SWCE e-Auction

07 May 2010

Nine members of the South West Centre of Excellence region have utilised a collaborative e-auction process to achieve savings of £720,000 a year on their office supplies contract.

eProcurement in action: OGC guide to eProcurement for the public sector.

07 May 2010

This report provides information on how central government, local government and strategic private sector partners are introducing and developing eCommerce systems for public sector purchasing. It includes supporting information on standards, security and EU directives, as well as case studies on successful implementations.

How to be successful in e-Auctions

07 May 2010

Transforming the Procurement of Temporary, Agency and Interim Staff

07 May 2010

The London Centre of Excellence granted funding to the London Borough of Havering to study the use of agency staff across London local authorities, and to find ways of achieving cashable and non-cashable savings.

This toolkit, one key deliverable of the project, serves as a step-by-step guide to taking control and achieving efficiency savings in your local authority in the realm of agency, temporary and interim staff - from examining spending, to choosing the right system to manage your agency workers and their agencies, to best-practice advice on your organisation's policies and legal risks.

The toolkit lists the pro's and con's of each, with a self-assessment test designed to help you choose the right one for your authority. Cashable savings can be in the region of 3 to 9% before considering the non-cashable savings available from business process re-engineering.

By using this toolkit you can not only achieve savings, but ensure that your authority is up to date with the best-practice policy advice for agency workers, and that your "invisible" work force is no longer hidden from a corporate angle.

Landmark Guidance Issued to Save £100m on Local Government's Annual Temporary Staff Bill

07 May 2010

New national guidance is set to transform the way councils procure temporary staff which could deliver savings of up to £100 million a year on local government's temporary staff bill.
Temporary Staff Press Release [download MS Word document]
Temporary Staff Procurement Toolkit [download PDF document]

How to get a better deal in translation and interpretation services

07 May 2010

'Food for Thought' - Mainstreaming the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative

07 May 2010

In March this year the North East Centre of Excellence organised an event in London desogned to to consider two issues of concern relating to food procurement; firstly to challenge the perception that the efficiency and sustainability agendas are incompatible. Secondly to initiate debate around how best to mainstream good practice in food procurement and catering. The following download details the outcomes of the conference.

LGA Performance Partnership Prospectus

07 May 2010

This prospectus describes the support available from the LGA Performance Partnership to councils engaged in the delivery of efficiency action plans including collaborative projects. It covers the services provided by IDeA, the Employers Organisation and 4ps.

Delivering Value for Money in Local Government: Meeting the challenge of CSR07

07 May 2010

Councils have a long track record of enhancing value for money in public services, with excellent progress made in the 2004 Spending Review (SR04) period. During 2004-05 to 2007-08, councils are forecast to make cash-releasing efficiencies of £3.3 billion, comfortably exceeding Gershon requirements.

The challenge is to build on that progress and further embed a culture of innovation and focus on value for money. The 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR07) takes place in a tight fiscal context. All public services have been set a target of achieving at least 3% net cash-releasing value for money gains per annum over 2008-09 to 2010-11. Councils are expected to achieve £4.9 billion cash-releasing efficiency by 2010-11. This will be challenging, but can be done, provided local and central government fulfil their roles to maximise the potential of local services.

This Value for Money Plan develops themes from the Local Government White Paper and National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy (NIES) to set out a route map for meeting the efficiency challenge, outlining for councils key means to achieve efficiency and support activities designed to promote them.

OGC Guide to Consultancy Pricing

07 May 2010

OGC have produced a guide which discusses the main factors that affect the price paid for consultancy. It aims to provide buyers and users of consultancy with practical help so that they can understand how consultancy is costed, the elements which make up the cost and how to influence the price paid.

Guidance for councils to cut the cost of consultants

07 May 2010

New guidance has been published which is set to transform the way councils procure consultants in a bid to cut local government’s growing consultancy bill.

With funding from the London Centre of Excellence, the guidance has been drawn up jointly by the City of London Corporation and the London Borough of Hounslow and seeks to make a 10% year-on-year efficiency gain on consultancy spending.

How to be successful in procuring consultancy services

07 May 2010

A Guide to Procuring Care and Support Services

17 Mar 2010

This DCLG guide is designed to help non-procurement professionals who need to procure (or purchase) services for people who need care and support. It is particularly relevant for local authority staff. Procuring services for people with a variety of care and support needs is more problematic and complex than procuring items such as street lamps or stationery. It can be hard to identify whether the service you have actually procured is one that will meet the needs you wish to address. Services for people who need care and support can also be of high monetary value and carry inherent risk. This makes it all the more important to understand the principles and good practice associated with their procurement and to work closely with your corporate procurement team.

User Engagement Report

12 Sep 2010

This User Engagement Report maps the engagement structures in place to gather the views of 4 key groups of disadvantaged people across the East Midlands region.  The groups are:

• offenders
• people with mental health problems
• people with learning disabilities
• care leavers

The report is organised on a sub-regional basis and gives a snap-shot of structures in place in the summer of 2010.

Local Government Improvement & Development Annual Report 2009-10

10 Aug 2010

Local Government Improvement and Development (LG Improvement and Development) is working with other parts of the Local Government Group (LG Group) to support, promote and improve local government. During 2009/2010 the organisation was known as the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA).

Joint Work - Fit for the Future

05 Aug 2010

East Midlands Councils, in partnership with East Midlands Regional Improvement and Efficiency partnership commissioned 'Fit for the Future' study to help local authorities share good practice in response to the recession. This project has been overseen by a small Advisory Board comprising:

Cllr Jim Harker, Leader, Northamptonshire County Council (Conservative)
Cllr Martin Hill, Leader Lincolnshire County Council (Conservative)
Cllr Robert Parker, Lincolnshire County Council (Labour)
Cllr David Perkins, Northampton Borough Council (Liberal Democrat)

The report has been based on interviews with the Head of Economic Development, or equivalent, in every Council in the East Midlands, interviews with a range of non-local authority partners and analysis of the impact of the recession and the potential impact of reductions in public sector employment on the East Midlands. It includes the following case studies:

- Derby City Council's ‘Trains, Planes and Automobiles' research into the key sectors underpinning manufacturing in the City
- Bassetlaw District Council's joined up local and small business based response to the recession
- Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council's Total Place pilot
- Nottingham City Council's ‘Whole Council' corporate response to the recession
- East Lindsey District Council's Courts Service; a family based service supporting individuals at risk of losing their home developed   specifically in response to the recession
- The iCon centre in Daventry, a national centre of excellence in construction offering opportunities around construction during the recession

The report finds that the recession hit communities and businesses increased demand for services and its impact on public finances has increased the pressure on Councils' budgets. Councils across the region have undertaken a huge range and variety of activity to support communities and business to recover from the recession. Activity ranged from small projects to ambitious multi-agency partnerships. Not everything that Councils have done has been universally effective, but all Councils have responded. The report does not identify one approach to supporting the local economy that would be replicable in every area, but we have uncovered a wealth of good practice that every Council can learn from.

Economic circumstances and the challenges Councils face continue to change and Councils will continue to develop new and innovative ways of responding. This report can only be a snapshot at one point in time. There is scope for local authorities to work together to continue to share good practice in supporting local economies.

Leading the Way by Working Together

28 Jul 2010

The second edition of this annual report shows how local government is working together, and with its partners, to improve services for local people.

This publication provides evidence that, as a sector, local government is ready to take on the increased freedom and responsibility of decentralisation and a more locally accountable performance framework. It is a celebration of how local government has worked together to lead improvement in recent times, supported by:

Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs)
Local Government Improvement and Development
Local Government Leadership
Local Government Regulation
Local Government Employers
Local Partnerships.

It is an acknowledgement of how far local government have come over the past year. It provides a flavour of what can be achieved by sharing our collective expertise, learning from each other and looking more widely to form place-based partnerships with other service providers.

EM IEP Support for Making Efficiencies and Transforming Services

13 Jul 2010

The economic outlook remains bleak, with local authorities expecting substantial cuts in government funding. Authorities will need to do 'more for less', taking difficult decisions in order to make vital efficiency savings. In such challenging times, we can't just wait to see what happens; we must act now to improve and strengthen pubic services. But you don't need to do it on your own. The East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) exists to support authorities, with a wide range of projects and initiatives. This short document explains how the EM IEP can help authorities make efficiency savings and transform their services. I commend this support to you and your authority.

Councillor Martin Hill, OBE
Leader of Lincolnshire County Council and Chair of the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) Board

EM IEP Improvement Prospectus

13 Jul 2010

Working through the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) authorities have been given the opportunity to manage their own improvement.
The EM IEP is driving forward service improvement, focussing on supporting local authorities to build capacity and to foster innovation and collaborative working.  This short document explains how the EM IEP is helping authorities meet this challenge. The East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) is a partnership of all 46 councils and 5 fire & rescue authorities in the region,led by elected Members. It aims to bring lasting improvements to our area and has a budget of just over £35 million over three years to do exactly that. To help make sure that local needs are being met, £19 million of the budget is devolved to five Sub-Regional Partnerships (SRPs) - Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire & Rutland. The money will be used to support the delivery of efficiency savings and service improvements as well as helping struggling councils or services. The partnership will provide local authorities with support to enable them to reach these targets in ways that will benefit their communities. This document is divided into two sections - the first presenting the support that is available regionally, the second presenting the projects being funded by each of the SRPs.

Councillor Martin Hill, OBE
Leader of Lincolnshire County Council and Chair of the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) Board

EM IEP Annual Report 2009-10 Out Now!

01 Jul 2010

Local authorities are faced with delivering services in the context of high public expectations and increased fiscal tightening. In many cases this means real-term funding reductions, with local government needing to demonstrate value for money. Councils and local partnerships need to find new ways of responding to these challenges by maintaining and improving the quality of services they provide.

Member engagement and leadership is placed at the very heart of the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) governance arrangements. Elected members have built a strong, shared vision for the region coordinating and supporting  collaborative working, leading to better outcomes and more value for money at a regional and sub-regional level.

To date, the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership has received £35.6m from the government and partners, which has provided the opportunity and challenge for local authorities, across the region, to manage their own improvement. The EM IEP is supporting councils to respond to this opportunity and challenge by investing £19m in five sub regional programmes and £14m in regional programmes.

I am delighted to introduce our Annual Report, which provides an overview of progress to date and the challenges that lie ahead. Efficiency projects, funded by the EM IEP, are predicting benefits of £217m over 5 years, with £35m delivered to date. There has also been significant investment in collaborative working and 'area based' activity.

The third year of our programme will include support for a number of projects based on the 'Total Place' concept. These projects will explore how local authorities can work more effectively with partners at a local level, cutting out duplication, sharing resources and targeting their combined effort more effectively for the benefit of their customers.

The EM IEP is celebrating and sharing the 'best practice' identified by the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) green flags across the region and working closely with local authorities to address the red flags and other identified performance issues. This 'Sector Led Support' is being provided through existing programmes and by working in partnership with the IDeA, Audit Commission and the East Midlands Government Office (GOEM), acting as a regional 'hub' to enable local authorities to access 'Sector-Led Support' when required.

Best wishes

Councillor Martin Hill, OBE
Chair of the EM IEP Board and Leader of Lincolnshire County Counci