Are you up to speed with the forward programme of planned local authority capital works? If not then you need to be, so find out how. 

Visibility of work is crucial for everyone in construction to allocate resources, people and simply to be able to plan. It was also a critical element within the No Turning Back recommendations and the actions of the Construction Procurement Task Group.

Improving the visibility of public sector construction programmes is a continual request from industry so that they can better plan their businesses and better meets the needs of their clients. In responding to this need CEW, working in partnership with the WLGA, have been producing, since 2012, an annual 4 year forward programme of planned local authority capital works.

This year’s published forward programme provides visibility to almost £3bn of local authority capital investment in Wales over the next four years.

It also provides a link to a new programme, based on the major local authority projects in the WIIP pipeline, to further assist visibility of the pipeline in Wales.

If you have any queries on this information or have any feedback on how the data can be improved please e-mail with your thoughts.

Click on these links to find out more:

Welsh Local Authorities Capital Programme 2015/2016 – 2018/2019 (August 2015) – This year’s published forward programme provides visibility to almost £3bn local authority capital investment in Wales over the next four years.

Welsh Local Authorities – A Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP) Based Sector Pipeline – August 2015 – Booklet Format

Welsh Local Authorities – A Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP) Based Sector Pipeline – August 2015 – Excel Format

In the past five years action by the Welsh construction supply chain to focus on local people and drive value through delivering community benefits has been a big success – but how do you do it? Check the Melin Homes approach here.

Melin Homes is a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) which provides homes to over 4,000 families across Wales. The ARBEDII scheme is a three year £45m energy efficiency programme which aims to provide improvements to 4,800 homes across Wales. Watch their video to find out how the team at Melin Homes incorporated Community Benefits into the project and the benefits from engaging SME’s.  

To find out more about Community Benefits visit the Procurement Route Planner website. If you have any key projects/contracts/frameworks that you are working on that you think would make great Community Benefits case studies, please contact by email  or call the CEW team on 02920 493322.

Getting procurement right is central to the delivery process of a great construction scheme; so it makes sense to invest the time to learn about the best ways to make the right buying decisions via Value Wales workshops. 

Value Wales ran a series of National Procurement Service Regional events in July and is keen to share the learning from those workshops.

Sue Moffatt, Director of the NPS and Kerry Stephens, Acting Deputy Director of Value Wales opened the events. Kerry discussed the WPPS and designation powers for Value Wales and its changing structure and governance and Sue provided an update on the NPS and digital public services. You use this link: to access the supporting slides.

But here is also a brief summary of the breakout sessions:

• eTrading – This session focused on raising awareness of eTrading Wales and the new approach and support that was available for delivering the programme.  Attendees were invited to provide feedback and comment on the delivery approach and the service to help ensure Value Wales had full understanding of any potential barriers that would jeopardise programme delivery.

• What designation will mean for procurement in Wales? – This session focused on the new powers that came into force in August 2015 that will allow Welsh Ministers to regulate on procurement matters. The session looked in particular at the opportunities this could offer one of Wales key policies, Community Benefits.

• Engaging with the NPS – This session focused on how the NPS communicated with its stakeholders and the different channels that it uses to do so. Attendees were asked what the NPS did well and where they felt the NPS could be improved. The NPS have  their own dedicated newsletter where they have been updating their actions against the feedback received at the sessions. To sign up for their newsletter click here or see the supporting slides from this session.

Following the Waste Crime Consultation and Call for Evidence we have an opportunity to review what we think is wrong with the waste exemption regime and set out our proposals for change. This is an informal opportunity to give your views.  You may have had a similar email from the Environment Agency if you represent customers in England.

A call for evidence

We know that there are problems with exempt sites but we are unsighted on the scale of the problem.  For example - 

• Operators exceed the threshold limits or take in additional waste types to that set out in the exemption. 
• Operators intentionally register exemptions to hide illegal activity.
• Some exemptions allow large volumes of combustible waste to be stored, raising concerns over potential fires and associated impacts.
• Limits set in exemptions may not be low risk.
• There are no restrictions based on proximity to sensitive receptors or infrastructure.
• Several exemptions registered at any one site changes the risk status.
• Where waste exemptions have been registered on permitted sites, the boundary between activities is not always clear introducing regulatory complications.
• Operators can re-register exemptions even though we have de-registered. 

What we would like you to do:

We would welcome your thoughts and proposals on what you would like to see changed for waste exemptions and we need this to be supported by real examples where possible.  The potential impact that any change could have on your particular sector positive and negative would also be important.

We need to collect your proposals and as many real examples by the 25th September 2015

What we are doing:

We will be reviewing our information systems and brigading examples from operational teams.
Julie Tate will be leading our work on waste exemptions – please send any correspondence to JulieTate with the title “Waste Exemptions – Call for Evidence”.