Council third party spend reaches £70bn
04/07/2022 Local authority spend with third parties has continued to increase significantly and has almost reached the £70bn mark, new research reveals. |
New anti-Putin powers given to councils
26/05/2022 Councils have been handed powers to terminate commercial relationships with firms that have ‘strong links’ to Vladimir Putin’s ‘murderous regime’. |
Call for clarity on local government's use of Hikvision surveillance cameras
26/04/2022 Local government minister, Michael Gove, has been urged to clarify his position on buying surveillance cameras from tech company Hikvision. |
Local authorities’ pivotal role in levelling up through collaborative, value-led procurement
20/04/2022 Exploring the link between true levelling up and procurement, Elaine Elkington addresses how and why local authorities and public sector organisations play a key role in unlocking equity for ‘left behind’ areas. |
Liverpool City Region adopts new social value tool
14/04/2022 The Liverpool City Region has adopted a new social value tool to help tackle the city region’s social, economic and environmental challenges. |
Delay to EPR will create 'vacuum of uncertainty' for councils
04/03/2022 Councils will be forced to award waste management contracts in a 'vacuum of uncertainty' following the delay to the introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR), the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) has warned. |
Liverpool launches £40m framework procurement
21/01/2022 A £40m highways framework covering the Liverpool Combined Authority region is open to supplier bids. |
Transforming public procurement – the road to flexibility?
21/12/2021 Craig Elder, partner at Browne Jacobson, looks at public procurement. |
Councils should use procurement to boost local economies, think tank says
07/12/2021 Local authorities should strive to be more ethical and place-sensitive when buying goods and services, think tank says. |
County takes action after warning it may have breached procurement law
25/11/2021 Cambridgeshire County Council has made a number of improvements to their procurement processes after an external audit found the local authority might have breached procurement law. |
Accelerating local government’s transition to net zero with AI-enabled procurement
22/10/2021 Muhammad Malik explains how local government can harness AI technologies to streamline the cost of procuring renewable energy without impacting daily operations. |
Why security should be top priority for the £2bn data procurement framework
29/09/2021 The local government's acknowledgement of the importance of data should be tempered with caution about data security and regulation adherence argues AJ Thompson. |
Homes England launches £20bn dynamic purchasing system
07/09/2021 Councils and housing associations will find it easier to build houses thanks to reforms in the way Homes England procures housebuilders and disposes of land. |
How key is procurement for reaching climate targets in local government?
02/08/2021 After hosting a first-of-its-kind event, Net Zero Week, Gavin Rimmington shares insight into why procurement is key for enabling the public sector to reach climate targets. |
Six ‘must haves’ for Boris’ levelling up vision
21/07/2021 Nigel Wilcock offers six important points to add to the levelling up debate. |
Construction Playbook: A roadmap to a better way
19/07/2021 Mark Robinson reviews the impact of the government’s Construction Playbook, after its first six months since publication. |
Procurement and the challenges of decarbonising local government fleets
12/07/2021 Gavin Rimmington offers insight into the important role of procurement to decarbonising local government fleets, and the most efficient ways to enable large-scale transitioning. |
Cardiff Council to manage procurement services for Monmouthshire
08/07/2021 Cardiff Council will manage Monmouthshire County Council's procurement operations and functions for the next three years. |
Councils charged triple the recommended mark-up on IT products
19/05/2021 Councils are paying more than three times the recommended mark-up on technology products, a new study has revealed. |
Supporting local authorities to level up economies
19/05/2021 How can the construction industry support the public sector to achieve the government’s ambition of levelling up? Paul Kelly reports. |
Birmingham CC spends nearly £200m in local economy
26/04/2021 Birmingham City Council has spent £194,619,328 in its surrounding areas as part of an effort to improve the social value of its commissioning and procurement. |
Social value going upstream
26/02/2021 Approaching a decade on since the Social Value Act 2012, there has never been a better time for social value to become more than something considered alongside procurement, argues Tim Pope. |
Why green will be the next tick box for procurement
23/02/2021 Richard Lilwall explains how AI can be used to help councils develop their green fleet strategies. |
Care workers were left without PPE during first wave of COVID-19, watchdog warns
10/02/2021 Social care providers were left without adequate PPE at the start of the pandemic, the public spending watchdog has warned today. |
English councils spent £63bn on third parties last year
28/01/2021 Third party expenditure by local authorities in England has outstriped inflation for the last three years, new figures have revealed. |
Trade union calls for higher human rights standards in PPE
26/01/2021 A local government trade union has called for new laws to stop PPE being supplied by companies that exploit workers. |
Is the pandemic doing the job of G-Cloud?
01/10/2020 As the pandemic see real changes in public sector IT procurement practices it is now crucial that they remain in place, argues James Cherry. |
The pressure of procurement
30/09/2020 Local authorities may be missing out on the chance to extract maximum value for their new-build housing projects, according to Tim Young. |
Councils to ‘regularly report’ on efforts to fight modern slavery
22/09/2020 Local authorities and other public bodies which have a budget of £36m or more will be required to regularly report on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains. |
Community Wealth Building: Kick-starting economic recovery on the doorstep
24/08/2020 Sarah Stone explores how CWB can be used to build back better post-Covid and how councils can maximise social value in the procurement process. |
£13bn construction procurement frameworks launched
21/07/2020 Two public sector frameworks totalling £13bn have been launched aimed at providing direct support to local economies and the green recovery. |
Running on empty
17/07/2020 Mark Robinson discusses the widening gap in public sector funding and the implications for the sector’s built environment partners. |
PPN 04/20 – What’s changing and how can we plan for the future?
02/07/2020 Lucy Woods explains what contracting authorities should do to prepare for new PPN 04/20 guidance. |
Construction spend must deliver social value, argues report
30/06/2020 Construction spend must deliver more ‘tangible social impact’ to support disadvantaged communities post-Covid, according to a new report. |
Councils get new advice to combat procurement fraud
09/06/2020 New advice to help councils in England fight procurement fraud has been published by the Government. |
Pan-London partnership for PPE launched
19/05/2020 A new pan-London partnership has been established to provide personal protective equipment or care homes and other frontline services. |
IfG: Extend outsourcing reforms to councils
04/03/2020 Government reforms of outsourcing to avoid another Carillion collapse must be extended to local government where commercial skills lag behind Whitehall, a report from the Institute for Government (IfG) think-tank has said. |
What local government should ask startups
12/02/2020 Investment in digital solutions to service delivery may help to deliver greater public satisfaction with local government at lower cost. Edd Elliot offers a few tips to buyers seeking to understand whether a small business is offering a solution that matches your problem. |
Leisure centre contracts in the era of the climate crisis
07/02/2020 Why contracts for the future operation and maintenance of leisure facilities need to change to accommodate issues like the climate emergency. |
Maximising tech spend
09/01/2020 David Beggs calls on local government to take a much broader view of technology to get the most value from it. |
Lost in translation: sustainability down the construction supply chain
08/01/2020 Luke Deamer, Erica Russell and Jacquetta Lee explore sustainability down the construction supply chain. |
Councils being charged 'shocking' markup on IT products
30/09/2019 Councils are paying almost four times the recommended mark-up on technology products, new analysis has revealed. |
Going the extra mile
08/08/2019 Paul Doe explains how local authorities can deliver value to citizens beyond connectivity. |
Nottingham Council to supply its own water
26/07/2019 Nottingham City Council is set to become the first council to run its own water services in-house, saving an estimated £64,000 a year. |
FORS: supply chain compliance to ensure efficiency
22/07/2019 Rajinder Sharma explains how the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme helps local authorities to drive up best practice and strengthen its supply chain. |
Setting the standard
18/07/2019 Terry Coyle explains why it makes sense to work with a company that has its management system and auditor competency processes approved by UKAS. |
Council backs campaign for procurement reform
11/07/2019 Oxford City Council has become the first authority to back a fair tax campaign. |
Kier to cut 1,200 jobs and ditch housing division
17/06/2019 Kier Group is to cut around 1,200 jobs and make savings of £55m over the next two years, amid a planned sell-off of many of its commercial interests. |
Amazon awarded £460m in public sector contracts since 2015
14/06/2019 A contract awarded to Amazon by a local government purchasing organisation is the biggest in the UK public sector, according to new research. |
Councils urged to record data on procurement of single-use plastic bottles
07/06/2019 A third of councils are failing to record how many single-use plastic bottles they have procured over the last five years, according to new research. |
Councils exposed following Kier profit warning
06/06/2019 Local authorities are heavily exposed to struggling construction giant Kier which faced a huge fall in its share price this week, according to the latest figures. |
Reframing the apprenticeship levy deadline for spending
05/06/2019 Lizzy Grayson discusses how the apprenticeship levy has changed post-deadline for spending . |
Unchaining social value
31/05/2019 A new report reveals some councils are building social value into their procurement – but that senior council decision makers must take more interest in securing broader benefits when commissioning services. |
Top panel formed to study local impact of Social Value Act
23/05/2019 Localis has launched a research project asking if the Government is providing social, economic and environmental benefits through public procurement. |
Coming to terms with late payments
02/05/2019 Neil Washington explains how the public sector can strengthen SMEs by ensuring their contractors operate fair payment terms. |
A £3m fund launched to improve infrastructure procurement
18/04/2019 A £3m fund has been made available for pilot projects that explore new approaches to procurement in housing and council-led infrastructure construction. |
UniCORN Framework
26/02/2019 Why BT UniCORN Framework – Join the partnership to cut costs and create opportunities. |
Double the number of providers handing back care contracts to councils
12/02/2019 The number of social care providers handing back contracts to councils has more than doubled in 2018, new research has revealed. |
Local government outsourcing fell by more than £80m in 2018
06/02/2019 The total value of outsourcing contracts agreed by councils in 2018 fell by more than £80m in 2018, according to the Arvato UK Outsourcing Index. |
London ICT Framework
04/02/2019 There are hundreds of frameworks to choose from, helping your organisation to procure anything from office supplies to cloud services. But if you’re based in the capital, you might want to consider the BT London ICT Framework. |
Union warns outsourcing 'rockets' after Carillion collapse
15/01/2019 Councils are still awarding outsourcing contracts to companies that have recently issued profit warnings, new research has revealed. |
Local government buying: the smart way forward
14/01/2019 Mark Whitehead looks at how 'best value' is overtaking 'best price' when it comes to local government procurement. |
The top ten things for local government to be aware of in 2019
11/01/2019 2019 looks set to be a year of interesting challenges and opportunities for local government. Tiffany Cloynes and Clare Hardy offer their predictions for the year ahead. |
Exclusive: Councils increase number of deals with SMEs and social enterprises
08/01/2019 Councils are increasingly forging deals with smaller companies rather than big outsourcing contractors, according to the latest figures. |
Social value revolution
19/12/2018 Andy Preston explores how local government procurement has changed this year and how councils can meet updated procurement policy. |
Allied Healthcare to sell off all council contracts within three weeks
23/11/2018 Local authorities have three weeks to find alternative providers for thousands of elderly and vulnerable people after a major care services company pulled out of the market. |
Care provider winds up its local authority contracts
22/11/2018 A major care services provider is winding up all its contracts with local authorities after regulators warned it was about to go bust. |
Technology deal to transform care services, say analysts
08/11/2018 A huge procurement deal to promote the latest technology is being hailed as a way to transform the delivery of social services and bring their spiralling costs under control. |
Fair payment champions
26/10/2018 Victoria Brambini explains how local authorities can empower their supply chains through fair payment. |
Virgin Care awarded contract to deliver Lancashire health services
18/10/2018 Virgin Care has been identified as the preferred bidder for the delivery of 0-19 public health services in Lancashire after a legal challenge forced a reevaluation of the bid. |
Procurement problems
16/10/2018 The latest Highways/FiTZ INDEX survey has revealed deep concerns within the highways sector about the nature of procurement. Dominic Browne reports on the findings. |
Councils have 'dangerous dependence' on a handful of suppliers
21/09/2018 Councils are concentrating more than half their total spend with their top five suppliers, new research has revealed. |
Council agrees to re-evaluate health service procurement process
15/08/2018 Lancashire County Council has agreed to re-evaluate its tendering process for public health services after a court ordered the council to set aside its agreement with Virgin Care. |
Councils urged to protect SMEs in their supply chains
26/07/2018 Local authorities have been urged to protect supply chain retention monies belonging to small and medium enterprises in their supply chains. |
DPS – A flexible way to procure
10/07/2018 Paul Smith urges councils to consider Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPSs) as a pioneering approach to procurement and outlines the five top reasons for considering the use of a DPS. |
Innovation: time to match words with action
10/07/2018 Stephen Smith calls on local authorities to challenge businesses to innovate, rather than buying products based purely on cost and availability. |
Managing utilities in-house
29/06/2018 Tiffany Cloynes looks at some of the key areas for local authorities to consider before becoming involved in the provision of utility services. |
Councils save over £800m by sharing services
28/06/2018 Councils have saved £840m through shared service arrangements, new research has revealed today. |
Government pledges to 'rebuild trust' in outsourcing after Carillion
26/06/2018 The Government has announced a package of measures aimed at rebuilding trust after the collapse of outsourcing construction company Carillion earlier this year. |
Blackpool first council to be awarded self-supply water licence
20/06/2018 Blackpool Council has been granted a self-supply licence to manage and monitor its own water usage across its 120 sites. |
Councils double number of fire safety tenders in wake of Grenfell
19/06/2018 The number of councils tendering for fire safety work has shot up in the year since the Grenfell disaster, according to the latest figures. |
Councils must do more to protect workers’ rights globally, union says
18/06/2018 A public sector union has criticised local authorities for ‘not doing enough’ to protect workers’ rights globally. |
Homes England to launch £150m procurement framework
21/05/2018 Homes England will launch the procurement of a new framework this month which will provide councils with access to a broader range of services to help the delivery of new homes. |
Councils should give ALEOs ‘careful consideration’ before use, watchdog warns
17/05/2018 The local authority spending watchdog in Scotland has acknowledged the benefits of arms-length external organisations (ALEOs) but warned they require ‘careful consideration’ before adoption. |
Leading the charge
25/04/2018 Paul Heath explains how Scotland could encourage collaborative IT purchasing in local government. |
Cheshire councillor investigating misconduct suspended
13/04/2018 The Cheshire East Council councillor investigating two senior officers over concerns about the way contracts were awarded has been asked to ‘step down’. |
The end of public-private partnerships?
11/04/2018 Rather than abandoning all public-private partnerships in the wake of Carillion's collapse, Richard Tinham urges councils to explore other partnership models. |
Council criticised for procurement ‘maladministration’
11/04/2018 A council in Northern Ireland has been criticised for ‘maladministration’ in its procurement of stewarding services. |
Brexit and public procurement - a lost opportunity
09/04/2018 Andrew Millross explains how just small changes to the EU's current procurement directives could make a huge difference to the way local authorities assess contractors before signing public contracts with them. |
Purchasing professional services
27/03/2018 Rob Levene explains how local authorities are reaping the benefits of an alternative approach to buying professional services. |
Councillors pledge to eradicate modern slavery from their supply chains
23/03/2018 Labour and Co-operative councillors have pledged to ensure none of the money they spend on procuring goods and services inadvertently ends up supporting exploitation or trafficking. |
Managing local authority contracts
23/03/2018 Tiffany Cloynes outlines the key issues councils should address to get the most out of their outsourced contracts. |
List reveals top 15 suppliers to local government in 2017
12/03/2018 A new ranking of local government suppliers has revealed over half of the top 15 regular suppliers were construction firms. |
Manchester CC ‘dramatically’ increases spend in local economy
07/03/2018 Manchester City Council has increased the amount it spends in the city’s economy by around 20% in the last 10 years, new figures reveal. |
Procurement considerations following on from Carillion's liquidation
30/01/2018 Why are many local authorities being left with ineffective checks on the financial position of contractors? Richard Brooks explains. |
Blackpool set to become first council to manage its own water supply
30/01/2018 Blackpool Council has applied to Ofwat for a water and sewerage licence, making it the first local authority to move towards managing its own water supply. |
The key to sustainable contracting
30/01/2018 Angelica Hymers outlines her top tips on how public bodies can avoid granting contracts to potentially unstable contractors. |
SEND/HNL provision in FE colleges: are we paying too much?
29/01/2018 Ray Hart asks whether local authorities are paying too much for SEND and HNL provision in Further Education, and shares his advice on how to tackle overcharging. |
Carillion collapse: What next for public services?
16/01/2018 Jos Creese argues it may be time to reassess the boundaries and expectations for public/private partnerships in the wake of the demise of Carillion. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.