Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your background and your journey to becoming CEO for Crown Commercial Service (CCS)? I started my working career as an apprentice in chemical manufacturing and so I didn’t ‘grow up’ in the civil service. I joined in 2016 – as a Commercial Director for CCS. Because I’d […]
Products and Services Archives:
£3.5 billion of central government spend given to small businesses last year
CCS, the UK’s biggest public procurement organisation, reported £3.52 billion (16.7%) of central government spend directly with 1,525 Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) over the last year, as we continue our goal to support SMEs. CCS publishes accounts for 2023/4 CCS today published its annual report and accounts for 2023/2024, which show the rise of […]
Episode 4 – Clemmie Smith, Deputy Director for Health and Education Workforce at Crown Commercial Service
Our experts discuss the topical themes and debates in public procurement right now. They also share their own experiences as leaders of the government commercial profession. Clemmie Smith Clemmie Smith is Deputy Director for Health and Education Workforce at Crown Commercial Service (CCS), with responsibility for workforce requirements relating to recruitment, flexible and temporary staffing […]
Crown Commercial Service announces partnership with key buying organisations to strengthen procurement of temporary workers in schools
The partnership with Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO), Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO), and North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) marks a significant step forward for the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing (STaTS) agreement and will contribute to the continued delivery of exceptional support and procurement expertise to the education sector. The STaTS agreement currently offers the […]
Get help buying for schools
‘Get help buying for schools’ is a free and impartial service, delivered directly by the Department for Education (DfE), to help you buy goods and services for your school. Since 2018 the DfE has been running 2 pilot school buying hubs, one in the North-West and one in the South-West of England. The learning from these […]
Our recruitment framework helps the Government Property Agency secure quality candidates across 2 large-scale projects
Background This case study outlines how the Government Property Agency (GPA) used the Non Clinical Temporary and Fixed Term Staff framework for 2 large-scale recruitment projects across its Financial Business Partnering, Financial Analysis and Financial Accounting teams. The Government Property Agency is an executive agency of the Cabinet Office, with responsibility for ensuring efficient and […]
Support financial wellbeing with an employee discount scheme
So far, employers have done a fantastic job supporting staff during the pandemic, with 81% of employees responding to the Edenred research saying they’ve done a good job. Employers must now ensure they don’t take their foot off the gas as signs of fatigue start to show. This is a threat that may continue to […]
Schools in Tower Hamlets set to save £250,000 on supply teachers
The requirement Tower Hamlets Education Partnership (THEP) was established by school leaders to deliver high quality school improvement to all primary, secondary and special educational needs (SEN) schools in Tower Hamlets. Schools in Tower Hamlets wanted to review the way they sourced temporary workers, and were looking to develop a solution that provided value for […]
All things to all people: exploring social value approaches in public procurement
This article was originally published in Public Finance. A different kind of squeeze is coming to public sector finances, after a year of unprecedented and unforeseen spending. For the coming decade, ensuring that the public sector is getting every ounce of value that it can possibly get from its procurements is going to be the […]
Supply Teachers deal leads to increased savings, quality and compliance for 17 academies
Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust (BDAT) is a multi-academy trust with 17 academies across the Bradford area. Historically, when BDAT needed to recruit temporary staff, the academies used several agencies on varying terms and conditions. This made agency management difficult for BDAT, while the individual academies were not always getting the best value for money. At […]