Changes to our agreements in July

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 July  

Agreements extended in July

  • No agreements were extended in July

Agreements that expired in July 

  • No agreements expired in July

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.

Crown Commercial Service announces a new 1 year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Salesforce

The new MoU will enable the UK public sector to continue to achieve better value for money and help accelerate the delivery of digital public services.

Salesforce, which includes Mulesoft, Tableau and Slack, has been implemented across numerous public sector organisations in the UK and around the world, helping them to streamline public services, maximise cost effectiveness and, ultimately, improve the citizen experience.

Our new agreement will allow all eligible public sector customers to benefit from a baseline of Salesforce pricing and discounts. The agreement represents significant savings for customers. It will be available for customer enrolments from 1 August 2022 onwards.

Philip Orumwense CBE, Commercial Director and Chief Technology Procurement Officer at Crown Commercial Service said: 

I am delighted that we have been able to reach agreement on this MOU. It will allow UK public sector customers to access a competitive baseline of pricing by recognising our aggregated public sector spend; and ensures a cost effective marketplace with access to best of breed solutions for each requirement.  The Agreement will further ensure increased collaboration and aggregation of government and wider public sector spend to achieve increased automation, forecasting, reporting and customer engagement management tools.

By treating the UK government and wider public sector as a single client, this new MoU allows access to preferential commercial terms. It is designed to support principles from Digital, Data and Technology and The One Government Cloud Strategy. 

The MoU is not a route to market, however it shows our commitment to support the public sector, as the pricing and discounts are available through any route to market. We recommend using Back Office Software RM6194 but customers can access the same pricing through competitor frameworks.

Let us bring power to your procurement 

If you would like to discover how your organisation could benefit from this new MoU, you can register for our monthly customer webinars:

To benefit from extra Salesforce related support such as strategic advice on how to achieve the best value from your software estate, as well as best practice procurement activities, or to find out more, please complete our online form quoting ‘Salesforce MoU’ and we will be in touch.

This MoU will be added to our webpage publishing all our Technology Memorandum of Understandings.

Helping the public sector meet smart transport challenges

Transport is the largest emitting sector of greenhouse gases in the UK, contributing 27% of domestic emissions. Increasingly we are looking at technology to help decarbonise transport and deliver on the government’s net zero ambition.

Technology is helping the shift to electric vehicles, improving urban air quality, and protecting vulnerable road users. Our Transport Technology and Associated Services (TTAS) framework makes it easier for you to access smarter, cleaner and safer transport solutions.

Transport challenges and smart solutions

Our TTAS framework is playing a vital role in helping deliver net zero across the transport sector.

Decarbonising road vehicles

Public sector support for electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure will be essential if the government is to meet its vision around easy access to public charge points. Public investment is particularly important for on-street charging, in providing access in rural locations, and supporting the electrification of the public sector fleet. CCS supports deployment of EV infrastructure through TTAS and our Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Solutions (VCIS) dynamic purchasing system (DPS).

The TTAS framework includes pre-agreed rates and terms and conditions, approved and audited suppliers, and a catalogue option for direct procurement.

Our VCIS DPS solution provides a flexible route to onboard new suppliers and scope to negotiate terms that are appropriate to the size and scale of your project.

These agreements offer a range of solutions from hardware and managed services to a full end-to-end solution.

Developing place-based solutions to improve air quality

Road transport is a leading cause of air pollution in cities, directly affecting the health of residents and contributing to global warming. Tackling air pollution, increasing the efficiency of public transport, and encouraging the transition to cleaner modes of transport are key priorities for many urban cities and regions.

We are working with local authorities to provide market insight into new clean air zone technology. We are supporting the procurement of clean air zone and low emissions zone solutions that help to reduce use of the most polluting vehicles. Read the case study to find out how we helped Bristol City Council to meet legal limits for pollution.

Delivering market ready innovation – digital roads and open data

Adopting an innovative approach to sharing and analysing accessible data is enabling road operators and the public to make smarter decisions. It is opening up opportunities to provide new services.

CCS suppliers are leading the way with market ready solutions utilising real-time data analytics, helping you to meet your goals through:

  • dynamic management of traffic congestion reducing pollution hotspots
  • active junction and crossing solutions detecting and reacting to children and cyclists
  • analysis of existing data avoiding the need for new roadside hardware
  • use of simulation (digital twins) to underpin future city transport infrastructure planning

Ensuring safe and efficient network operation

Technology provides solutions to keep people and goods moving safely and efficiently including, across borders.

The deployment of thermal imaging cameras at airports helped mitigate travellers’ exposure to COVID 19. Transport operators are tackling congestion and pinch points through automated border control systems at UK entry points, by using cross-modal freight routing applications to improve efficiency, and through the application of real time telemetry technology.

Add power to your procurement with CCS

Whether you need consultancy, an end-to-end solution for EV charging, local enforcement of traffic offences, prioritisation of public transport, or the roll out of a clean air zone – we are here to help you.

To find out how we can help you get in touch or visit our smart solutions web page.

Purchasing platform changes for delivery to Northern Ireland

Our technology products team has been working with suppliers and our purchasing platform providers on the Technology Online Purchasing Content (TOPC) agreement to bring our customers a new category under the Delivery of Goods section. 

What has changed

Until now our customers have only been able to choose between standard or next day delivery. After speaking with our customers, we understood that a delivery option for Northern Ireland was an important requirement. 

Once agreeing that this was a necessity, our technology products team worked with our suppliers and purchasing platform providers to offer all public sector buyers the ability to select “Northern Ireland” as a delivery type, instead of “standard” and “next day”.

What this means

This means that when our TOPC customers are selecting their delivery type, they can now select Northern Ireland if they are arranging for delivery there. These new costs have also been updated within the platform and it now offers greater flexibility for our customer’s end users. 

Commercial Agreement Manager for Technology Online Purchasing Content, Rebekah Loades said:

Our purchasing platform has helped many of our customers find the technology online purchasing content they need. With the new update to our purchasing platform, we hope that our customers in Northern Ireland will find a greater ease in delivery.

Up next

The team is always looking for ways to improve, and over the next few months they are going to focus on continuing enhancements to the purchasing platform. For the opportunity to give feedback and play a part in the purchasing platform improvements, please get in touch.

We are also working on the next iteration of the TOPC agreement and what it will look like. If you have any questions, or would like to participate in its development, contact us at technologyproducts@crowncommercial.gov.uk and we will include you in any engagement sessions that the team runs.

Find out more

Visit our webpage to learn more about the framework and what it has to offer. Or, download our digital brochure for the latest information on our agreements and how we can help you add power to your procurement.

New IT partner helps Care Quality Commission raise user satisfaction to almost 95%

Background

The CQC is the independent regulator of health and social care for England. They wanted to prioritise their strategic plans to make it easier for:

  • providers to collaborate during inspections
  • the public to use CQC information
  • CQC’s own most critical resource – their mobile inspectors – to do their jobs 

Two thirds of CQC’s team do their job ‘on the road’ and cannot carry out the care and support required without effective mobile digital systems in place. In 2020, CQC focussed heavily on changing the IT service delivery model. The aim of this was to  make sure end users received not just good quality service, but consistent, proactive and excellent service that was delivered positively and empathetically.

The commission needed their IT partner to comprehensively understand their IT service requirements and respond quickly to its changing needs. Timescales were challenging and constantly moving. This meant CQC had to choose a provider that could rapidly establish the ongoing service delivery model using knowledge and experience gained from similar engagements, whilst supporting the transition and transformation to new technologies.  

Solution

With the support of the CCS category team, CQC chose the Technology Services 2 agreement. They awarded a 5 year contract to Littlefish to deliver and support the Digital Workplace programme through service transition and transformation into live service in June 2020 and onwards. As this took place at the height of the first COVID-19 national lockdown, delivery was executed remotely.

Littlefish’s approach was to act as an extension of the CQC IT team. They engaged regularly with CQC before, during, and after the service transition period to build an understanding of CQC’s working practices and business objectives, and to align their own behaviours in support of these. 

Littlefish also hosted ‘supplier days’ with CQC to transfer both business and IT knowledge and to give CQC a deep understanding of what Littlefish provides.  Mark Sutton, Chief Digital Officer at Care Quality Commission, commented:

“Littlefish demonstrated that they were really focused on the end users, and treat themselves as part of our team. They would empathise and they would care about what it was that people needed, making the transition to the new service really smooth. They delivered training to our team, so we had a deep understanding of what they do as an organisation, making them feel like an extension of our team.”

Challenges

CQC were keen to improve the quality of the IT service provision, particularly when it came to customer service, and it was important to Mark that CQC choose a provider that could focus heavily on excellent customer experience.  

Outcome

Prior to working with Littlefish, users were reluctant to call the CQC service desk. Since Littlefish took on the contract, they have helped CQC improve the first time fix rate to 85% and user satisfaction to almost 95%.

Selecting Littlefish as a service and transformation partner enabled CQC to radically redesign the digital experience of its employees through enhanced collaboration and productivity. It has enabled creative information sharing, both within CQC and across organisational boundaries with its partners, and has established a culture of continuously improving user-centric service delivery. 

CQC personnel now have a modern, mobile, connected working environment and a frictionless experience of using digital services that enables them to do a better job. Partnering with Littlefish allowed users at CQC to be more productive and less stressed, positively impacting their well-being. 

Mark added:

“I constantly get great feedback back from our colleagues about how empathetic and caring [Littlefish] are about getting people’s issues resolved.” 

How we can help you

To find out more about how our technology solutions could help to support you, you can:

Latest IT hardware aggregation saves customers 21%

The requirement

5 customers including a charity, a fire and rescue service, a local council, an NHS organisation and a central government department took part in our most recent IT hardware aggregation. 

They needed a wide range of IT hardware including: 

  • laptops and desktops
  • mice and keyboards
  • monitors
  • asset tagging services
  • image loading services

The solution

Based upon approximate volumes for the IT hardware items the customers needed, we were able to identify the minimum indicative savings and ceiling prices. These were the minimum savings that the customers taking part could expect.

The customers then confirmed how many items they wanted to buy, along with any extra services they needed. They did this by signing a call-off order form and letter of intent. Once the volumes were confirmed we ran the aggregation to source the supplier who offered the best quality and price. Each customer then entered into a standalone contract. 

The aggregation was run through lot 2 of the Technology Products and Associated Services framework.

The results 

We helped 5 customers save more than £900,000 in this aggregation. This was an average saving of 21%, with one customer achieving a 31% saving.

Add power to your procurement with CCS

By bringing together customers with similar needs, our aggregations help you harness bulk buying power to unlock greater savings. We run these aggregations regularly, to ensure as many customers as possible are able to achieve similar savings.

Taking part in an aggregation means many of the usual further competition procurement steps are handled by us, saving you precious time and resources. We draft all documentation, build the specification and run the procurement. 

This is a fully managed service, provided and funded by us. It is a tried and tested approach that has achieved significant savings for the public sector. 

Our next IT hardware aggregation is now open for expressions of interest. You have until mid September 2022 to submit your requirements, with a formal contract award set to take place in October 2022. 

If you would like to take part, please complete our online form quoting ‘IT Hardware Aggregation’ in the comment box and a member of our team will be in touch. 

Learn more about our Technology Products and Associated Services framework.

To find out more about aggregation with CCS, visit our web page.

Record £2.8 billion commercial benefits delivered though Crown Commercial Service agreements

Almost £3 billion in commercial benefits have been achieved for public sector organisations through use of Crown Commercial Service (CCS) agreements, delivering record value for taxpayers.

CCS agreements provide public sector bodies with a choice of suppliers who offer the best value, leveraging the scale of public sector demand to secure competitive prices. By using these agreements, public sector customers can achieve commercial benefits such as reduced costs compared to market prices and better value in contract terms and conditions.

Results

The newly published CCS annual report and accounts for 2021/22 shows £2.8 billion of commercial benefits were achieved across the public sector. CCS agreements secured £1.9 billion in benefits for central government, and a further £0.9 billion for the wider public sector. 

This includes £4 million in savings for 14 NHS trusts on mobile and data services, such as voice calls, connectivity and applications. The Student Loan Company also saved £1.6 million by outsourcing its print and mail services through CCS’s Managed Print and Digital Solutions framework.  

ACRO Criminal Records Office, a national police unit, was able to improve efficiency and accuracy by putting in place a machine translation solution through CCS’s Language Services framework. This enabled the organisation to translate vital conviction information quickly from EU member states and prevent criminal cases being thrown out of court, saving £6,000 in 3 months and helping to make our streets safer.

Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency, Jacob Rees-Mogg said:

The Crown Commercial Service is one of the highest-performing parts of the Government. It provides the best value for taxpayers day in, day out. At a time of high inflation and squeezed budgets, its work is more valuable than ever.

By leveraging the scale of public sector demand when choosing suppliers, these agreements have secured billions in savings, which can be used to support vital services delivered across the public sector.

Spending through CCS frameworks has doubled in five years, reaching £27.6 billion in 2021/22. This means CCS is on course to hit its target of £30 billion by 2024 and represents an increase of £4.9 billion on the 2020/21 total. CCS also assisted customers with contracts valued at over £5 billion annually by running procurements on their behalf.

The amount spent directly with small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) increased by £687 million compared to the year before. In total, £2.2 billion was spent directly with SMEs, supporting growth and jobs across the UK.

CEO of Crown Commercial Service, Simon Tse said:

Growing the economy is a top priority and supporting small businesses will do just that.

The past year has seen record spending with SMEs through CCS agreements and suppliers have been paid promptly, aiding their growth and spreading economic prosperity across the country.

CCS agreements have also supported public sector customers with key policy priorities, such as net zero commitments and supply chain auditing. 

Thousands of customers used CCS’s dedicated net zero web pages over the last 12 months to identify agreements that help them meet sustainability goals.

CCS also published its first annual modern slavery statement in November. This set out steps being taken to identify, prevent and mitigate the risks of modern slavery in CCS operations and supply chains, including ensuring that suppliers are publishing an annually updated modern slavery statement.

Chair of the CCS Board, Tony van Kralingen said:

Crown Commercial Service has once again driven significant value for taxpayers, while continuing to develop and enhance its reputation for excellence across central government and the wider public sector.

I am delighted to be able to end my term as Chair of the CCS Board with such outstanding results. The Board and I are confident that the platform for continued success is well established.

The year at a glance

  • £27.6 billion of public sector spend was channelled through our agreements, doubling our spend from 5 years ago
  • customers who have used our agreements have achieved commercial benefits equivalent to £2.8 billion
  • our employee engagement index, as measured by the Civil Service People Survey, remains high at 71% in 2021 
  • £2.2 billion was spent directly with SMEs through CCS’s commercial agreements in 2021/22. An additional £687m compared to 2020/21
  • through our assisted procurement service we helped deliver procurements for customers worth a total annual contract value of £5 billion.

Read the full report

You can read CCS’s Annual Report and Accounts on gov.uk.

You can find a full list of all the commercial agreements CCS offers, alongside details of how CCS can help you build policy considerations into your procurement, in our interactive digital brochure.

Supporting the health sector and COVID-19 recovery with courier and logistics services

This includes logistics such as storing PPE, so it’s ready to distribute where it’s needed, or assembling items to complete testing kits.

To help the health sector address these increasingly important needs and build back better, our Document Management and Logistics team engaged with customers to learn more about their requirements and suppliers to establish capabilities. In 2021/2022, we launched two new agreements to help the health sector with transportation, storage and kitting.

Storage, Distribution, Kitting and Associated Services (RM6282) provides access to a wide range of services under one agreement including:

  • storage –  temperature controlled or standard storage in the UK or overseas
  • transporting items within the UK or internationally
  • quality control – checking that items conform to specified standards
  • packaging – from a cardboard box to transport items, to more specialised temperature-controlled packaging to transport critical and life-saving items
  • picking and packaging items to make a test kit ready to distribute for the purposes of at home testing/screening of potential health conditions

Courier and Specialist Movements lot 4 (RM6171) provides a total courier solution, enabling a full range of delivery and collection services UK-wide and internationally under one lot including:

  • temperature controlled and ambient temperature movements
  • transportation of samples, specimens, vaccines, pharmaceuticals, controlled drugs, medical equipment and medical records
  • transportation of radioactive materials

Benefits of using our logistics and courier services for the health sector

  • a compliant route to market with options for both direct award and further competition
  • Storage, Distribution, Kitting and Associated Services saves you time by offering a wide range range of services under 1 agreement so you don’t need to buy through multiple routes 
  • a team of category experts ready to discuss your requirements and provide support with issuing requests for information (RFIs)
  • social value has been built into both commercial agreements
  • services shaped specifically for the health sector including suppliers with experience of supporting the sector during the pandemic
  • 58% SMEs across both agreements, giving you access to services from local suppliers

Further support

Whether you’re new to CCS and require guidance or you want to discuss a complex requirement – we’re here to help. Please get in touch to discuss your requirements with one of our category experts.

Customer newsletters for July

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

Changes to our agreements in June

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 June  

  • No agreements were awarded in June

Agreements extended in June

Agreements that expired in June 

  • No agreements expired in June

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.