Virtual training with Managed Learning Services

Like so many sectors, the impact of COVID-19 has forced learning and development suppliers to rapidly innovate.  

Knowledgepool is the single supplier on our Managed Learning Services framework. They have been working hard with their supply chain to replace classroom and face to face training with virtual training solutions.

Over 90% of the courses on offer through the framework catalogue are now available in digital learning formats. What’s more, many of the suppliers offering these courses are SMEs spread across the UK, helping ensure you can also contribute to your local social value commitments. 

What’s on offer?

You can now access almost 2,300 virtual training courses from the safety of wherever you are working right now. We have seen an increase in demand in the following areas:

  • continuous professional development (CPD): as people take the opportunity during lockdown to update and progress their development
  • critical thinking: customers in the health and social care sector, in particular, are looking for bespoke and specialist coaching focused to help them deal with the impact of COVID-19 and develop new processes and procedures 
  • resilience training is also proving popular

Learn more

To find out more you can visit the framework page.

You can also email us or complete this short online form if you would like to speak to one of our category experts about your particular training needs.

Read more about how Knowledgepool has been responding to the current challenges.

The future of learning and development

Our Managed Learning Services framework has recently been extended until 3 July 2021. We are currently looking at what you need from our next learning and development framework, and how that might have changed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Respond to our survey

We want to make sure that we can support the learning and training needs of all public sector organisations, and would appreciate a few minutes of your time to complete our short survey and share your thoughts. 

eRostering, HR and payroll solutions join the Workforce Alliance

Having the right software systems in place can reassure staff that your trust is supporting them in the day to day challenges they face, whether that is eRostering or payroll or staff bank management. This is why lot 3a of our Data and Application Solutions (DAS) framework for Enterprise Applications for Health has joined the Workforce Alliance portfolio of health workforce solutions. 

What are Enterprise Applications?

Enterprise Applications are software solutions that provide business logic and tools to model business processes and help you improve productivity and efficiency. 

What can you buy?

Developed with input from the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS, lot 3a of the framework gives you access to systems designed to meet the needs of NHS trusts. Solutions include:

  • eRostering systems
  • timesheet approvals 
  • staff bank management systems

How do you buy?

The time and resources needed to change systems sometimes outweigh potential savings. That’s why the catalogue route to market enables you to explore how you might update your existing systems without the need to conduct a further competition.

Different customers have different needs. Some want to retain their current software system with support from additional services, while others require new and innovative solutions or simply want to extend the life of their existing asset. All this can be done through the catalogue. 

If you’re looking for a brand new solution you can do that too – you’ll need to run a further competition though.

That’s why DAS has been created as a truly flexible procurement solution. It uses simplified terms and conditions written in a clear and concise manner to take away the complexity, alongside ICT-specific schedules which are more relevant to how procurement teams work.

If you would like to find out how the Workforce Alliance can help you with eRostering, HR or payroll software please email your local Workforce Alliance partner:

CCS – A helping hand towards Carbon Net Zero within Energy

The UK has legislated to end its contribution to global warming by 2050, in effect reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 100%. The Clean Growth Strategy outlines a pathway for the public sector to halve non-traded emissions from buildings (direct heat and power, plus any fugitive emissions from coolants or refrigerants) by 2032.

Finding the right path to work towards Carbon Net Zero (CNZ) is becoming increasingly challenging and brings together many aspects of an estate. We have created a guide for you to use to gauge where you are and how to make initial improvements towards CNZ. 

We recognise the challenges you may face, whether you’re a large estate or a single building. We have routes to additional and specialist support that can lead you through the steps to help you in achieving your CNZ goals. Our guide looks at how you can reduce your consumption, getting the best return on investment from just managing your energy more efficiently, before you even start to think about any capital investment such as retrofits.   

We have engaged with the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Office of Government Property (OGP) to ensure our interactive guide aligns to their ambitions and positively helps our customers on their CNZ journey.  

Visit our webpage to access our interactive guide, find out more and learn about the further support available.  

Register today for our webinar at 10am on 17 July. We will talk through the guide and what our agreements have to offer. 

NHS Lancashire Procurement Cluster save £25,000 on permanent recruitment campaign

The NHS Lancashire Procurement Cluster (LPC) is a collaborative procurement and supply chain service. They represent Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, East Lancashire NHS Trust and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

Last year they wanted to recruit 4 new procurement managers to support their ambitious, strategic procurement agenda.

LPC struggled to fill these roles through their standard methods, which included NHS jobs. So, they decided to appoint a specialist agency as their recruitment business partner.  

The solution

LPC used our Permanent Recruitment Solutions framework (RM6002) to help them find the right agency to meet their non-clinical recruitment needs.

The framework is also part of the Workforce Alliance suite of workforce support services for health HR and workforce functions.

Castlefield Recruitment was awarded directly due to their reputation for filling niche, hard to fill positions. They also offered LPC their premium service at a highly competitive price.

The results

Following a high profile recruitment campaign Castlefield Recruitment maintained their 100% success rate filling all 4 positions, as well as an extra 5th position:

  • 2 senior procurement managers 
  • 3 procurement managers 

In addition to the successful delivery of the project, LPC saved £25,000 by accessing the competitive rates available through the framework.  

Mike Doyle, Deputy Director, NHS Lancashire Procurement Cluster commented:

Castlefield Recruitment was highly methodical and consultative, providing a diverse and detailed shortlist with expert knowledge on each candidate, from which we appointed all roles first time round. They added huge value with a well-controlled aftercare service and smooth onboarding process which resulted in a 100% offer to acceptance rate.

Find out more

If you would like to find out how the Permanent Recruitment Solutions framework can help you with your vacancies visit the framework web page.

For further advice and guidance please email us or complete this short online form. 

For NHS customers, please email your local Workforce Alliance hub:

Digital Inclusion and Support DPS launches to help online service users

Designed to help public and third sector organisations educate service users about accessing and using their services online, as well as developing digital skills, the new agreement builds on the existing Digital Training and Support framework. Following reviews of the core service elements required by customers, engaging with suppliers and without overlapping existing CCS frameworks, the new agreement focuses on 2 core areas:

  • assisted digital – providing support to anyone who can’t access government digital services independently to help them find information and complete transactions
  • digital inclusion – helping users gain basic digital skills so that they can access government digital services independently and make the most of the internet

The new DPS will give freedom and flexibility for customers to define their requirements to meet assisted digital and/or digital inclusion users’ needs, providing access to expert suppliers of these services and helping to deliver social value outcomes, particularly inclusion and diversity. 

The DPS allows customers to find and shortlist suppliers who can offer services relating to: 

  • support – this includes the delivery of support to assist users through all or part of a public and third sector digital service
  • design – which covers services relating to the design of a digital inclusion training course, product or intervention for any channel
  • delivery – includes the delivery of digital inclusion training through any channel

Customers can then hold a mini further competition to find the most suitable supplier and will be able to award a contract for up to 5 years.  

Visit the website to find out more, or complete our form to speak to one of the team.

CCS support Leeds City Council’s Clean Air Zone solution

The requirement

In 2015, the government revealed plans to improve air quality in cities, with the introduction of five Clean Air Zones (CAZ), to be operational by 2020. One of these Clean Air Zones was to be introduced in the City of Leeds.

Improving air quality is a government priority; The Royal College of Physicians and of Paediatrics and Child Health estimates that 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK are linked to poor air quality.

The solution

Leeds City Council procured the design, implementation and operation of CAZ monitoring and enforcement solution for the city using the Traffic Management Technology 2 commercial agreement. They received help throughout the procurement process from Danielle Carvell, Commercial Agreement Manager.

The solution will involve the deployment of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras at more than 100 junctions.

The cameras will be used to identify and register every vehicle that enters the city’s charging zone. It will query against the government’s planned database of the more heavily polluting vehicles such as taxis, coaches, private hire and heavy goods vehicles. They will then be subject to a charge aimed at discouraging them from entering the area. Private cars, vans and motorcycles will not be charged.

The money raised will only be used to cover the operating costs and for other schemes to improve air quality.

The results

The Clean Air Zone will reduce air pollution and protect the health of everyone in Leeds. Councilor James Lewis, Leeds City Council’s executive member for resources and sustainability, said:

Having received government approval for the clean air charging zone, the council is working hard to ensure the successful and timely introduction of the scheme. Being able to identify and charge non-compliant vehicles driving within the zone’s boundary is essential to encouraging businesses to switch to less polluting vehicles.

For further information

To find out more about the Traffic Management Technology 2 commercial agreement, you can:

View the commercial agreement page

Complete this online form

Call us on 0345 410 2222

Join our apprenticeship training marketplace

If the answer to these 2 questions is yes, and you haven’t signed up to join our apprenticeship training marketplace yet we’d encourage you to do so. 

Why sign up?

There is a great deal of discussion at the moment about the importance of apprenticeships to our economic recovery.

By joining our apprenticeship training marketplace you will have the opportunity to provide apprenticeship standards and end-point assessments to organisations across the whole of the public sector, including central government, local authorities and NHS trusts.

How does the marketplace work?

The marketplace helps public sector organisations access their apprenticeship levy funds to support their workforce planning strategies and meet their statutory apprenticeship targets. 

A digital filtering system makes it simpler for customers to find suitable Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) registered suppliers.

The marketplace also supports localism and social value. Suppliers can join at any time and bid for business either locally, regionally or nationally. You can find out more on the marketplace web page.  

How to sign up

You will need to be ESFA registered and have your DUNS number to hand.

Step 1

First of all, you need to register on the Supplier Registration Service for Government if you are not already. To do this access the Supplier Registration Service for Government, select ‘register as a supplier’ and complete the short online form.  

Step 2

Once you have done this go to the Dynamic Purchasing System Marketplace, select ‘Apprenticeship Training’ and from here you can download the bid pack, which provides full instructions on how to become a supplier on the marketplace. You can then ‘Access as a supplier’ to register to be on the marketplace.

If joining the marketplace is of interest to your university or college and you need any further support please email us and reference ‘RM6102 supplier registration’ in the subject line.

12 customers save £2 million on mobile voice and data services

The requirement

Purchasing mobile voice and data services is often a routine purchase for many organisations and regularly results in multiple contract end dates due to having to acquire individual mobile phones at different times. This can also create a barrier to switching suppliers to gain better value, as potential savings may be reduced or lost due to early termination charges.

We wanted to help customers find a way to aggregate their mobile requirements with other customers, helping to achieve savings which would not be reduced by early termination of existing contracts.

The solution

One of our national further competitions (which are based on a standardised specification), was planned as the aggregated value/volume was expected to attract more interest from suppliers.

Using the Crown Commercial Service Network Services Framework agreement (lot 6), a further competition was run and the best value offer in the market was obtained by taking into consideration both price and quality factors. The further competition was concluded with sealed bids.

Innovative contract terms were introduced allowing customers to migrate connections as and when existing contracts expire throughout the first year of the contract.

The results

The competition, which took place December 2018 – January 2019, brought together common mobile voice and data services of 12 customers, totalling over 14,000 connections.

It achieved an average saving of 69% compared to current customer spend, which is the equivalent saving of £2 million for those customers who took part.

These results clearly demonstrate that with aggregated volumes and the adoption of a standard specification for commodity goods or services, significant cost savings can quickly be realised.

Kirklees Council

‘We secured savings of 65% by taking part in the mobile voice and data services aggregation, which was a huge benefit to us as budgets continue to be cut. Not only did we save money, but resource was also freed up as CCS ran the procurement for us, meaning we had more time to spend on other important projects which proved invaluable. We were also able to agree pricing for the data bundle, securing data usage for the future meaning there will be no hidden charges.’

Dundee and Angus College

‘We are very pleased with the savings achieved, which are significantly more than we anticipated and are looking forward to these being realised over the course of the contract.  With ever-tightening budgets, we’d have no hesitation in looking at future aggregation opportunities following this positive experience.’

How can you get involved?

National aggregated further competitions are a tried and tested approach which have delivered significant savings to the public sector.

This is a fully managed service provided and funded by us. We will draft all documentation, build the specification and run the procurement.

If you would like to take part in an upcoming mobile voice and data aggregation, please complete our online form quoting ‘Mobile voice and data aggregation’ and a member of our team will be in touch.

17 customers set to save over £2.7 million on mobile voice and data services

Background

By bringing together customers with similar mobile voice and data service requirements, we are able to run aggregated further competitions to help them achieve more competitive pricing, improved terms and an increased level of savings, compared to direct award or customers conducting individual further competitions.

The solution

Our aggregation team regularly run further competitions for multiple customers based on standard specifications for common goods and services. Combined volumes help attract more interest from suppliers and, therefore, achieve better value and savings for customers.

The competitions are managed by us at no charge to the customer. Customers just need to express their interest, provide details of their requirements before we go to market and we manage the procurement from start to finish.

“The CCS team was very professional throughout, making the process efficient and effective for all involved”. In this instance, customers were provided with an “indicative savings analysis template” to assess the minimum savings they could achieve, by comparing an “indicative tariff” (set as the ceiling price) against their current rates. This meant customers were able to quickly assess the benefits of joining the aggregation and present them as part of their business case.

The further competition was conducted using lot 6 for mobile voice and data services of the Network Services framework. The best value offer in the market was obtained by taking into consideration both price and non-price factors, such as quality. The further competition was concluded with sealed bids.

Innovative contract terms were also used so that customers would be able to move their phone connections, as and when existing contracts expire, throughout the first 2 years of the 3-year contract.

The results

The project brought together the common mobile voice and data requirements of 17 customers – totalling over 21,000 connections.

It resulted in an average indicative saving of 61% compared to the prices customers were paying. This is the equivalent of a saving of £2.7 million over 2 years for the customers who took part.

These results clearly demonstrate that by combining volumes and using a standard specification for a commodity product or service significant cost savings can quickly be realised.

7 members of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) took part and Paul Maynard, AGMA Procurement Manager commented:

“The AGMA Procurement Hub would strongly recommend organisations work with CCS on their mobile and voice data requirements. By aggregating volumes and treating mobile and voice data as a ‘common commodity requirement’.

7 AGMA members will be able to save in the region of £1.24 million. In addition to cashable savings, the group will also benefit from a more flexible solution and improved terms, including an increased choice of tariff rates that can scaled up and down as required every 30 days, shared data bundles and 4G by default.

Achieving these outcomes took less than 3 months. Collaborative working between the hub, CCS and key stakeholders enabled this to happen. The CCS team was very professional throughout, making the process efficient and effective for all involved”.

Get involved

To learn more about how our free to use aggregation services can help you make savings or to discuss any of the current opportunities please fill in our online enquiry form.

We will get in touch to discuss your requirements and recommend the best solution(s) to meet your needs.

If you want to find out more about how we can help you, why not ask one of our customer team to give you a call or sign up to our newsletter?

DfI saves time buying traffic monitoring cameras

The requirement

Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) is an innovative and ambitious project to create a new and dynamic public transport system for Belfast. BRT uses high-quality buses, known as Gliders, to provide a modern, comfortable environment for passengers. It also incorporates real-time information systems for easier journey planning. The speed, reliability and comfort of the Glider services provide an attractive alternative to the private car.

To support the provision of real-time transport information, CCTV traffic monitoring cameras were required at strategic locations to monitor transport network performance.

The solution

Working to tight timescales, DfI procured the CCTV traffic monitoring cameras from the Government eMarketplace using the Traffic Management Technology 2 framework. The Department conducted pre-market engagement by way of a Request for Information prior to the purchase. Issuing a Request for Information gave the suppliers prior notification of the requirement, helping the service to be delivered on time.

The results

A spokesperson for the Department’s Traffic Information and Control Centre team said:

“The Government eMarketplace website was easy to navigate. The entire process was very straightforward with a quick turnaround time from start to finish. This resulted in significant savings in staff and supplier’s time.”

The Department is now considering using the eMarketplace for Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.

For further information

To find out more about the Traffic Management Technology 2 framework, you can:

View the framework page
View the Government eMarketplace
Complete this online form
Call us on 0345 410 2222