Record £2.8 billion commercial benefits delivered though Crown Commercial Service agreements

Almost £3 billion in commercial benefits have been achieved for public sector organisations through use of Crown Commercial Service (CCS) agreements, delivering record value for taxpayers.

CCS agreements provide public sector bodies with a choice of suppliers who offer the best value, leveraging the scale of public sector demand to secure competitive prices. By using these agreements, public sector customers can achieve commercial benefits such as reduced costs compared to market prices and better value in contract terms and conditions.

Results

The newly published CCS annual report and accounts for 2021/22 shows £2.8 billion of commercial benefits were achieved across the public sector. CCS agreements secured £1.9 billion in benefits for central government, and a further £0.9 billion for the wider public sector. 

This includes £4 million in savings for 14 NHS trusts on mobile and data services, such as voice calls, connectivity and applications. The Student Loan Company also saved £1.6 million by outsourcing its print and mail services through CCS’s Managed Print and Digital Solutions framework.  

ACRO Criminal Records Office, a national police unit, was able to improve efficiency and accuracy by putting in place a machine translation solution through CCS’s Language Services framework. This enabled the organisation to translate vital conviction information quickly from EU member states and prevent criminal cases being thrown out of court, saving £6,000 in 3 months and helping to make our streets safer.

Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency, Jacob Rees-Mogg said:

The Crown Commercial Service is one of the highest-performing parts of the Government. It provides the best value for taxpayers day in, day out. At a time of high inflation and squeezed budgets, its work is more valuable than ever.

By leveraging the scale of public sector demand when choosing suppliers, these agreements have secured billions in savings, which can be used to support vital services delivered across the public sector.

Spending through CCS frameworks has doubled in five years, reaching £27.6 billion in 2021/22. This means CCS is on course to hit its target of £30 billion by 2024 and represents an increase of £4.9 billion on the 2020/21 total. CCS also assisted customers with contracts valued at over £5 billion annually by running procurements on their behalf.

The amount spent directly with small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) increased by £687 million compared to the year before. In total, £2.2 billion was spent directly with SMEs, supporting growth and jobs across the UK.

CEO of Crown Commercial Service, Simon Tse said:

Growing the economy is a top priority and supporting small businesses will do just that.

The past year has seen record spending with SMEs through CCS agreements and suppliers have been paid promptly, aiding their growth and spreading economic prosperity across the country.

CCS agreements have also supported public sector customers with key policy priorities, such as net zero commitments and supply chain auditing. 

Thousands of customers used CCS’s dedicated net zero web pages over the last 12 months to identify agreements that help them meet sustainability goals.

CCS also published its first annual modern slavery statement in November. This set out steps being taken to identify, prevent and mitigate the risks of modern slavery in CCS operations and supply chains, including ensuring that suppliers are publishing an annually updated modern slavery statement.

Chair of the CCS Board, Tony van Kralingen said:

Crown Commercial Service has once again driven significant value for taxpayers, while continuing to develop and enhance its reputation for excellence across central government and the wider public sector.

I am delighted to be able to end my term as Chair of the CCS Board with such outstanding results. The Board and I are confident that the platform for continued success is well established.

The year at a glance

  • £27.6 billion of public sector spend was channelled through our agreements, doubling our spend from 5 years ago
  • customers who have used our agreements have achieved commercial benefits equivalent to £2.8 billion
  • our employee engagement index, as measured by the Civil Service People Survey, remains high at 71% in 2021 
  • £2.2 billion was spent directly with SMEs through CCS’s commercial agreements in 2021/22. An additional £687m compared to 2020/21
  • through our assisted procurement service we helped deliver procurements for customers worth a total annual contract value of £5 billion.

Read the full report

You can read CCS’s Annual Report and Accounts on gov.uk.

You can find a full list of all the commercial agreements CCS offers, alongside details of how CCS can help you build policy considerations into your procurement, in our interactive digital brochure.

Supporting the health sector and COVID-19 recovery with courier and logistics services

This includes logistics such as storing PPE, so it’s ready to distribute where it’s needed, or assembling items to complete testing kits.

To help the health sector address these increasingly important needs and build back better, our Document Management and Logistics team engaged with customers to learn more about their requirements and suppliers to establish capabilities. In 2021/2022, we launched two new agreements to help the health sector with transportation, storage and kitting.

Storage, Distribution, Kitting and Associated Services (RM6282) provides access to a wide range of services under one agreement including:

  • storage –  temperature controlled or standard storage in the UK or overseas
  • transporting items within the UK or internationally
  • quality control – checking that items conform to specified standards
  • packaging – from a cardboard box to transport items, to more specialised temperature-controlled packaging to transport critical and life-saving items
  • picking and packaging items to make a test kit ready to distribute for the purposes of at home testing/screening of potential health conditions

Courier and Specialist Movements lot 4 (RM6171) provides a total courier solution, enabling a full range of delivery and collection services UK-wide and internationally under one lot including:

  • temperature controlled and ambient temperature movements
  • transportation of samples, specimens, vaccines, pharmaceuticals, controlled drugs, medical equipment and medical records
  • transportation of radioactive materials

Benefits of using our logistics and courier services for the health sector

  • a compliant route to market with options for both direct award and further competition
  • Storage, Distribution, Kitting and Associated Services saves you time by offering a wide range range of services under 1 agreement so you don’t need to buy through multiple routes 
  • a team of category experts ready to discuss your requirements and provide support with issuing requests for information (RFIs)
  • social value has been built into both commercial agreements
  • services shaped specifically for the health sector including suppliers with experience of supporting the sector during the pandemic
  • 58% SMEs across both agreements, giving you access to services from local suppliers

Further support

Whether you’re new to CCS and require guidance or you want to discuss a complex requirement – we’re here to help. Please get in touch to discuss your requirements with one of our category experts.

Customer newsletters for July

Welcome to our monthly newsletters. You can read the latest news most relevant to the sector you work in by selecting the appropriate link below:

If you don’t currently receive our monthly customer newsletter, you can sign up by completing this short form. Each month, we’ll send you the newsletter most relevant to you, based on your organisation.

You will also find a full list of all the commercial agreements we offer, alongside details of how we can help you build policy considerations into your procurement, in our interactive digital brochure.

Changes to our agreements in June

Welcome to our monthly framework update to help you with your procurement planning. We will publish it online each month and also share it in our newsletters and on our social media channels.

The update provides a brief summary of what has been awarded, extended or expired during the previous month. It also outlines what is due to expire in the next 3 months.

You can also get an overview of all of our live frameworks in our interactive digital brochure.

Agreements awarded in June  

  • No agreements were awarded in June

Agreements extended in June

Agreements that expired in June 

  • No agreements expired in June

Agreements due to expire in the next 3 months

Further information

If you need further details about any of these agreements please get in touch.

You can also find out what new procurements we are working on by exploring our upcoming deals page.

If you don’t currently receive our monthly customer newsletter why not also subscribe to receive these updates and more directly to your inbox? Just fill in this short form.

CCS to fund the rollout of the Atamis e-commerce system for health sector

The Atamis e-commerce system will be rolled out across all health sector organisations that wish to adopt it, following funding from Crown Commercial Service (CCS). 

CCS, the UK’s largest public procurement organisation, is working in partnership with NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to provide Atamis software licences to support health sector buyers, procurement teams, data analysts, and commercial teams to adopt the e-commerce system.

The investment will encourage all health sector bodies to use the same system for pipeline management, tendering, supplier management and contract management, delivering significant commercial benefits such as greater commercial effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and resilience.

Commercial benefits

More than 90 health and NHS organisations have already successfully onboarded to Atamis, and will also be able to benefit from the new funding to increase usage of the system. 

Commercial teams will have access to data-driven insights, administration costs will be slashed through automated data collection and reporting, and it will be easier to adopt new rules such as those proposed in the Procurement Bill.

CCS will provide DHSC with around £12.8m funding – £4.2m over each of the next three years. DHSC will invest this in the Atamis software and system, and data practitioners who will manage the service and identify commercial opportunities that can drive efficiency and supply chain resilience. 

The investment comes from the surplus CCS generates as a levy on the value of the business suppliers receive through its agreements.

Jacqui Rock, Chief Commercial Officer for NHS England says:

Moving to one e-commerce system will make a significant contribution to our wider efforts to support the NHS to deliver the maximum possible benefit for patients from every pound of taxpayer investment.  

Atamis will also make it easier for suppliers, especially SMEs, to do business with us, and will help us meet our sustainability requirements as part of our commitment to be Net Zero by 2045.

Helen MacCarthy, Deputy Director for Health at Crown Commercial Service says:

We’re making this investment to give something back to the health sector, enabling better outcomes for our customers. Leveraging the scale and expertise of CCS and the health sector, and the business intelligence from Atamis, will help us get the best value from procurement.

Melinda Johnson, Commercial Director for the Department of Health and Social Care says:

The successful implementation of Atamis across DHSC and our arm’s-length bodies has enabled us to standardise procurement processes, made it easier for our buyers to collaborate, and has reduced cost of ownership for all. The accumulation of improved data is enabling our commercial teams to deliver more commercial benefits and improve supply chain resilience.

Licences are offered on a non-mandatory basis.

Find out more

Download our latest digital brochure for the latest information on our agreements and how we can help you add power to your procurement.

Need help with the core concepts and processes of procurement? Read our Procurement Essentials guides.

 

 

CCS proactively helping suppliers with PPN 06/21 implementation

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is undertaking a proactive campaign of activity to help our suppliers understand and act on the requirements outlined in Procurement Policy Note 06/21. PPN 06/21 asks that suppliers confirm their commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 by calling on them to produce a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP).

“We are educating and encouraging the entire public sector supply chain to step up and meet the Governments’ Net Zero policy ambitions. Working alongside our customers, our suppliers are critical to our ability to deliver. We need their expertise, products, services, compliance and effective reporting to enable our customers to deliver their commitments,” explains Joe Tilley, Sustainability Director and Strategic Portfolio.

Setting up a Carbon Reduction Plan is fundamental to achieving net zero emissions. For this reason, CCS is taking steps to ensure our supply base complies with the latest PPN. Ultimately, our goal is to show our customers what our suppliers and we are doing to meet the Government’s Net Zero target.

Here is a summary of what’s being done to help achieve this goal:

Providing ongoing CRP training

Since December 2021, the CCS sustainability team has run weekly training events to enable suppliers to produce, release, and maintain a CRP that conforms to the requirements detailed in PPN 06/21. So far, thousands of suppliers have completed the training and are on their way to producing and releasing compliant CRPs. Suppliers can enrol in the interactive CRP and training session at any time.

Conducting complimentary CRP document reviews 

In the next support phase, we will offer our suppliers a complimentary CRP document review to help them meet the required standard set out by the supporting guidance to this PPN. A dedicated team of Document Compliance Officers will review supplier CRPs, assessing the documents against the critical points outlined in the PPN 06/21 guidelines.

“This work will ensure our supply base is ready for future agreements. In addition, the service will help free up their time and efforts to focus on the technical requirements of the tenders rather than setting up a CRP in the short bidding window that they may have as part of the procurement,” says Marie-Helene Durif, Deputy Director, Technology Products & Services.

Making supplier CRPs visible on the CCS website

Once a CRP has been reviewed and can pass the selection criteria stipulated in the PPN guidance, we will add its URL link to the CCS website. As a result, customers can easily see our supply base’s CRPs and understand how their supply chain is embracing the 2050 target. 

When will the CRP review service be operational?

Our dedicated team of Document Compliance Officers will be in place from July 2022 for a fixed period. The team will be available for several months.

When will suppliers be made aware of the CRP review offer?

In the next few weeks, we will contact any supplier that has not yet provided CCS with a CRP. The supplier will receive a request to submit their published CRP for review. The submission link will be unique to the supplier’s organisation, not generic. 

Once a supplier submits their published CRP using the form provided, a Document Compliance Officer will review the CRP document against the key points outlined in PPN 06/21. The guidance on adopting and applying PPN 06/21 is available on GOV.UK. 

How can a supplier contact the CRP review team? 

Any supplier with CRP-related queries can contact the Document Compliance team by emailing CRP@crowncommerical.gov.uk. Suppliers can also find answers to the top frequently asked questions about PPN 06/21 on the CCS website.

Discover how CCS can help local authorities with their crisis management response

The agreement has taken on board the lessons learned from Covid-19 Managed Quarantine Service (MQS), Afghan repatriation and asylum work programmes. It provides a range of crisis management services such as repatriation, emergency accommodation and MEDEVAC, which is the emergency evacuation of the sick or wounded (from a combat area). 

For the first time, access to these services as a contingency arrangement to support British and foreign nationals is available to you in response to a crisis situation. A crisis situation could cover any number of activities, for example, the repatriation of British nationals, emergency accommodation for key workers, rough sleepers, asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors and displaced residents from within the UK and countries around the world.

Lot 2 (Booking Solutions UK and Overseas) and Lot 3 (Booking Solutions Specialist Needs) provide crisis management as an optional service. This is in addition to traditional travel booking solutions including air, rail and accommodation, ground transportation and supporting ancillary services, such as passenger tracking or passport and visa services. You can choose from 2 experienced travel suppliers. Lot 4 suppliers (Booking Solutions Venues and Events) can provide urgent accommodation when needed. 

To find out more about Travel and Venue Solutions visit the agreement webpage or contact our customer service team at info@crowncommercial.gov.uk or 0345 410 2222.

4 tips on how to achieve value for money on your next medical waste disposal procurement

The proper disposal of medical waste is vitally important to our communities and our environment. When waste is improperly disposed of, drinking water can become contaminated, toxic metals can spread in the environment and disease and infection can spread.

At CCS, we’re here to empower you to keep our citizens and our environment safe, comply with waste legislation and achieve your social value aims, while making sure you make the most of your budget. 

Here, we list 4 tips to ensure you get the medical waste disposal services you need at the best possible price.

Tip 1: Find the best procurement route

Use a procurement route that:

  • fully complies with procurement regulations
  • provides access to a broad range of suppliers from the industry
  • has experts who have helped similar buyers with their waste procurements

Wherever your organisation is in the UK, you can run medical and hazardous waste procurements using our Building Cleaning Services DPS. It has a set of contact terms that are pre-agreed by suppliers, and has experts at hand to help you every step of the way.

Tip 2: Outline exactly what you want

An informative, accurate and detailed requirements specification is essential for any successful procurement.

It’s important to include all of the key details that suppliers need to assess their potential offerings and produce a bid that meets your requirements. For example, it’s good to include:

  • accurate estimates of volumes per site, split by waste type
  • any access restrictions for each site
  • current collection frequencies
  • key performance indicators (KPIs) such as collection rates
  • reporting requirements such as performance data, issue resolution data

Our experts can provide feedback on your requirements specification and other tender documents, to ensure you cover all the important information and structure it in a way that helps suppliers create their bid.

Tip 3: Incorporate social value into your quality questions

The healthcare industry’s climate footprint is equivalent to 4.4% of global net emissions. If the health sector were a country, it would be the fifth-largest emitter on the planet. Procurement plays a big part in incentivising greener solutions, enabling the UK to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

By incorporating social value into your requirements specification and quality questions, it encourages suppliers to invest in more environmentally friendly equipment and technology. Newer equipment with more advanced technology is more efficient, more reliable and has greater potential for waste-to-energy opportunities.

CCS can help you to form your quality questions to bring out the supplier that best meets your requirements.

Tip 4: Give plenty of time for your procurement

This is important for any procurement, but particularly medical waste due to its potential complexities. Creating your procurement timeline is one of the first steps you should take. Start with the proposed service start date and work backwards. 

Give ample time for suppliers to ask clarification questions and write their bid. This means suppliers will have sufficient time to assess their waste processing capacity and match their service with your requirements.

CCS can provide example timelines and help you to develop your own, factoring in time for document creation, tender launch, clarification questions, evaluation and consensus, any internal approvals, standstill (if applicable), contract award and mobilisation.

Even if you’re in the very early stages of preparation for your medical or hazardous waste procurement, it’s worth contacting us so we can add it to our procurement pipeline and provide early support. If you’ve had conflicting priorities and don’t have much time for your tender exercise, again please contact us so we can provide support.

Let us bring power to your procurement

Our Building Cleaning Services agreement offers you a flexible way to source medical and hazardous waste services that suit your organisation’s needs, wherever you are in the UK. To find out more and take your next step:

  • Get in touch via our online form quoting ‘RM6130 Building Cleaning Services’ and a member of our expert team will be in touch.
  • Alternatively, you call call us on: 0345 410 2222

RM6174 and RM6175 feedback survey

CCS is hosting a number of webinars in relation to RM6174 Multifunctional Devices, Print and Digital Workflow Software Services and Managed Print Service Provision and RM6175 Records Information Management, Digital Solutions and Associated Services. 

We are looking for feedback to ensure our content continues to provide value. We’d like to invite customers  who’ve used either of the frameworks to complete a short survey about their experience, which can be found below:

  • RM6174 -Multifunctional Devices, Print and Digital Workflow Software Services and Managed Print Service Provision
  • RM6175 – Records Information Management, Digital Solutions and Associated Services

Help evaluate our new software solutions agreement and benefit from continuing professional development credits

We are now only a month away from releasing our tender for the new Vertical Application Solutions agreement which will replace Data and Application Solutions (DAS). It will offer a range of sector-specific software solutions for the public sector: from local authority customers to police and emergency services, education, community health and social care.

This presents an opportunity for the public sector to help evaluate the bids from software suppliers. Getting involved will give your organisation the chance to shape the award of the framework to ensure it meets your needs, while evaluators can use the experience to earn continuing professional development (CPD) credits.

Evaluators for this procurement would benefit from having experience in using the DAS agreement or a background in procurement or contract management for technology-based solutions for their sector.

We’d love for you to be involved, so if you’re interested in becoming an evaluator, please register your interest by emailing us at technologysolutions@crowncommercial.gov.uk, clearly stating ‘RM6259 evaluator’ in the email subject and one of our team will be in touch.