Has GDPR increased your subject access requests?

What are subject access requests?

Put simply a subject access request (SAR) is a request made by, or on behalf of, an individual to find out what personal data you hold about them, why you hold it and who you disclose it to. 

The right for individuals to make these requests is not new, however, the introduction of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK’s Data Protection Act 2018 have given rise to a number of important changes that are having a significant impact on some organisations:

  • the £10 fee chargeable to the individual raising a request has been removed in most circumstances
  • the time to respond has been reduced from 40 days to one month
  • the request no longer needs to be in writing, which means it can now also be made over the phone, in person or via social media

Please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website to learn more. 

How we can help you

Whether you are looking for a standalone solution to help you manage the requests, or would like to consider it as part of a wider requirement our eDisclosure Services framework can help you. 

By outsourcing elements of the requirement you will:

  • be better placed to meet time limits imposed under GDPR
  • save money 
  • remove the administrative and legal burden 

Redaction of third party data

By far the most complex area of subject access requests is the redaction of third party information before releasing documents. Depending on the source information this can be legally complex, and sometimes needs specific expertise and knowledge to ensure it is completed in the correct way.

All our framework suppliers have proven methodologies, expertise and technology to help eliminate the risk of human error, which can lead to significant financial penalty.

Find out more

If you would like to learn more about how we can help you:

Visit the framework page

Email info@crowncommercial.gov.uk

Call 0345 410 2222

 

Public Procurement Review Service

The Public Procurement Review Service investigates concerns from suppliers (and potential suppliers) about public procurement practice and the late payment of valid and undisputed invoices.  

Free and anonymous

It’s a free service and suppliers can remain anonymous, if they want to. Last year 100% of the service’s recommendations were accepted by contracting authorities. Live procurements were adjusted or advice was taken to improve future procurements. 

£8 million reclaimed

Suppliers have been helped to reclaim over £8 million from more than 350 late payment cases, and the service has a 100% success rate for releasing payments on undisputed invoices.  

Raising awareness

To help the service address concerns and issues from businesses, it is vital that stakeholders know about the service. 

You can help by sharing information on your social media channels and newsletters, and by including a link to the Public Procurement Review Service page on GOV.UK in your procurement documents. You can also follow them on Twitter @govpprs and watch and share their YouTube video.

If you have any questions about the service please email publicprocurementreview@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Tougher measures to tackle modern slavery in the supply chain

The Home Office has recently published the government’s response to the transparency in supply chains consultation. It sets out how the government will strengthen the transparency requirements in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to tackle modern slavery in the supply chain.

This marks a major milestone for increasing transparency in public sector supply chains, following the publication of the world’s first government modern slavery statement in March this year.  

Following strong support from respondents across business, the public sector and civil society, the consultation response commits to an ambitious package of new measures to strengthen and future-proof the Modern Slavery Act’s transparency legislation.

These include:

  1. harnessing the spending power of the public sector to drive up labour standards in supply chains by extending the transparency requirement to public bodies with a budget of £36 million or more
  2. introducing mandatory reporting topics that statements must cover, such as due diligence, to incentivise better quality and more detailed reporting
  3. requiring modern slavery statements to be published annually on the new government reporting service by a single reporting deadline, to encourage compliance and empower investors, consumers and civil society to monitor progress and scrutinise action taken

Point 1 will apply to England and Wales. Scotland will consult separately on this. Points 2 and 3 will cover England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland will consult separately on all changes.

The government is also considering options for civil penalties in line with the development of the single enforcement body for employment rights, a manifesto commitment led by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

These measures will require amendments to legislation and will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.

In the meantime, significant work is currently underway to develop the new government-run registry for modern slavery statements, which is due to launch in early 2021.

How is CCS tackling modern slavery in the supply chain?

We have been working in close partnership with the Home Office and Cabinet Office since 2016 to develop an approach to managing modern slavery risk in public sector procurement.

This includes the development of the ‘Tackling modern slavery in government supply chains’ procurement policy note and guidance, as well as a dedicated Modern Slavery Assessment Tool (MSAT), which enables all public sector buyers to assess their supplier’s modern slavery risks.

In 2019, it was agreed that CCS would play a key role in supporting the government’s new modern slavery statement by risk assessing its existing framework contracts using the MSAT tool.

26 frameworks were identified as being at potentially high or medium risk of modern slavery occurring. We published a list of those high and medium risk framework contracts on our website, to inform our customers of what we are doing to prevent modern slavery.

286 suppliers working under these frameworks were asked to complete a modern slavery assessment, using the MSAT tool. Follow-up analysis and discussions are taking place with all suppliers who returned a high risk score. Improvement plans are being agreed and put in place to ensure that known risks are fully addressed and mitigated.

A full programme of internal training is also being rolled out across CCS to all of our commercial agreement managers, so they are better prepared to identify and prevent modern slavery risks in our new frameworks.

Empowering you to make better procurement decisions

You can learn more about the role of CCS in our on-demand webinar.

You might also find our recent blog about modern slavery in the workforce helpful.

University of Manchester saves 50% on mobile contract with CCS aggregation service

The background

The University of Manchester was looking to renew its mobile voice and data services contract, which had been put in place using a CCS framework agreement. They realised that using the mobile aggregation service that we offer to customers free of charge would be an ideal way to renew the contract, and seek improved value for money.

The solution

The CCS aggregation team helps customers make savings by creating opportunities for them to standardise their requirements. The university decided to join an aggregation for their mobile voice and data services needs. They joined 8 other customers, enabling us to aggregate 16,600 mobile connections in total.

The university worked closely with the CCS team, who clearly explained the process and the support available at an introductory meeting. Following this, a detailed early market engagement and benchmarking exercise was jointly carried out. This identified that the aggregated approach could help the university achieve a minimum saving of 40%. 

Mark Worrall, Procurement Office, University of Manchester said:

The CCS team provided excellent professional support throughout the process. They aided discussions with internal stakeholders and suppliers. The detailed analysis and engagement provided confidence for university stakeholders. They provided all the information I needed to ensure internal approval to take part in the aggregation was secured.

CCS led and managed the procurement process extremely well. We were kept updated throughout, from the drafting of the tender documents to post-contract award. The contract was awarded in April 2021 and we have been able to realise savings of around 50% against our existing deal. This is even higher than anticipated.”

Ian Jarvey, Deputy Head of Procurement added:

We had a pressing need to renew our mobile voice and data services contract and were fortunate that we were able to join an aggregation with CCS which met our needs and is delivering real savings. CCS was great to work with, and the support from Louise and the CCS technical team was first class. The contract was re-let, pain free, on favourable terms and we will certainly look to take part in further aggregations when we can.

Let us add power to your procurement

To find out more about our aggregation service and upcoming mobile aggregation opportunities please visit our dedicated web page.

You can also call us on 0345 410 2222 or email info@crowncommercial.gov.uk 

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.

The latest technology aggregation opportunities to help you buy smarter

Are you looking to buy IT hardware such as laptops, desktops or mobile phones, or do you need to renew your Adobe software license? By simply telling us about the technology you need to buy, we can help you achieve savings through technology aggregation that would not be possible through buying alone. 

We do this by collating your requirements with the requirements of other public sector bodies, which increases our buying power. 

Best of all, it’s a complimentary service that we offer to help you focus on other, more important tasks. 

Take a look at our upcoming opportunities and discover how you can get involved.

IT hardware aggregation

What you buy from our IT hardware aggregation:

  • laptops, desktops, tablets, hybrid devices
  • monitors, screens
  • docking stations, USB hubs and device components
  • covers, cases, keyboards, mice and other peripherals
  • mobile handset devices and other mobile devices
  • end user support, asset tagging, leasing
  • infrastructure hardware, system installation

Customers saved an average of 21% in our  latest IT hardware aggregation against market prices. With one customer making savings of 31%. Read our case study to find out more. 

Programme of events

Autumn 2021 IT hardware aggregation:

customer requirement deadline 30 September 2021
tender published mid October 2021
tender period mid to late October 2021
award date  3 November 2021
goods delivered 8 November 2021 to 8 November 2022

Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreement (ETLA) 

The Adobe ETLA is a long-standing arrangement that provides heavily discounted enterprise level Adobe pricing. 

Products available include both online and offline versions of their cloud product set, including the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite.

There are quarterly opportunities for you to access the associated discounts. For the upcoming intake, orders need to be submitted via the catalogue by 10 September 2021, and will have a contract start date of 24 September 2021. 

Customers can access the pricing and generate quotes and orders using our Technology Online Purchasing Content catalogue. The catalogue entry description will reference the ‘Adobe ETLA’.

Let us add power to your procurement 

If you would like to learn more about these opportunities, please complete our online form quoting ‘IT hardware aggregation’ or ‘Adobe software ETLA,’ and a member of our team will be in touch.

Alternatively, you can call us on 0345 410 2222.

The Northern Skills Academy becomes national

The Northern Skills Academy was piloted as a virtual platform to share knowledge at the start of the first coronavirus lockdown, in March 2020.

With many of our customers facing issues driven by coronavirus, the sessions initially provided clarity on how to compliantly extend contracts to get through the lockdown period and ensure continuity of service. Since then, we have delivered sessions on topics including good record keeping, contract management and cyber security.

While the name reflected the role of our northern customer community in building the scheme, over the past 18 months, we have been delighted to welcome registrations from customers spanning the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. 

We now feel it’s time to formally recognise this is now a truly nationwide offering and, from November, change the name to the Skills Academy.

 What you can expect  

As a regular attendee of the Skills Academy, you should simply see a branding change. The look, feel and quality of the sessions will remain unchanged.

For those new to Skills Academy events, here’s what you can expect:

  • a session each month, lasting no longer than an hour, that brings together delegates and subject matter experts from across the country 
  • our content and themes to be completely driven by our customers – so we talk about the issues that truly matter to you
  • the sessions to be designed to make sure they contribute to your learning journey and they can be logged against your Continuous Development Plan 

Join our upcoming events:

Get involved

If you’re interested in attending a Skills Academy event please contact Phillip Hodgson at phillip.hodgson@crowncommercial.gov.uk for more information.

We are committed to continuing to develop our Skills Academy events. If you have any feedback, topics you’d like to see covered, or any other thoughts on how we can make the sessions as useful as possible, please contact Phillip. 

Choosing the right route to market in procurement

NB: This article was originally published on 19 October 2021. All information was correct at the time of writing, but may not be fully applicable following the introduction of the Procurement Act 2023.

How do you go from identifying a need for a product or service within your organisation to choosing the right route to market?

Knowing the options open to you – and the rules you need to follow – when choosing how to go about procuring goods or services is crucial. 

UK procurement policy defines the overriding requirement for buyers as obtaining value for money – or ‘getting the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay over the period of use of the goods or services bought’. 

Choosing the right route to market starts with understanding what the likely value of your procurement will be, and whether that puts you over or under certain legal thresholds.

Step 1: Contract value – know the rules

Thresholds – the limit above which you must follow procurement rules differ between different parts of the public sector, the devolved administrations, and on the type of goods or services you want to buy. 

Choose the right route to market using our updated digital brochure

Central government departments and their arm’s length bodies have different thresholds to our customers in the wider public sector, including local councils, schools and NHS Trusts. It’s important that you identify what thresholds apply in your sector.

A typical high value threshold for goods and services procured by central government bodies is £122,000. Above this limit, you will need to follow the full procurement regime set out in the Public Contracts Regulations (PCR), and advertise your tender opportunity on the Find a Tender service. This is to ensure all suppliers have a fair and equal chance to bid for the contract.  

Note: Cabinet Office have published details of new thresholds for 2022

All contracts above that threshold, as well as those worth more than £10,000 (for central government) or £25,000 (for the wider public sector) should be advertised on Contracts Finder. You can still advertise on Contracts Finder even if the value of your requirement is below these thresholds, and this may attract a wider base of potential suppliers.

Your organisation may also have its own procurement processes. You may be able to seek 1 or 3 written quotes or, alternatively, put out an Invitation to Tender.

Public sector procurement is subject to a legal framework which encourages free and open competition between suppliers and value for money. This legal framework comes from the UK’s internationally and nationally-agreed obligations and regulations. The government also aligns procurement policies with lots of other wider policy objectives.

Step 2: follow the right process – open or restricted routes

For high value procurements you must follow the PCR, which includes specific processes to ensure all suppliers are treated equally when they bid for the contract. 

You can choose from 5 procurement procedures – some of which can only be used under special circumstances: open procedure, restricted, competitive dialogue, competitive with negotiation and innovation partnership. The most common procedures are open and restricted.

The open procedure is recommended by the Cabinet Office as the default procurement route and works best when you’re procuring common goods and services. It is a one-stage process which means suppliers can receive all the procurement documentation at once. 

The restricted procedure is a two-stage process. A pre-qualification stage reduces the number of suppliers, who then receive the next part of the contract information. The restricted procedure is useful where you might need to reduce the bidding suppliers to a manageable number for the award stage, or where you need bidders to sign an NDA before sharing confidential information regarding the contract. 

‘Competitive dialogue’, ‘competitive with negotiation’ and ‘innovation partnership’ are the most complex procedures – so speak to an experienced procurement professional if you take this approach.

Step 3: choosing the right route to market – using procurement frameworks

If you don’t want to put things out to tender yourself, procurement tools such as CCS framework agreements can help you identify a list of suitable suppliers. Frameworks also have the advantage of including pre-agreed terms and conditions, saving you time on negotiations, as well as having built-in, robust legal protections. 

CCS’s procurement frameworks have already been advertised on Find a Tender and suppliers have been assessed using one of the procurement procedures. This means all you need to do is follow the award process in the contract or in the customer guidance that CCS provides for all its frameworks, knowing that all suppliers who are able to bid have been assessed for their ability to deliver to the agreed standard on the goods and services you need.

You can also use the Digital Marketplace to find technology services and specialists for digital projects.

Find out more

More information and guidance for public and third sector buyers, as well as full details of all of our commercial agreements, can be found in the latest CCS digital brochure.

Also: Read our top tips on how to write the most important document within the tender process – the specification

How we are supporting the Greener NHS programme

The Greener NHS programme

The Greener NHS programme aims to build on the great work being done by trusts across the country, sharing ideas on how to reduce the impact on public health and the environment, save money and reach carbon net zero. 

On 1 October 2020 the NHS published their Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service report, The report sets a clear ambition and target for the NHS, and lays out the direction, scale and pace of change needed to achieve these goals.

Here’s how CCS can help trusts reach carbon net zero.

Transforming your fleet

As the NHS transitions to greener methods of transport and reduces the need for travel, it has become clear that we can take a big step towards carbon net zero by adapting transport strategies. However, knowing where to start can be a challenge. 

Did you know NHS buyers and fleet managers can use our Fleet Portal to purchase a wide range of zero and ultra low emissions vehicles? 

Visit our fleet page to find out more, or speak to one of our experts by completing our contact form.

Kim Harrison – Associate Commercial Specialist

Green salary sacrifice

Employee-owned vehicles are often overlooked when considering alternatively fuelled vehicles, but they too can have a big impact on your carbon net zero targets.

More than one billion miles are driven each year by the public sector in employee-owned vehicles. This is also known as grey fleet. The average grey fleet vehicle is estimated to be 8 years old. As older cars emit more harmful pollutants, it is reasonable to conclude that reducing the use of grey fleet is one way to help reach carbon net zero.

A vehicle salary sacrifice scheme is a tried and tested way to tackle the grey fleet dilemma. You can specify which vehicles are available in your scheme. So, by choosing to make only Ultra Low Emissions Vehicles (ULEV) available you can take another towards your carbon net zero goals.

To learn more about salary sacrifice, take a look at our short salary sacrifice scheme benefits guide. 

Kim Harrison – Associate Commercial Specialist

Sustainable construction methods

How new buildings are constructed and old buildings are maintained can play a significant role in creating – or reducing – carbon emissions. 

Whilst the Construction Playbook makes it clear we all need to incorporate carbon net zero into our procurements, ensuring your project is built as sustainably as possible is not always so simple. From embodied carbon to Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and offsetting, it can sometimes seem too complicated to comprehend. Join our construction alliance carbon net zero focus group, where we will be bringing suppliers and customers together to share best practice and support mutual improvement that helps the UK reach carbon net zero by 2050.

If you would like to join the group please email info@crowncommercial.gov.uk and quote ‘CWAS Alliance’.

Jasmine Evans – Commercial Agreement Manager

Greener energy

We are committed to providing the NHS with routes to buy energy that support their strategy for reaching carbon net zero. The energy solutions available through CCS include: 

  • 100% renewable power that is Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) backed through UK or European sources 
  • clean energy from wind, solar and/or hydro – you can even choose energy that is generated from a specific location or singular type of generation 
  • green gas 
  • a variety of cleaner fuels for your heating or automotive needs

We are working with our suppliers on alternative solutions such as power purchase agreements, onsite generation and efficiency improvements. If you are interested in providing customer insight and feedback into our future solutions please email info@crowncommercial.gov.uk and quote ‘renewable energy’.

Kate Beckingham – Head of Category

IT lifecycle

As the NHS moves towards a more digital future this will likely mean the need for quicker and better processing power, and the need to refresh equipment more regularly.

The old linear approach of ‘take, make, dispose’ is being replaced as the circular economy is gathering momentum. The circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. 

Alongside the standard service and cost-related questions, other questions that should be considered in your technology procurements are ones that help you evaluate the impact of the whole equipment lifecycle. For example:

  • what is the disposal option? 
    • this is for both the equipment it is replacing and for the new equipment when it becomes end of life. It is becoming more popular for old equipment to be refurbished or recycled in a number of ways including donations to charity. This is often a preferred option as it can help you build social value into the project. 
  • does it need to be new or can the operation that it will be used for be covered by a refurbished system? 
    • more and more systems are being refurbished and they can cost 70% less than new equipment. 

Asking questions like these will help support the circular economy, and develop a mindset where the first question asked is ‘how are we going to dispose of this equipment?’. 

Our technology agreements can help with the supply of both new and refurbished equipment, along with the removal of all the old equipment for recycling.  

Andrew Smith – Commercial Lead

Find out more

For more information on reaching Carbon Net Zero visit our webpage or contact us on info@crowncommercial.gov.uk

The security of sustainability

In the run up to COP26, the world is focused on how we can work to reach net zero targets.There are many considerations when starting your carbon reduction journey. This article highlights the need for data in this journey, and how to make sure it is kept secure.

Collecting your data

The announcement of the new Procurement Policy Note (PPN06/21) on Carbon Reduction Plans has highlighted an often missed area of sustainability.

Carbon reduction is part of sustainability, the 2 have an entwined relationship. Sustainability will not be possible if we don’t get carbon emissions down. 

Organisations sometimes ask us what they need to do to take the first step on their carbon reduction journey. The simple answer is they need to understand their current situation. How this is achieved relies on gathering data, and can include the following:

  • sensors which feed environmental information into a main data storage area
  • network communications to enable this data to travel
  • artificial intelligence (AI) to help sort through all of this information
  • clear and concise reports to enable effective forward planning

The need to keep all of this data secure and safe from any sort of cyber-related threat is one aspect that is often overlooked

We are able to supply all of the technology mentioned above – the sensors, the network, the big data, the AI and the software tools. And by using the Cyber Security Service 3 agreement, we can make sure that everything is safe.

Keeping public and private data secure

Freya Evans, Commercial Agreement Specialist for the Cyber Security Services 3 Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) commented:

“Cyber security is a hot topic at the moment. It’s equally important whether you are a large organisation looking to protect great volumes of valuable and sensitive data, or your company has moved to working from home and you need to secure your employees’ work and personal information. This is why we want to support the implementation of sustainable technology across the UK. We understand not only the significance of what is needed to progress in this space, but what efforts need to be made to ensure that public and private data is secure.”

“To give an example, digital transport will play a key part in enabling the country to move further towards lowering carbon emissions. Between mobility as a service (MaaS) software and AI, this will open up a pool of cyber security risks and could potentially be very dangerous if data is not secure.

“We have a team of commercial specialists who focus on cyber security and work closely with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Our job is to ensure that organisations are buying cyber security services provided by NCSC assured, well-established suppliers who are capable of delivering cyber-secure technology advice and solutions to protect systems and data.

“We have recently expanded the scope of the DPS to enable buyers to buy cyber transformation services which will improve cyber resilience while reducing risk, assisting the movement into more sustainable technology.”

A collective effort

In summary, we all have a part to play in the reduction of carbon emissions. Sometimes this is a big change such as swapping coal to renewables, other times it is about the planning of multiple small adjustments. Two of the COP26 goals are to secure global net zero by mid century and to protect communities and natural habitats. To achieve these changes it will require data – and that data must be secure from the moment it is collected and throughout its journey of being used, analysed and accessed. Cyber security is a tool for doing just this – protecting the data.

Find out more

If you are interested in finding out more about the Cyber Security Services 3 DPS, please visit our website or get in touch by completing our online form.

If you would like to know more about how CCS is looking at sustainability please visit the website or email info@crowncommercial.co.uk

 

Join our apprenticeships training marketplace

About the marketplace

The DMP can help you meet apprenticeship targets and maximise the use of your apprenticeship levy. 

All of our DMP providers are on the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) register of approved training providers (RoATP) and/or the Register of End-Point Assessment Organisations (RoEPAO).

There are currently 142 training organisations appointed and live on the DMP, which includes a mix of large providers and SMEs, giving you a choice of suppliers across a wide range of apprenticeship standards and assessments. Almost 60% of appointed suppliers are SMEs.  

Through these providers, you can access apprenticeship standards including:

  • generic – Business Admin, Commercial, Digital, Finance/Legal
  • specialist – Health and Science, Engineering, Environmental
  • sector specific – Care Services, Education, Transport

Why use our dynamic marketplace?

The dynamic marketplace gives you an unrivalled combination of benefits to support the delivery of your organisation’s apprenticeship targets:

  • simple and quick access to service providers using an automated electronic process 
  • increased scope and scale of training services on offer
  • flexible procurement options: 
    • rapid award procedure – a fully digitised service from the commencement of your search, through to awarding and signing contracts digitally and the flexibility to take the award offline if preferred with no need to run a further competition.
    • standard award procedure – utilising the training filters to shortlist capable providers to enable offline further competitions to be undertaken 
  • supports localism and social value as suppliers can bid for business either locally, regionally or nationally and employers can stimulate the market by encouraging suppliers to join the marketplace
  • automated link to the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers ensures all suppliers are registered (and removed if necessary)
  • fully compliant with public procurement and ESFA funding rules

Find out more

We have tutorial videos, customer guidance and a checklist to help you get started. Find out more on the CCS website.

The first step is to register to access the marketplace. Choose the ‘access as a buyer’ option on Apprenticeship Training to get started.  

Don’t forget, you can 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.