Barts NHS Trust use our Spend Analysis and Recovery Services solution to reclaim £100,000

The requirement

Barts Health NHS Trust sought an accounts payable review to identify and recover overpayments that had escaped its own robust internal systems and processes. 

The Trust processes a high volume of supplier invoices and conducts self-checks, regularly undertaking reviews with the National Fraud Initiative (NFI).

However, the Trust understood that overpayments are not always recognised or voluntarily declared by suppliers and that precious funds can be lost permanently if left unclaimed or if the supplier goes into liquidation. 

An accounts payable review is a risk-free mechanism to identify and recover any overpayments that have been missed through conducting an in-depth and thorough analysis of accounts payable transactions and payments.

As this is a time-consuming and resource intensive process to conduct in-house, Barts sought specialist support. 

The solution

Barts Health NHS Trust used the CCS Spend Analysis & Recovery Services solution to award their contract to Rockford Associates Limited.

Rockford first extracted 3 years of transaction data from the Trust’s accounts payable system. The process was easy and straightforward and no scripting or software development was required. The data was quickly uploaded to the supplier’s secure share file site and they then used their own data mining software to conduct the initial analysis.

A Senior Recovery Auditor was sent to the trust to deliver a full end-to-end review. With access to mail, systems and scanning, the auditor identified, verified and recovered a number of overpayments. 

The review consisted of a statement review together with a detailed analysis of Rockford’s bespoke software-generated reports. The service was delivered both on-site and remotely with minimum disruption to the Trust’s accounts payable and finance teams.

The Trust had previously used the services of Rockford in 2013 and it was further reassured that it could again easily engage Rockford’s specialist NHS AP Recovery Services through our Spend Analysis and Recovery Services solution.

The results

The Trust’s approach to financial transparency yielded positive results:

  • The supplier analysed over 645,000 past transactions from the Trust’s Oracle Finance System. 
  • The review identified, verified and recovered 82 exceptions, delivering a 6 figure sum which translated into more investment in patient care and services.
  • The Trust welcomed Rockford’s independent validation and positive reassurance that 99.99% of transactions were processed correctly by invoice value and 99.98% by invoice volume.
  • A detailed Findings and Recommendations report was produced to help prevent future overpayments
  • Rockford further identified 11,847 inactive suppliers, assisting the Trust to maintain an accurate supplier database 

Jasmine Lee, Associate Director Financial Services, Barts NHS Trust, said:

Barts NHS Trust is committed to ensure high standards of corporate governance and personal behaviour are maintained in the conduct of the business of the Trust. A main selling point of the service was that Rockford did the legwork in getting the cash physically back for us. That was a valuable resource to us. The engagement provided an independent reassurance and positive validation that our systems and processes are working well. The review was delivered promptly and efficiently with minimum disruption to day-to-day business productivity. We will happily recommend Rockford’s Accounts Payable review to any NHS Trust or other body considering a review.

Ray Dorney, Director, Rockford Associates Limited, said: 

The outcome with Barts NHS Trust is rewarding for both parties. Our relationship has spanned a decade or more and has always proved mutually beneficial. The Trust’s professional approach to financial transparency and the behaviours supporting that process has resulted in significant cash recoveries via Rockford’s specialist NHS accounts payable recovery review.

Get involved

Our Spend Analysis and Recovery Services solution, available under lots 15-19 of our Debt Resolution Services agreement, offers the public sector a chance to recover money and put it to use.

Find out how we can help you:

CCS awards major new ‘social value-enabled’ facilities management framework

Updated: September 2023

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has awarded 44 suppliers places on its major new Facilities Management and Workplace Services framework.

The new framework supports the principles of the Government’s Sourcing Playbook by heavily weighting ‘quality’ in its contract award criteria, rather than lowest cost – emphasising the importance of social value and optimum pricing methodology for often complex requirements.

It replaces CCS’s Facilities Management Marketplace agreement, which delivered commercial benefits, including savings, of around 10% for public sector customers procuring standard facilities management services. 

Noreen Winhall, Commercial Director, Buildings at Crown Commercial Service says:

The Facilities Management and Workplace Services framework is a key part of our suite of buildings frameworks. We can support our customers through the whole lifecycle of a major project – from inception, through facilities management, to demolition, aggregating public sector buying power to grow the UK economy. 

The new framework has the Government’s latest policy priorities baked in, enabling better outcomes on key social value priorities like modern slavery, providing opportunities for SMEs and VCSEs, and carbon reduction.

Enabling social value

In response to the increased emphasis on social value in public procurement, CCS has developed metrics to support suppliers to report on the social impact of their work.

As well as being required to attend regular, structured meetings with their customers, suppliers will submit quarterly returns to CCS showing how they are adhering to, as a minimum, baseline requirements for social value activities including  SMEs, under-represented groups, and apprenticeships.

9 of the awarded suppliers are SMEs, with more expected to join a ‘sister’ Dynamic Purchasing System when it opens in October.

Visit our social value webpage or get in touch with our expert team to find out more about social value and how it’s embedded into our agreements.

More: You can now find all of our Procurement Essentials articles in one place on our website.

Get in touch

To find out more, visit the Facilities Management and Workplace Services agreement page.

Changes to our agreements in May

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 May  

  • No agreements were awarded in May

Agreements extended in May

  • No agreements were extended in May

Agreements that expired in May 

  • RM6003 Media Buying (link unavailable)

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.

Modular Buildings framework helps provide shelter to the homeless

The requirement

Reading Borough Council had an urgent need  to provide safe and secure accommodation for their homeless population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The solution

Reading Borough Council used our Modular Building Solutions framework to source a supplier who could fulfil their immediate need to support homeless individuals. 

Integra successfully secured the contract. They demonstrated strong awareness of the requirement and the ability to design a well thought out dwelling plan. This was shown by their implementation of a similar award-winning programme for Launchpad, a Reading based homelessness prevention charity. 

The results 

Integra built 40 modular facilities that included a bed, private washing facilities, heating and equipment such as a kettle, toaster and TV. Caseworkers were on call 24 hours a day to provide residents with comprehensive and extensive assistance.

The occupants were extremely happy with their newly constructed homes which would ensure they remained warm and safe through the winter and beyond. The new site was managed by the homeless charity St Mungo’s, who also provided support to residents. 

Reading Borough Council’s lead member for housing, Ellie Emberson said: 

It is so meaningful that we were able to give 40 residents who had been rough sleeping around Reading the opportunity to have their own place with valuable on-site support.

We know homelessness needs a partnership approach and through our joint working with St Mungo’s we are offering high-quality transitional housing with the needed support.

This is an innovative way to tackle homelessness with new residents sharing positive comments about the opportunity this presents them by getting off the street.

Add power to your procurement with CCS

Our Modular Buildings Solutions framework provides a wide range of major and minor building and civil engineering projects. To find out more about how we can help you build a stronger future: 

7 customers save £1.7 million on mobile voice and data services

The requirement

Buying mobile voice and data services is often a routine purchase for many customers, regularly resulting in varied contract end dates from having to acquire individual mobile phones at different times. This can create a barrier to switching suppliers to gain a better value and quality service for customers.

At CCS, our technology aggregation team helps customers achieve savings by combining their mobile voice and data requirements with other organisations. 

The solution

In March 2022, we ran a further competition using  lot 6 of our Network Services 2 framework, in which 7 customers took part. Our mobile voice and data aggregations are run 3 to 4 times per year to offer best value to the customers considering price and quality as key factors. 

For each aggregation, we engage with the market to gauge interest in upcoming mobile voice and data aggregations. Based on approximate volumes, we identify minimum indicative savings and ceiling prices for customers who take part. These are guaranteed minimum savings that customers can expect to receive.

Our technology aggregation team then runs the aggregation, identifies the supplier who is able to offer the best quality and price for the requirements, and presents each customer with a standalone contract.

The results

The 7 customers who took part in this aggregation saved £1.7 million – an average saving of 73%. 

3 of these customers had also joined a previous aggregation, and despite the large savings achieved through their first aggregation, were still able to save an additional 68%. 

Angela Carroll, Category Manager (Digital & ICT), South Tyneside Council said:

South Tyneside Council joined a previous CCS aggregated procurement in 2018 and benefited from 42% savings, 4 years on and after joining another CCS aggregated procurement we have continued to benefit from a further 73% saving. This totals a saving of just over £317,000.

The aggregation team manage the process seamlessly and are always there to support and provide advice. The fully managed service, knowledge and resources from CCS allows the councils to not only save money but also save resources and time.

Let us bring power to procurement 

National further competitions are a tried and tested approach which continue to achieve significant savings for the public sector. Taking part in an aggregation means many of the usual further competition procurement steps are handled by CCS, saving you time and resources. We will draft all documentation, build the specification and run the procurement. 

Our next mobile voice and data services aggregation (NFC150) is now open for expressions of interest from customers. You have until 1 September 2022 to submit your requirements, with a formal contract award set to take place in November 2022. 

Visit our aggregation web page to find out more and view our customer webinar, or if you would like to take part, please complete our online form quoting ‘NFC150 mobile voice and data aggregation’ in the comment box and a member of our team will be in touch. 

To learn more about our Network Services 2 framework, please visit our framework page. 

CCS’ Public Sector Vehicle Hire Solutions framework leads the way in social value

Social value is any additional environmental, economic or social benefit provided by a supplier that is relevant to the subject matter of a contract. It is being increasingly recognised as a vital way to add value in public procurement.

In light of this, our new Public Sector Vehicle Hire Solutions (PSVHS) framework is a flagship for including social value in a centralised procurement. The framework provides clarity for suppliers and customers, while giving you the flexibility and freedom to decide how best to implement social value within your own supply chains.

What has changed at framework level?

CCS conducted our pilot procurement using a new approach which ensured only suppliers with a responsible attitude to key social value priority areas were awarded places on the PSVHS framework.

As part of the framework specification, CCS and our stakeholders developed a social value priority statement (‘the Statement’), which outlines a range of critical governmental targets that we require suppliers to support the public sector in working towards, in the following areas:

  • supply chain diversity
  • fair and ethical employment
  • environmental sustainability
  • modern slavery
  • community benefits

For this framework procurement, social value questions on the first three areas listed above accounted for 10% to 20% of the total available marks, with suppliers evaluated and scored against their current business processes and plans for improvement.

The invitation to tender also required suppliers to disclose their awareness of modern slavery in their supply chain. This is an important area for this framework to address because instances of modern slavery have been reported in the wider car wash market and suppliers need to valet cars regularly to ensure they are clean for the next customer. CCS will work with suppliers to address any labour risks identified in their supply chains throughout the life of the agreement.

How are customer call-offs different?

We have given you choice and flexibility at the call-off stage to choose which elements of social value to focus on to best meet your organisation’s priorities by opting for one of the three approaches below:

  1. Supplier proposal – you ask suppliers to outline what they can deliver to support the Public Sector in meeting the Statement’s priority areas in general, including a commitment to self-proposed targets.
  2. Customer led – you pick specific targets from the five policy areas in the Statement for suppliers to focus on. Selection questions ask suppliers how they will meet the specific targets.
  3. Customer plus – you evaluate suppliers on different social value deliverables which are based on your specific organisation’s priorities.

What’s happening with supplier management?

At CCS, we appreciate that commitments made in a tender are only part of the jigsaw and that performance must be monitored in order to deliver real benefits.

At the call-off level, KPIs are in place requiring suppliers to provide you with an annual delivery statement detailing how they are meeting the agreed social value commitments.

Suppliers must also submit an annual report to CCS outlining their social value delivery across all call-offs.

During this framework, we aim to learn from what our suppliers do well and use our market position and expertise to establish best practices which will help all CCS suppliers to improve social value delivery in the future.

If you’d like to get in touch with us about social value or vehicle hire please email the team or call 0345 410 2222.

Customer newsletters for March

Welcome to our monthly newsletters. You can read the latest news most relevant to the sector your 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.

Customer newsletters for February

Welcome to our monthly newsletters. You can read the latest news most relevant to the sector your 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.

Customer newsletters for January

Welcome to our monthly newsletters. You can read the latest news most relevant to the sector your 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.

Estate Management Services for local government property and asset management

In the first 6 months since the Estate Management Services framework launched in July 2021, over 100 local authorities have shown an interest in the framework, and over 30 have already put in place contracts, ranging in value from £5,000 to over £350,000.

The framework offers you a dynamic, easy to use route to access estates management services. This includes total estate management and an integrator service:

  • lot 1 – total estate management
  • lot 2 – estate (property) management  
  • lot 3 – agency and lease management
  • lot 4 – surveying and strategic advice
  • lot 5 – valuation and compulsory purchase orders 
  • lot 6 – business rates
  • lot 7 – integrated workplace management (integrator services)    

Lot 7 is an innovation in this market offering managing agent (integrator), estate management platforms, integrated workplace management services (IWMS) and SMART working solutions which can integrate with other CCS solutions in our Workplace Category, such as our FM Marketplace.

How the framework is supporting local authorities

So far, local authorities have used the framework to support a range of strategic estates activities including asset rationalisation, infrastructure and regeneration projects (such as those supported by Towns Fund and Future High Streets grants), carbon net zero assessments, property valuations, and even compulsory purchase orders.

Accessing the framework

The agreement is heavily weighted towards quality at 70% versus 30% for price.

All suppliers on lots 1 to 6 are RICS accredited, giving you assurance on the capability of the suppliers on each lot to deliver each service to the right standards. 

The lotting strategy has also been successful in attracting SMEs – 35% of the appointed suppliers on the framework are SMEs. In addition, the framework enables your specific social value requirements to be addressed and incorporated as KPIs.

Accessing the framework is flexible with both further competition and direct award options available, each providing different advantages. Direct award is a great solution where there is a need to appoint a contractor at pace, whereas the further competition route enables suppliers to offer better value than the standard framework pricing. In either case, the suppliers on each lot can be approached for soft market testing to ensure that your scope and specifications align with the framework’s deliverables.

Benchmarking of the framework indicates that it is providing commercial benefits of 5% compared to the current market, and even more than that where a further competition process is undertaken.

Join our webinar

Find out more about how Estate Management Services can help you at our webinar on 9 February at 10.30am.

Book your place 

Expert advice

Our expert category management and account management teams are happy to offer additional guidance on how to use the framework. Please get in touch with your usual account manager or contact our customer service centre:

For further advice and guidance please complete this short online form, email us or call us on 0345 410 2222.

You can 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.