West Lothian College complete building extension against the clock thanks to Construction framework

The requirement

West Lothian College (WLC) wanted to procure the construction of a mezzanine level and associated services. This was for one of their existing buildings, for the purposes of extending the workshop within the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment.

WLC had a limited budget and strict timeframe in which to procure this, with a requirement for construction to be completed within 6 months.

The procurement team at WLC researched a number of available routes and, following discussions with Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC), a decision was made to procure the works through the CCS ‘Construction Works and Associated Services’ framework. 

This would allow WLC to run a compliant procurement process over a shorter timescale, while ensuring that suitably qualified organisations would be tendering for the work, reducing the risks associated with its completion.

The solution

WLC registered their interest in using the framework and CCS provided significant support and advice, which continued throughout the process. 

WLC opted to use ‘Lot 1.1.4 Building Works and Minor Associated Civil Engineering Works and Services – Scotland’. They put out information through an Expression of Interest form to all suppliers on the Lot and received replies from 8 of the 9 suppliers.

The result

By using the framework, WLC were able to reduce their timescales, receiving 4 high quality bids, from Scottish suppliers with significant local presence, after just 3 weeks out to tender. Following a very competitive process, the winning tender submission was by Maxi Construction.

The split of the framework to target more localised SME suppliers also meant that WLC were able to operate the site visits at relatively short notice while remaining compliant with COVID-19 restrictions.

WLC achieved approximately 12% savings, among other benefits:

  • all permanent and agency staff (97%) paid in excess of Real Living Wage except trainees who are paid National Living Wage
  • site walk-arounds offered on weekly basis for staff and students
  • potential work placement during works
  • local supplier, meaning this project would provide local employment during a very difficult economic situation

The framework provided a fast and simple route to market while also providing a good range of suitable, locally-based suppliers. The support of CCS allowed the project to start on time.

The project was finished (subject to usual snagging works) only a week over the original scheduled end date, which considering how tight a project it was excellent.  We were very impressed with Maxi Construction.

Chris Naismith, Procurement Coordinator at West Lothian College.

Let us add power to your procurement

Our Construction Works and Associated Services framework provides a wide range of major and minor building and civil engineering projects.  

To find out how we can help you make smart buying decisions for your construction needs:

Crown Commercial Service launches new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Workday to help accelerate public sector innovation

The newly launched MoU offers public sector customers access to a wide range of discounts on Workday’s cloud-based products, which will help accelerate and streamline business operations and encourage innovation. 

Workday offers a suite of applications for financial management, human resources, planning, spend management and analytics. Public sector organisations already using Workday include the Cabinet Office, Department for Education and UK Research and Innovation.

MoUs are a preferential pricing agreement negotiated by ourselves at CCS on behalf of our customers, and are available to all eligible public sector customers through any route to market used for technology procurement. Customers can access the Workday discounted pricing by going through our Data and Application Solutions and Back Office Software  frameworks. 

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

This Memorandum of Understanding with Workday will allow the public sector to access a range of discounts on cloud products, supporting the digital transformation of the UK public sector as we build back better.

Let us bring power to your procurement 

To find out more about our Workday MoU or benefit from software support from our team of technology experts, please complete our online form quoting ‘Workday MoU’ and we will be in touch. 

Alternatively, you can call us on: 0345 410 2222.

5 things businesses need to do to supply to the public sector

Whether your business specialises in goods or services, transport infrastructure or expert advice on the adoption of new technologies, there’s a good chance that a customer exists in the public sector who wants to buy what you’re selling. 

The difficult part can be finding routes to help you market your goods or services to those customers. 

Introducing Crown Commercial Service

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is an executive agency of the UK government’s Cabinet Office, and the UK’s largest public procurement body. 

We work with 18,000 public sector customers to get the best deal for them on their procurements. Last year, customers spent £18 billion through CCS agreements. Around 7,000 suppliers are signed up to supply goods and services to the public sector through our commercial agreements, helping to ensure a robust and reliable supply chain to support the delivery of public services. 

Right now we’re working to make sure that social value, modern slavery, carbon net zero, and sustainability in general are built into our agreements. We know that our customers want to use procurement to improve the lives of citizens across the UK, and we’re working with suppliers to make sure they’re tuned in to what customers want.

5 things businesses need to do to supply to the public sector

  • Know what a framework is and how to join one

Procurement frameworks make it easier for the public sector to find and contract with suppliers of the particular good or service they want to buy. To find out how to join one of our frameworks, read our guide, and keep an eye on our upcoming deals webpage to see what we’re currently working on. 

  • Understand the local landscape

It’s more important than ever that companies that want to work with the public sector can demonstrate that they’re engaged with and share the values of the communities they’re going to serve. Tailor your offer to the needs of your customers – which leads nicely on to…

  • Make sure you’re building social value, sustainability and other policy considerations into your offer

CCS frameworks require that you are able to demonstrate that you’ve considered some of the key policy considerations that public sector bodies are interested in supporting. You may need to show how you’re committed to tackling modern slavery in your supply chain, how you can help to promote apprenticeships in your industry, or your sustainability credentials. Public sector organisations want to work with suppliers who care about their local areas – so make sure this is part of your bid.

  • Got a place on a framework? Now promote the goods and services you offer

Once you’re on a framework, you’ll get the chance to compete for public sector contracts. Make sure your potential customers know that you’ve won a place – you can use the ‘CCS Supplier’ logo on your website and send out press releases promoting your framework place.

  • Keep up to date with new frameworks and policies that could impact your business – and celebrate your successes

Follow CCS on LinkedIn and Twitter and bookmark our ‘Upcoming Deals’ webpage to keep up to date with all of our new frameworks and when you can bid to join them. We’re keen to show public sector customers the benefits that their peers have generated from using our frameworks – so think about how you can develop case studies and testimonials to celebrate your successes.

Artificial intelligence and automation for the public sector

As Category Manager for the Artificial Intelligence and Automation Marketplace Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) at Crown Commercial Service, my role is to lead procurement operations and support a variety of customers from across the public sector with their AI and automation requirements. 

From helping to lead this category for just over a year, I have realised that many people are still unaware of what AI and automation are, and how they can work together to drive real change across an organisation.

What is AI? 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is technology with the ability to perform tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, and language translation.

It involves machines using statistics to find patterns in large amounts of data, so that tasks can be performed without the need for constant human guidance.

You will recognise AI in everyday life, like when Netflix software recommends what you might like to watch based on your viewing history, or when Siri and Alexa use natural language to respond to you

There are so many ways in which AI can support public sector organisations, such as helping to manage and use data better, improve diagnostics in healthcare and help you communicate better with customers through the likes of online chatbots, which allow customers to ask questions and chat through an online messaging application. 

We can offer you access to these cutting edge technologies through our Artificial Intelligence Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) which has been created in collaboration with the Office for Artificial Intelligence, to make it easier for you to buy this new technology and take advantage of what it has to offer.

What is Automation?

Automation uses sophisticated technologies to deliver processes and services with minimal human interaction, including high-volume, repeatable tasks such as queries, calculations and maintenance of records and transactions.

There are different types of automation technologies such as desktop, cognitive, RPA and AI.

Desktop automation, for example, uses simple tools such as ‘macros’ to record and repeat tasks and can help with tactical automation – ‘doing the same thing but faster’. 

Cognitive automation software uses pattern recognition and machine learning, along with natural language processing and human interface, like Alexa.

And robotic process automation (RPA) operates existing applications and systems. It can be attended; sits on a desktop, covers part of the process and is for the front office, like a bot that creates a dashboard pulling data from multiple systems to assist a customer call centre. Or it can be unattended; typically for back office end to end processes located in a server room, the bot categorises and prioritises incoming correspondence onto a system for humans to respond to.

Automation has the potential to transform how you can deliver public services by reducing operational running costs of public-facing services by up to a third. This can result in better service delivery, improved data, cost reduction, counter-fraud and increased efficiency.

We can offer you access to Automation services with our Automation Marketplace DPS, which has been designed to offer customers a simple, efficient route to a wide range of automation services in an emerging market. 

How do AI and Automation differ?

Automation is focused on people and processes, rather than technology. Although technology investment is also important, we should remember that technology based on a bad process will just make the bad process faster. Processes can be improved with existing IT and automating tools for process optimisation.

Some of the things automation software can do:

  • simple tools to record and repeat tasks
  • create a dashboard, pulling data from multiple systems to reduce call time and clicks for customer service agents
  • categorise and prioritise incoming correspondence onto a system for humans to respond to

AI thinks for itself, can train robots, analyse text and speech to transform structured data into natural language and automate process documentation. 

Some of the things AI software can do:

  • use machine learning techniques to improve solar forecasting accuracy
  • use data taken from earth observation satellites to generate 3D models and predict flood risk 
  • anomaly detection of goods arriving at the border
  • natural language processing

How can AI and Automation be used together?

Both AI and automation rely on lots of data to provide analytics and insights and we will benefit most from using a mixed economy of technologies.

As an example, AI in automation technologies, can be used to train a computer or system to recognise data with automated redirection to category classification. AI can extract information, such as a case reference number, email address, intended recipient and phone number, to categorise an enquiry as ‘general’ or ’freedom of information request’ and help maintain quality and deadlines.

So, by implementing both AI and automation technologies together, you could ensure your organisation is working efficiently and effectively, with little room for error.

Let us bring power to your procurement

If you would like to learn more, please visit our artificial intelligence and automation pages on our website. 

Or, if you would like to get in touch, please complete our online form quoting “AI and Automation’ and I will be sure to get back to you.

Alternatively, you can call us on: 0345 410 2222

Interpreting and translation services for the world we live in today

The pandemic has forced organisations to adapt the way they work to ensure critical frontline services can still be provided to those most in need. As this often includes citizens whose primary language is not English, it has led to a move away from traditional face-to-face translation services to options such as telephone and video interpreting. 

Changing needs

In January 2020 our customers were using in the region of 450,000 minutes of telephone and video interpreting. By February 2021 this had increased to over 1.2 million minutes, reflecting the need to change how services are provided in response to COVID-19. In the same time period, face-to-face services reduced from around 5,000 appointments to 1,500.

Our new Language Services framework (RM6141) gives you access to a range of remote solutions – from telephone and video services to speech-to-text software and machine translation. It replaces RM1092, which expired on 21 April 2021.

As well as helping you respond to new ways of working brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, these options can also save you time, resources and costs. As the Home Office Legacy Common Goods and Services Team commented:

CCS was able to provide expert advice, guidance and direction on how best to use the framework. This support enabled the Home Office to concentrate on developing our requirements, whilst knowing we had an expert in language services at our disposal when needed.

Social value

Social value is firmly at the heart of the new framework. All suppliers have been assessed on their ability to help you achieve social value, with a particular focus on equality and diversity, fair working practices and support for local communities.  

Every successful supplier was evaluated on areas such as: 

  • the social or economic initiatives they will adopt throughout the life of the framework to support the community they serve 
  • fair working practices for all personnel providing services under the framework
  • ensuring equality and diversity in the workplace, including how they will improve in this area 

By working in partnership with our suppliers on these important issues, we are confident of a better outcome for you as our customer, for your end users, and the wider language services community. 

Your particular social value needs may be unique to your organisation, and bespoke social value requirements can be included in your procurement whether you’re a central government department, NHS trust, local authority, housing association, or charity.  

What else is new?

We have added several other new features to the framework to ensure you have access to the solutions you need. This includes: 

  • regional managed service lots: if you have a regional or overseas focus you can buy multiple services through a single supplier, giving you greater clarity about pricing 
  • more opportunities for SME suppliers as they don’t need to be able to offer their services on a national scale: 13 of the 15 suppliers on the new framework are SMEs
  • a quality assurance service option: you can get an independent quality assurance specialist to carry out checks on your supplier(s) and/or the linguists carrying out assignments for you
  • services available through the framework have been rationalised to avoid confusion: all non-spoken services, such as Braille and British Sign Language are now included under a single non-spoken services option (lot 4), helping you achieve compliance with the accessibility regulations that have recently come into effect

Add power to your procurement decisions with CCS

If you would like to learn more about the framework and the innovative new options it offers, we will be hosting webinars throughout the summer.

We’ll share further details about the webinars shortly. In the meantime, let us know if you are interested in joining us by completing this short online form and mentioning ‘Language Services webinar’ in the comments box. 

You can also:

Don’t forget, 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.

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 an Executive Educators event in early 2020, a discussion with our category experts led Peter Thompson, the trust’s Chief Operating Officer, to reconsider how BDAT used agencies for their staffing needs.  As Peter explained:

I wanted to reduce the number of agencies we used as a trust, to drive value and promote quality and compliance. After discussions with the executive team, we agreed that we wanted to work with the agencies on Crown Commercial Service’s framework. This would allow us to enjoy cost savings, better compliance and quality, and terms and conditions written in our favour.

Making agencies work for you

To make the vision a reality, BDAT first needed to gain a comprehensive understanding of how each of the 17 academies used agencies. 

Peter added:

With the support of CCS, I reviewed our agency spend and usage. For each academy we worked out, year on year, what they spent on agencies. We also identified which agencies our schools were using and what we were using them for.

From here, the CCS Supply Teachers team got rate cards from the framework agencies BDAT were interested in using and, following vetting, drew up short order forms for those selected for a preferred supplier list.  

Peter explained the benefits of working with agencies on a preferred supplier list:

We know from the outset what the cost will be and the margin the agency is making. This has given an element of control over spend as the rate cards set out the maximum rate an agency can charge, inflation-proofing the rates and guaranteeing that academies would not be charged a premium for in-demand supply in shortage categories. 

Other benefits the trust is enjoying include the savings potential, increased compliance and quality, standard and consistent terms and conditions, and the ability to make temporary staff permanent after 12 weeks with 4 weeks notice with no fees being charged by the agency. 

Looking to the future, BDAT will have the ongoing support of the CCS team throughout the life of the contract, to consistently review and optimise performance

Can we help you?

To find out more about how we can help your school or trust with your temporary recruitment needs, why not get in touch with our expert team?

Simply email the team at supplyteachers@crowncommercial.gov.uk providing the following information:

  • school name
  • your name
  • email address
  • telephone number

You can also find out more about the framework by:

  • visiting our web page
  • emailing info@crowncommercial.gov.uk
  • calling 0345 410 2222

Take action to avoid an employee wellbeing crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the wellbeing of employees on a scale never seen before. From health concerns to money worries, fatigue due to being ‘always on’, juggling working life and caring commitments, and reduced social interaction.

Employee wellbeing has been high on the agenda for HR professionals throughout the pandemic. However assessing the full extent of the problem has been difficult.

A recent Edenred research report based on a survey of 2,000 UK employees has shed some light on the magnitude of challenges businesses now face:

  • 29% of employees said the benefits their employers provide to meet wellbeing needs are inadequate
  • employers saw decreases in pre-pandemic levels of physical wellbeing (34%) and happiness at work (33%)
  • 21% of employees think employer support for financial wellbeing has fallen short, but 51% of businesses said this was an area they were least likely to measure the impact of
  • 25% of employees flagged mental health as their biggest concern in 2021

With restrictions slowly lifting, and the successful rollout of the vaccination programme helping to return the UK to some form of normality, there is light at the end of the tunnel. But unless employers have a clear plan to support their employees’ wellbeing, they may find that their colleagues struggle to return to pre-COVID-19 levels of productivity.

Employee Wellbeing Week (17-21 May)

To help support staff even as lockdown eases, Edenred is running a week-long celebration of all things employee wellbeing to public sector organisations currently using its mylifestyle online platform. Available for free using the Employee Benefits framework, activities will highlight how staff can improve their physical, mental and financial wellbeing simply by engaging with the platform.

What’s happening?

  • yoga sessions with Blessed Yoga
  • high-intensity interval training (HIIT) classes with Revoola
  • food intolerances webinar with YorkTest
  • healthy eating talk with Benenden Health
  • 5 prize draw competitions Including Muscle Food and LRG Fitness
  • a wellbeing special of Boost Magazine
  • themed wellbeing email campaigns highlighting the best wellbeing retailers on the platform
  • wellbeing themed communications toolkit to raise awareness amongst employees

Find out more

If you are a current customer and want to find out more about Employee Wellbeing Week and how to promote it to your staff, please speak to your Edenred account manager.

If you would like more information on the mylifestyle platform, you can visit the framework page.

Don’t forget, 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.

New Cloud Compute agreement awarded for hyperscale cloud hosting

Cloud Compute lets customers rapidly scale up or down their usage as and when required, with longer call-off options than other cloud agreements and more flexibility over taking on new service offerings during the contract term.

The products offered through the new agreement are defined as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), which can scale rapidly to meet any change in demand.

As part of the tender process, bidders were asked to provide evidence of how they would support customers to achieve social value through their contracts – boosting sustainability and economic inequality.

CCS will continue to work with suppliers on this agreement to understand and reduce the public sector’s carbon emissions footprint through cloud adoption, in line with the Government’s carbon net zero commitments.

A complementary solution

CCS is launching Cloud Compute to complement G-Cloud, which has shorter call-off terms and a wider pool of suppliers able to offer more diverse services.

Cloud Compute focuses on flexible (‘hyperscale’) compute environments, used for the development of new software applications or where large and complex data sets need to be modelled, for example.

Being able to rapidly scale up or down the service offered is crucial, and unavailable through G-Cloud.

The framework will run for four years and is available to the whole public and third sector. Call-off terms are up to three years, with two possible extensions of up to 12 months each.

The following suppliers have been awarded places:

  • Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL
  • Fordway Solutions Ltd
  • Frontier Technology
  • Google Ireland Limited
  • IBM UK Limited
  • Microsoft
  • Oracle Corporation UK Ltd
  • UKCloud Ltd
  • UKFast.net Limited

Find out more

To find out more about Cloud Compute visit the agreement webpage or contact the CCS Service Desk at info@crowncommercial.gov.uk / 0345 410 2222.

Don’t forget, 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 employee physical and mental health and well-being

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that our physical and mental health and well-being is more important than ever. Organisations are adapting to ensure they have the knowledge and services in place to support employees through difficult times, and our new framework has been developed to help you do that.

The impact of the pandemic

The pandemic has changed all our lives in so many ways, and one of the main areas of concern is the detrimental impact on mental health and well-being. The Office of National Statistics reported that more than two-thirds of adults in the UK (69%) reported feeling somewhat or very worried about the effect COVID-19 is having on their life.

Our new framework provides numerous services to help organisations support their employees, including proactive and preventative services and treatments. Throughout the pandemic occupational health suppliers have played a key role –
from offering mental health workshops to publishing fact sheets on how to deal with an array of issues including burnout, health anxiety, domestic abuse, stress and bereavement.

Suppliers are flexible in their delivery methods and offer remote options wherever possible, and where clinical governance allows. Customers will also be able to choose for services to be provided remotely beyond the pandemic.

Enhanced psychological support services, such as structured psychological support, mental health screening and psychological surveillance are a new feature of the framework. These may be of particular interest to bluelight customers or those subject to traumatic events in their roles.

Social value

Social value was evaluated at 10% as part of the procurement process. Suppliers on the framework are fully aware that customers will need to evaluate social value and there are examples available for customers to consider depending on their organisation’s priorities. Examples include diverse, safe and secure supply chains, skills and employment, environmental sustainability, and inclusion and wellbeing. From an inclusion and diversity perspective, suppliers must also ensure their service offerings meet accessibility requirements. If websites, portals or apps are used they must be equally accessible by all. A number of new workplace assessments covering neurodiverse conditions are now also available through the framework.

Helping you buy local

Selecting a regional supplier may also support customers in meeting their specific social value criteria.

Our regional lot means you can now buy from a supplier that is able to provide services locally. Customers that are not geographically widespread can consider all suppliers providing services in their area. We’ve split the UK into the following regions:

  • London
  • South
  • Midlands and East of England
  • Northern England
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland
  • Scotland

Find out more about the framework and get in touch

To learn more about the new framework please visit the framework page. If you have any questions or would like to speak to a member of our team please fill out this short online form referencing ‘RM6182’ in the comments box.

Alternatively, you can: 

This framework is offered to NHS customers as part of the NHS Workforce Alliance portfolio of health workforce solutions.

Researching after COVID-19: how to get your research plans back on track

In March, the UK government brought in measures to control the spread of COVID-19, with a complete lockdown stopping a large amount of research in its tracks.  The implications of this can be far-reaching, both in terms of the continuity and quality of data for ongoing programmes and for the financial health of the research industry as a whole.

Now, as the restrictions are gradually lifted, it’s a good time to talk about some of the ways in which you might restart your existing research programmes, and how we can all work to support the wider industry navigate its way out of a post-pandemic slump.

Safely resuming research

The lockdown has caused many organisations to pause research projects, particularly where these involved face-to-face research.  The resulting delays to planned research has created uncertainty in the market and will have a continued impact on the continuity of research-related projects.

While the risk of coronavirus is still present, you should consider whether there are alternative methods or modes for your research programme, such as telephone interviews, focus groups via video conference or other online methods, which would still allow you to achieve your objectives. 

For existing agreements, get in touch with your research provider to discuss what’s possible. The Research, Insight and Behavioural Science team within the COVID-19 Communications Hub at Cabinet Office has successfully run a programme of research using online focus groups, and are happy to discuss their learnings – contact them to learn more.

Viewing facilities and other venues used for market and social research were able to re-open from 4 July, making face-to-face qualitative research a possibility again.  Face to face quantitative resumed in mid-May including the Department of Health and Social Care and ONS project which is tracking the rate of infection. 

The Market Research Society (MRS) has published guidance for undertaking safe face-to-face data collection and specific guidance for viewing facilities / research venues and face-to-face mystery shopping.  If face-to-face research is essential for your project, you should seek reassurance from the research agencies you work with that they and their suppliers are following this guidance.

Reviewing your existing research contracts 

You should think about how your research contracts are being managed.  For example, where a supplier has undertaken work on your behalf, and has raised invoices for this work, you should make sure that they are paid in line with the agreed terms to help maintain cash flow and support their ongoing financial stability. 

Consider the payment mechanisms within your research contracts, and whether these are helpful for suppliers who may be struggling with cash flow.  For example if your contract stipulates milestone payments, but work has stalled due to COVID-19, this may have an immediate impact on your supplier’s financial stability. If your supplier has raised concerns with you, consider whether amending your agreement to include alternative payment terms, or changing your payment method to procurement card, might help ensure the supplier’s continued stability. 

The UK Government has recently issued a few Procurement Policy Notes (PPNs) on payment of suppliers, which may apply to your existing contracts:

  • PPN 02/20 Supplier Relief due to COVID-19 (including Model Interim Payment Terms)
  • PPN 03/20 Use of procurement cards – COVID-19
  • PPN 04/20 Recovery & Transition from COVID-19

We’re here for you

Hopefully this has given you some helpful tips on how to resume and continue your research in a way that supports the overall sustainability of the research market. 

This is new territory for all of us, so please don’t forget that the Research & Insights category experts at Crown Commercial Service are here to help you along the way.  Let’s work together to ensure our research objectives are met in a safe and sustainable manner whilst supporting the market through this challenging period. 

Get in touch with us via email.