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The
Office of the Deputy Prime minister (ODPM) has set out a
number of recommendations for Local Authorities. A
recurring theme is for the Local Authority to ensure
that their employees have the necessary skills and
training to under take the tasks that are required. |
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recommendations referred to below are taken from the
“Towards a National Strategy for Local Government
Procurement” document produced by the ODPM. This
document is the final response of the Government and
Local Government Association to the Byatt Report. This
document states: |
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| The White
Paper set out plans to put in place an integrated
performance management framework for local government
including new arrangements for the comprehensive
performance assessment (CPA) of all local authorities.
CPA will consider each authority’s competence in the
management of procurement and partnerships. |
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| We fully
endorse the approach recommended by the Byatt Report
that procurement expertise must be made integral to the
way local authorities pursue best value. Each authority
needs to review their current procurement structures and
processes and set out a clear policy on how procurement
is to be managed across the authority. Authorities
should develop a register of current contracts and a
schedule of contracts to be awarded over the next three
years. These should be published alongside a ‘how to
do business with the council’ guide. |
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| The document
approaches all Local Authority spending from the point
of view that the provision of services, or changes to
those services, be treated as a procurement project.
This is where Datrix can help. |
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| Recommendation: |
| Local authorities should identify all those engaged in procurement within the organisation and identify the skills needed in each post across the authority. It should set out a strategy to meet these needs, including recruitment of suitable staff, training, and ways of retaining trained staff. |
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| The specific areas where Datrix can assist are Project Management, PRINCE2, Managing Successful Programmes, Service Management and Management of Risk. |
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| Recommendation: |
| Local authorities should develop a corporate procurement function to collect information, oversee devolved buying, co-ordinate training and act as an internal source of expertise. |
| Datrix can help with the co-ordination of training and provide the expertise to Local Authority employees. Contact our Account Management Team for details. |
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| Recommendation: |
| Smaller local authorities without the resources to set up a corporate procurement function should work with others to share resources. The Local Government Association (LGA) should work with the private sector to build up centres of excellence available to such authorities. |
| Datrix are working with a number of smaller councils and can put you in touch with other Local Authorities to share those limited resources. |
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| Recommendation: |
| Elected members should take a strategic role in securing quality outcomes. This should include scrutinising the procurement processes and monitoring the outcomes of procurements. There should be clear political responsibility for procurement with appropriate training. |
| Datrix can provide briefings and overviews for all areas to ensure the Elected Members are aware of how this recommendation affects them. |
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