Find solutions for student accommodation shortages with CCS

We can help higher education institutions expand student accommodation across the UK, says Darren Moore, Head of Offsite Construction at CCS.

Universities and colleges are facing increasing pressure to provide affordable student accommodation, with demand outstripping supply by 3:1, according to ISO Space. Both The Guardian and ITV news report that many students across the UK are having to live in different cities to their chosen place of study. Not only does this result in additional travel costs, it can also make it difficult for students to fully embrace their higher education experience.

The current strain on the student housing market has been fuelled by an increase in the number of 18-year-olds applying to study, combined with a national housing shortage, increased rents and landlords switching to Airbnb. With an ongoing student mental health crisis, universities and colleges need to find quick and effective solutions to ensure that students are not facing additional pressure on top of any financial and wellbeing worries they may have.

We have a number of flexible solutions that can help you increase your accommodation capacity in the short and long term.

How we can help

Modular buildings

Our Modular Building Solutions framework offers a quick and effective way to tackle the UK-wide shortage of student accommodation. Modular buildings are simple to construct and provide cost effective temporary and permanent accommodation solutions. 

Modern modular buildings can be designed to match your requirements and can range from a standalone detached house to a small block of modern apartments – enabling you to build solutions that fit your campus and space. Constructed off site, these buildings have speed and efficiency at their core, meaning you can continue with your business as usual whilst construction takes place. For example, Reading Borough Council created 40 modular facilities for the homeless population to keep them warm and dry through winter months. 

Sustainability 

We know that a commitment to climate change is vitally important to you. With this in mind, modular buildings can go a long way to supporting sustainability. 

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is common across the offsite construction industry, increasing the focus on energy efficiency. You can opt to use green technologies like solar panels at design stage to make your accommodation more sustainable. 

In addition, modular buildings can help reduce your carbon footprint, with many being created from recycled materials. Typically 67% less energy is used in creating a modular building versus its equivalent traditional build. They also require less heavy good vehicle traffic and less noise and air pollution.

Construction Works and Associated Services

As the student population continues to increase and private accommodation options decrease, you may also be looking for permanent building solutions. 

Our Construction Works and Associated Services framework (CWAS) can be used as a more permanent solution to regenerate, refurbish or expand your campus and student accommodation offering. 

The framework facilitates a whole life cost approach and enables you to alter the quality and cost weightings at competition stage to meet your individual budget. 

With sustainability in mind, the framework also works hard to help customers and suppliers work together to achieve sustainable solutions throughout the lifecycle of a project, with a focus on the whole life cost approach, waste reduction and high quality standards.

The framework is designed to work fast and flexibly, so you can maximise the periods of the year when students are off campus. It provides a streamlined, guided route to access a comprehensive pre-approved selection of suppliers accessible through all procurement routes, tendering methods, design methodologies and payment arrangements.

Want to find out more?

As the largest public procurement organisation in the UK, we have a range of tailored solutions to help you expand your campus and student accommodation offering.

To find out more about how CCS can help you add power to your procurement, download our updated digital brochure, or to discuss your student accommodation requirements email info@crowncommercial.gov.uk and you’ll be connected to your relevant regional contact.

Decarbonising freight transport: how the logistics industry can use software to reduce carbon emissions

How much carbon transport emits

In 2020, transport produced over a quarter of the world’s total emissions, primarily through domestic travel, but also heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and vans. Further to this, air and sea freight accounts for a combined 6% of global carbon emissions. To reduce these figures, investment into technological innovation is underway to reduce the carbon footprint of freight logistics.

What technology is available to reduce emissions?

The use of alternative fuels to cut emissions often requires the purchase of new vehicles or engine adaptations which can be costly. There are alternatives technologies available to reduce carbon footprint which are simple adaptations to existing vehicles.

Onboard software

Frequently now, newer HGVs are fitted with onboard software for the purpose of increasing road safety. In many cases, the software also increases HGV fuel efficiency and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Adaptive cruise control

Usually found in newer vehicles, adaptive cruise control (ACC) uses sensors to measure and monitor the distance of other vehicles. This information then orders the vehicle to slow down if necessary. While ACC is primarily a safety mechanism, it safely reduces speed and in the most fuel-efficient way, helping to support better fuel efficiency.

Onboard telematics devices

Onboard telematics devices on freight vehicles can provide a significant volume of data to support better fuel efficiency. Once the onboard telematics transfers its data to fuel management system software, the volume of fuel being used across the fleet can be identified.

Fuel consumption data brings insight into the price of transactions and losses (either through leakage or theft). Data produced from the fuel management system can identify vehicles that need maintenance or drivers that may need further training to control inefficient driving behaviours. 

Onboard telematics devices can also supply data that highlights inefficient driving behaviours, such as unnecessary vehicle idling, harsh braking or harsh accelerating. Telematics data can be used to develop driver training development programmes to improve fuel efficiency across the fleet.

Route planning software

Most logistics providers now take advantage of route planning software to  more fuel efficient journeys. The software takes into consideration driver shift times, traffic hotspots, unexpected congestion and re-routing options. It will then share live arrival times to support more efficient unloading. There are other benefits to tracking and route planning software outside of fuel efficiency, including the benefit of increased security from the live tracking of transport loads. 

Carbon footprint online calculators

Lastly, online calculators that support the comparison of year-on-year metrics are available to ensure the continuous improvement of carbon efficiency. This tool will be beneficial if you want to report the work you are doing to meet your net zero targets. 

Where does that leave the public sector buying teams? 

Many of these technologies are already in use across the industry and in 2020 we launched our first ever Logistics and Warehousing framework to provide the public sector access to 25 registered suppliers. Speak to our suppliers today to find out what software solutions they are using to increase fuel efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. 

Additionally, the Vehicle Telematics: Hardware and Software Solutions framework can help inform business decision making and ensure that the steps you take towards greening your fleet are aligned with your organisation’s fleet

policy.

Let us bring power to your procurement

To find out more about how we can help you decarbonise your logistics, get in touch:

Customers save more than £7 million on IT hardware

The requirement

Local authorities often have similar needs when it comes to purchasing IT hardware. Through our regular bulk buying opportunities, our technology aggregation team supports them by combining their IT hardware requirements with other public sector organisations. As the largest public procurement organisation in the UK, we are then able to use our collective buying  power to achieve competitive pricing and favourable terms from suppliers, to help local authorities save time and money throughout the process.

The solution

To attract suppliers, we ran a further competition based on the criteria set by our customers and competed using  our Technology Products and Associated Services framework(RM6068). An eAuction was used to attain the best cost-effective offer in the market while considering price-related factors as well as non-price related factors. 

Our  team of experts who deliver social and economic value on a day-to-day basis were on hand to guide the local authority customers along the way; taking care of the process for them to help achieve the best possible deals. This also helps to release internal resources so that customers are able to focus on other areas of their business or on more complex procurements.

The results

As a part of an aggregated competition we held in August 2021, we brought 28 customers with a total requirement of around £20 million (market value) of IT equipment. It enabled economies of scale to increase leverage and achieve the best value. This eAuction consisted of 9 lots, and from various lots, 3 suppliers won.

This  saved customers an average of 36% in comparison to market pricing, which equates to a total saving of 7.3 million by participants (based on the market pricing). 

 

Neeraj Mittra, Senior ICT Officer of Lambeth Council commented,

“The CCS Technology aggregation team was excellent and provided a comprehensive and professional managed aggregation service for our requirements of laptops and associated services. They guided us through the process, keeping all stakeholders fully informed and engaged.  We always felt re-assured with the process and were always confident of achieving the intended outcomes. Mick and the rest of the team responded to all queries promptly and provided all information that we needed to cover our internal governance process. We will certainly be using technology aggregation again.”

 

Let us bring power to to technology procurement 

The public sector has saved a significant amount of money by participating in different aggregated national competitions. It is free to participate and all of the procurement management is done on your behalf. For you, we’ll take care of everything from beginning to end: paperwork, project management and procurement, all managed by CCS commercial expertise and best practice support.

If you would like to get involved in our latest aggregation for IT hardware, please complete our online form and a member of our team will get in touch.

Or, to find out more about our future opportunities please visit the aggregation webpage; 

 

The role of data and analytics in digital transformation – improving the lives of citizens and driving a new era of growth

As we recover from the pandemic, data and analytics remain in sharp focus. Having seen its potential across some important use cases, it is now seen as a significant enabler for the efficiencies and economic growth needed within the UK. It is also central to the delivery of a range of vital public services and societal goals, from tackling climate change to enhancing critical citizen services. Read more in the National Data Strategy 2020.  

But data and analytics is not an isolated function. It is an integral element of digital transformation programmes with data strategies being placed at the core of organisations. 

What does this mean for local authorities?

The data opportunity is now recognised as vast and local authorities sit at the heart of it. Whether it’s protecting vulnerable children, collecting the bins, fixing housing repairs, gritting the roads, or helping local businesses to grow, data can help local authorities to perform these tasks more effectively.

By placing data at the heart of digital transformation, local authorities have the potential to deliver some important and exciting outcomes:

  • services designed around user needs
  • citizens engaged and empowered to build their communities
  • efficiencies through public service transformation
  • local economic and social growth 
  • enhanced transparency and public accountability

How integral is data to local authorities?

In 1 word – extremely. Local authorities are constantly managing and responding to information. As digital transformation journeys continue, they are collecting more and more data sets from a variety of newly digitised sources. These, combined with more conventional data, can offer valuable insights on the wide variety of activities that authorities perform. By using analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, decision-making can be enhanced and used to improve public services. For example, data-backed decisions can reduce crime, lower traffic congestion, improve the environment and provide more efficient services for citizens. 

What is needed to exploit the potential?

Embracing data’s enormous potential doesn’t come without its challenges. It requires fresh thinking, continued democratisation of technology, interoperability between systems, cloud migration, and employees equipped with the necessary digital and data skills. And it’s no secret that we have a UK data skill gap, which only adds to the challenge. Many public sector organisations are grappling with squeezed budgets alongside the increasingly urgent need to train their existing employees and recruit new ones with the right skills. 

Having a clear data strategy, alongside technology and infrastructure strategies is key. And lies at the heart of any digital transformation programme. According to Gartner, best practices to deploying an effective data strategy include:

  • executive buy-in and change management
  • an appreciation that data isn’t perfect
  • embracing of data sharing and data exchange
  • a diverse pool of data talent
  • trust in compliance to improve data quality 
  • and a commitment to data ethics

What support is there for the public sector to improve data use, drive efficiency and improve services?

We have recently launched a  ‘first of its kind’ Big Data and Analytics commercial agreement, which is designed specifically to support the creation of intelligent data and analytics functions across the UK public sector. 

It offers a range of specialist data and analytics services and software. Local authorities (like the rest of the public sector) can procure a variety of requirements – from niche reporting and analytics projects to complete data service transformations. This will help them harness data, drive efficiencies and improve citizen services. 

As well as helping ensuring excellent value for money, Big Data and Analytics ensures compliance with all appropriate procurement policies, for example, tackling modern slavery, social value and carbon net zero. 

Its terms also allow for improved knowledge transfer between incumbent suppliers and buyers, when required by the buyer. For example, a local authority could procure a supplier to help design or overhaul their data strategy. Under the terms of the agreement the consultants would work with and upskill internal staff. If required within the specification, the supplier delivering that requirement will also be responsible for ensuring a full briefing and handover. By upskilling existing staff, the local authority improves capability and reduces the dependency to outsource key skills in future. 

Big Data and Analytics’ simple 2 lot structure covers a wide range of capabilities across a strong pool of suppliers. Of the agreement’s 50 tier 1 suppliers, 46% are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). And all tier 1 suppliers are also able to sub-contract.

An optional down-select mechanism has been introduced within lot 1 for Design, Build and Run Professional Services that offers buyers the ability to create a shortlist of suppliers by 1 or more of the 6 pre-evaluated capability areas, assisting with agile call-offs. 

Want to find out more?

If you would like to have a discussion with our data and analytics category team, please get in touch by completing our online form quoting ‘Big Data and Analytics category team’ and we will get back to you. To find out more about how CCS can support with other areas of digital transformation, download our new guide.

Changes to our agreements in September

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 September  

Agreements extended in September

Agreements that expired in September

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.

We want to hear your thoughts on our Furniture & Associated Services framework

Our furniture framework agreement, RM6119 helps you buy furniture for use in office, residential and education settings. Central government organisations have traditionally been the largest users of the framework. to date. However, over the last year we have seen an increase in usage from other organisations. 

The framework is due to expire in March 2024 and we would like your help developing the replacement solution to ensure it meets  the needs of all customers.

What does procurement in the current market look like?

Since the pandemic, the way we work has changed. 

Many of us are in different stages of finding that new normal. In terms of office furniture, hybrid working is being adopted by many, but not all organisations suit this way of working. 

In particular, we want to know what procurement in this market looks like for our local government customers.

Our furniture offer is broad, covering areas such as:

  • residential, office and classroom furniture
  •  industrial storage solutions 
  • secure storage solutions
  • bespoke fitted furniture

Help us shape the new agreement

We are in the early market engagement stage of this procurement.e would like you to get involved and help us shape how the new agreement looks. We would like to listen to your thoughts on:

  • products and services
  • policy
  • access
  • value 

Get in touch

To get involved please email info@crowncommercial.gov.uk stating you are interested in early market engagement for the new furniture agreement.To find out more about our Furniture and Associated services RM6119 visit our webpage.

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.

Richard Carter, Commercial Agreement Manager – Furniture 

Demystifying the key terms and abbreviations in procurement

NB: This article was originally published on 4 October 2022. All information was correct at the time of writing, but may not be fully applicable following the introduction of the Procurement Act 2023.

Running a procurement can involve technical language that can sometimes be a little daunting. Whether you’re an experienced professional or new to running procurements, we want to help you understand some of the common terms and abbreviations you may come across. 

Our new glossary

With this in mind, we’ve produced a new glossary of the most common terms and abbreviations, to be used as a useful reference when buying goods and services for your organisation.

The entries are arranged alphabetically and you can search for specific terms using the search bar. This is a new service and we will be adding to it iteratively over the coming months to make sure it’s up to date.

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.

Local authority partners use Digital Marketplace to deliver service transformation for management of housing repairs

The background

Since 2018, the London Borough of Southwark and the City of Lincoln Council have received 4 tranches of funding from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Local Digital Fund to carry out a discovery project and deliver a new digital service for housing repairs. 

The discovery project’s aim was to define a common service pattern for housing repairs in socially rented properties and to understand the barriers to the adoption of digital repairs services. In September 2021, the minimum viable product (MVP) for the service moved into beta testing and in August 2022, the Housing Repairs Service prototype was made publicly available for other interested councils.

The solution

At each stage, the partners have commissioned suppliers through our Digital Marketplace. The marketplace enables public sector buyers to find technology or people for their digital projects quickly, easily, and efficiently. Users are able to access everything from data centres and hosting individual technology specialists such as developers or user researchers.

In this case, the individual procurement processes have each resulted in the appointment of different suppliers to handle specific elements of the project according to their expertise. Many of them are SMEs with a particular focus on producing innovative outcomes.

Fraser Trickett, Organisational Change Lead at City of Lincoln Council, has been pleased with the results of using the Digital Marketplace:

We had a good response rate to each of the adverts we published on the marketplace from a wide range and variety of suppliers. This variety meant we were always able to award to a supplier with the skills and culture that we were looking for, as both the project and team evolved. As we were working with multiple councils, we found the clarity of the documentation and templates were extremely useful too, taking any ambiguity out of what could have been a complicated process.

The ambition of the partners is to produce something designed for user needs that is scalable and easily adopted by other local authorities or housing associations. Administration costs for managing housing repairs services using traditional ‘offline’ methods can run into millions of pounds for an organisation, so the potential savings innovation can deliver are significant.

How we can help

To find out more about how the Digital Marketplace and our other technology solutions could help to support your digital transformation projects, you can:

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.

Supporting the public sector to improve data use, drive efficiency and improve services

We know data and analytics enables faster, more accurate and more relevant decisions in what can be very complex contexts, and we are beginning to see this act as a catalyst for digital transformation. So it’s no surprise to see data being placed at the core of organisations.

Our newly launched Big Data and Analytics agreement can help give a huge boost and add power to your data and analytics procurement.

  • Power #1 – breadth: a total of 50 suppliers are accessible via the agreement, 46% of which are SMEs – providing access to a range of capabilities across the market
  • Power #2 – depth: use the agreement to access all these suppliers who not only have proven experience and capabilities, but are also equipped to understand, define and deliver your data and analytics requirements
  • Power #3 – flex: buy with flexibility and agility while ensuring value for money – sift a large pool of suppliers to find the data and analytics professional service capabilities you require and run mini further competitions

What data and analytics solutions are available?

Two lots for the agreement have been designed to help organisations access a range of data and analytics products and services. Whatever your needs – whether you want an individual niche work package, an entire data service transformation, a new service build, or a specific product from commercial-off-the-shelf software offerings – you can choose from our set of solutions.  In doing so, you can be sure you’re getting the right products, at the right price and helping to use data more efficiently.

Lot 1 : design, build and run professional services, includes:

  • advanced analytics and cognitive
  • data management and acquisition
  • data risking
  • platforms services
  • reporting and dashboards
  • search and discovery services

Lot 2 : commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software, includes:

  • big data management
  • machine learning and artificial intelligence
  • reporting and analytics
  • data mining, risking and science
  • search and data discovery

How do I buy through the agreement?

You can buy from this agreement using direct award and further competition. 

Direct award catalogue listings are available on the government eMarketplace. If this is your first time using the platform, you will need to register for an account. This listing is growing with new supplier service offers being published.

There are three options for running a further competition:

  • use the down-select matrix followed by a further competition to those suppliers who fit your shortlist based on the 6 capabilities (lot 1)
  • run an Expression of Interest (EOI) followed by a further competition to those suppliers who have responded as interested in the opportunity (lot 2)
  • run a further competition to all suppliers (lots 1 and 2)

We recommend that you take part in pre-market engagement before beginning the buying process, as this will help refine your requirement and increase suppliers’ awareness and interest in your potential procurement. 

Our data and analytics category experts are here to help

We’re here to help you select the most suitable products and services for your requirements. 

We want to hear your thoughts on our Furniture & Associated Services Framework

Our current furniture framework agreement, RM6119 helps you buy furniture for use in office, residential and education settings. Central and local governments have traditionally been our largest users of the agreement, and have helped shape the framework.

Over the last year, we have also seen an increase in the number of users across the wider public sector. The framework is due to expire in March 2024 and we would like your help developing the replacement solution to ensure  it meets the needs of all customers.

What does procurement in the current market look like?

Since the pandemic, the way we work has changed. Many of us are in different stages of finding that new normal. In terms of office furniture, hybrid working is being adopted by many, but not all organisations suit this way of working. We want to know what procurement in this market looks like for all our customers. 

Our current furniture offer is broad, covering areas such as: 

  • residential, office and classroom furniture
  • industrial storage solutions 
  • secure storage solutions
  • bespoke fitted furniture 

Help us shape the new agreement

We are in the early market engagement stage of this procurement. We would like you to get involved and help us shape how the new agreement looks. We would like to listen to your thoughts on:

  • products and services
  • policy
  • access
  • value

Get in touch
To get involved please email info@crowncommercial.gov.uk stating you are interested in early market engagement for the new furniture agreement.

To find out more about our Furniture and Associated services RM6119 visit our webpage.

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.

Richard Carter, Commercial Agreement Manager – Furniture