In this edition
- Regional events - postponed
- We want your Community Benefits Measurement Tools!
- Community Benefits: Community of Practice (CoP) event
- Important information for Barclaycard customers
- eProcurement Benefits Models
- NPS awards three new contracts
- CIPS Congress: Your representative wants your views
- Workshops: Spaces available
- Do you influence procurement decisions?
- SBV Courses for April / May
- Vacancies
Regional events – postponed
Due to the election date clashing with one of our regional events, we will be postponing these. Whilst we haven’t got a new date set for either event, please keep checking the bulletin for future updates.
We want your Community Benefits Measurement Tools!
Community Benefits is one of the key principles of the Wales Procurement Policy Statement. The policy is a strategic procurement tool to deliver training & employment, community engagement and supply chain opportunities through the application of social clauses in public sector contracts.
The impact of the policy is measured using the Community Benefits Measurement Tool, developed with industry to capture the benefits achieved through your contracts.The Measurement tool should be completed annually, or at project close if sooner and can demonstrate to your organisation the added value procurement can deliver.
Why use the Measurement Tool?
- Easy to complete by the contractor/supplier - an easy spreadsheet that needs basic information about the contract;
- Measures the impact of your projects - Results provide fantastic information to share with councillors/boards/senior managers/stakeholders/residents about the impact that the project has had in the surrounding area on jobs/growth and supply chain engagement;
- All this information will be easily accessible for the suppliers/contractor;
- Adds value and demonstrates that public spending is being maximised by the project and the approach taken.
The attached guide covers how to use the measurement tool and for the latest version please click here. This is an opportunity to review your projects and apply this tool to capture your benefits.
Please share your successes with us, and send us your completed Measurement Tools. For more information about Community Benefits please contact us via the mailbox or via the project lead: Nina Ruddle 07805 791389
Community Benefits: Community of Practice (CoP) event
You are invited to the next Community Benefits Community of Practice (CoP). The event is an opportunity to share best practice, network with fellow practitioners and gain some training too! The focus of this meeting will be non construction Community Benefits for lower value or service based contracts/frameworks, and to also look at the corporate approaches being delivered.
Held at the Metropole Hotel, Llandrindod Wells on 20 May from 10.30 – 3pm, the CoP is open to buyers and suppliers, and procurement and non procurement professionals. Please find attached the agenda for the day.
To register your attendance, please email Harriet Farley confirming your choice of workshop and any special dietary requirements.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Important information for Barclaycard customers
| | From 10 May 2015, active support will be discontinued for Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) beginning with the May 2015 release of Barclaycard Spend Management. |
IE7 was released by Microsoft in October 2006 and no longer supports modern web standards or the latest security mechanisms. We want to continue to deliver great technology and a great online experience which means using up-to-date web standards, some of which are not compatible with IE7. While users of IE7 will still be able to access the application, new features and functionality will not be tested or supported using this browser version.
Beginning with the May 2015 release, the list of supported browsers will be:
- Internet Explorer 8.0+
- Firefox 2.0+
- Chrome 6.0+
- Safari 4.0+
- Opera 7.5+
Microsoft will end support for IE8 in January 2016 and Barclaycard Spend Management support will be withdrawn in line with this date as well. To ensure full functionality is supported, we recommend you update to a later version of the Internet Explorer browser (IE 9,10 or 11), Chrome (from v6), Firefox (from v2), Safari (from v4), or Opera (from v7.5). Please also see the Microsoft Internet Explorer Support Page for supported versions, as of January 2016: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/Microsoft-Internet-Explorer
eProcurement Benefits Models
Following the launch of the eProcurement Benefits Models at Procurex, Value Wales will be holding a number of workshops to help the Welsh Public sector understand their eProcurement maturity and the benefits that can be achieved, when implementing eProcurement.
Completion of the models will help you to identify your eProcurement capability and prepare you for the mandatory requirement for electronic trading and invoicing as set out in the new Directive.
If you are interested in joining one of these workshops please complete the attached form and return to us at benefitsmodels@wales.gsi.gov.uk
Date Venue
28th April 2015 WG Llandudno Junction
5th May 2015 Waterton Centre Bridgend
19th May 2015 WG Llandudno Junction
16th June 2015 WG Llandudno Junction
23rd June 2015 Waterton Centre Bridgend
We will be announcing further dates over the coming weeks but if none of these dates or venues suit, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.
NPS awards three new contracts
CIPS Congress: Your representative wants your views
Kerry Stephens, Acting Deputy Director, Value Wales has been appointed as one of four Congress representatives for the Three Nations region and is seeking the views of CIPS members.
Please email your thoughts on the following through to Rebecca.Rees2@wales.gsi.gov.uk by 30th April so that Kerry can feed these into her overall response to Congress:
- What are the important issues within procurement and supply in you region for the next 3-5 years?
- What are the major challenges within your region for the next 3-5 years? E.g. Capability, capacity or is it raising your game, fraud and corruption?
- What are the main regional drivers with regards to procurement and supply?
- Are there any major risks to the profession within your region within the same time period?
Workshops: Spaces available
Value Wales will be hosting two workshops, to provide training and awareness on the Procurement Competency Framework. The workshops are aimed are at line managers with procurement responsibilities. Please see attached a draft agenda, please note this is subject to change.
- South Wales - Monday 11th May 2015: 10:00 to 15:30, Waterton Centre, Bridgend;
- North Wales - Wednesday 6th May 2015: 10:00 to 15:30, Welsh Government offices Llandudno Junction,
In conjunction with our colleagues in ES&T, SBV and the University of South Wales, Value Wales will be running two Innovation Workshops in May. The purpose of these being to assist Public Sector organisations to procure more innovatively whilst remaining compliant. They will be beneficial for Heads of Procurement or staff who are involved in significant procurement projects.
Again, places are limited to 25 delegates per workshop and the sessions will be led by experts within the fields of innovation and law. Please see attached a draft agenda, please note this is subject to change.
- South Wales - Tuesday 12th May: 10:00 to 15:30, Waterton Centre, Bridgend;
- North Wales - Friday 22nd May: 10:00 to 15:30, Welsh Government office, Llandudno Junction
To register your interest for either workshop, please email Daniel Duddridge.
Do you influence procurement decisions?
In order to engage senior level staff who influence Procurement decisions, Value Wales will be hosting two Leader lunches. The sessions will focus around new and innovative ways to improve procurement with the theme being; “Creative and imaginative solutions to public sector problems- how we can get the full value of the £5.4 billion we spend on external goods and services by realising creative capacity”.
- South Wales – 13th May 2015: 12:00 to 14:00, Waterton Centre, Bridgend;
- North Wales – 22nd May 2015: 12:00 to 14:00, Welsh Government offices Llandudno Junction,
The sessions are aimed at local Government CEOs and Directors of Finance who influence decisions on how goods, services and works are procured.
To register your interest for either session, please email Amy Watts.
SBV Courses for April / May
| | Courses are fully funded until the end of May, at which time it is likely that a small charge will be introduced. Keep checking our bulletin for new dates and for updated dates/venues. Please note that all courses are “open” to all in the Welsh public sector, even though some are at council venues. For more information and to book visit our website or email peter@sbvltd.co.uk |
April
22nd – Developing a Business Case, Ruthin
23rd – Supplier Relationship Management, Ruthin
30th – Competitive Dialogue, Ruthin
May
6th – Contract Law, Ruthin
8th – Preparing for the new EU Directives, Pembrokeshire Council, Haverfordwest (Please note that the venue change)
12th – Contract Law, Bridgend
14th - Preparing for the new EU Directives, Ruthin
15th – Introduction to Category Management, Ruthin
19th –Community Benefits, South Wales (date and venue provisional at present)
21st – Community Benefits and Procurement, Ruthin
Vacancies
Head of Procurement, Qualifications Wales
Salary: £57,550 - £68,150
Working Hours: Full time, Permanent
Location: Bedwas transferring to Newport in September 2015
Details, contacts and applications can be found on the Welsh Government website.
Deadline for applications: 28 April 2015
Senior Procurement Officer, Bridgend Council (Ref: E/06497/LRS)
Salary: £25,440 - £27,123
Working Hours: Full time, Permanent
Location: Civic Offices, Bridgend
Details, contacts and applications can be found on the Bridgend Council website.
Deadline for applications: 29 April 2015
If you would like to recieve this bulletin in Welsh please click here.
