government Office Supplies Contract (RM917) expired on 30 April. It has been replaced by Crown Office Supplies (RM3723).

  • Wider Public Sector Print Services (RM1687) expired on 30 April. We are currently working on the development of a new agreement but there will be a gap in service provision as the new arrangement is not expected to be in place until summer 2016. If you wish to discuss your requirements please email printframework@crowncommercial.gov.uk

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

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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