The Prime Minister has set information technology (IT) professionals in government the mission of 'ensuring that IT supports the business transformation of government itself to provide better, more efficient, public services.' The e-government have six principles which guide their work to improve government IT they:

• work on public service projects, not just IT projects.
• add value and provide support, rather than control or dictate.
• undertake partnerships with departments and suppliers.
• set realistic expectations and aim to exceed them.
• promote global best practice.
• share solutions where possible, and offer flexibility to meet unique needs.

DCLG was created as a central department in its own right in May 2002. It is responsible for policy on housing, planning, devolution, regional and local government and the fire service. It also takes responsibility for the Social Exclusion Unit, the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit and the Government Offices for the Regions.

The role of the National Audit Office (NAO) is to audit the financial statements of all government departments and agencies, and many other public bodies. They also report to Parliament on the 'value for money' with which these bodies have spent public money. As well as providing accountability to Parliament, their aim is to bring about real improvements in the delivery of public services.

Local Authority Coordinators of Regulatory Services.(LACORS) seeks to make a major contribution to the development of high quality, consistent and coordinated local authority regulatory and related services across the UK. Central to this is the promotion of quality regulation and the dissemination of comprehensive advice, guidance and good practice. Core activities include trading standards and food enforcement and additional funding has enabled LACORS to further develop these areas and to widen its remit into other regulatory and related service areas.

SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers) is the representative body for senior strategic managers working in the public sector. The Society promotes public sector management excellence and provides professional development for its Members who come from all areas of the public sector. Whilst the vast majority of its members work in local government it also has members operating in senior positions in health authorities, police and fire authorities and central government. SOLACE spans all of the UK, having membership in Northern Ireland, Wales Scotland and England.

www.buyitnet.org

The BuyIT Best Practice Network is an independent not-for-profit group with a mission to: "help organisations realise the business benefits from Information & Communications Technology by identifying and promoting best practice in e-business".

OGC buying solutions is an Executive Agency of the Office of Government Commerce in the Treasury. Their role is to deliver value for money gains for central civil government and the wider public sector through their dedicated, professional procurement service. OGC buying solutions provide a full range of products and services designed to encourage effective procurement, achieve measurable cost savings and improve the efficiency of the purchasing function throughout the public sector.

OGC works with public sector organisations to help them improve their efficiency, gain better value for money from their commercial activities and deliver improved success from programmes and projects. The OCG's priorities are to support the delivery of:

• the public sector's £21.5bn annual efficiency gains by 2007/08
• £3bn saving by 2007/08 in central Government procurement
• improvement in the success rate of mission critical projects.

Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO)
http://www.espo.org/

ESPO is a joint Committee of Local Authorities and operates within the Local Government (Goods & Services) Act 1970.  It acts as a purchasing agent for its member authorities and other customers and provides a professional cost effective procurement and supply service.

The Society of Procurement Officers in Local Government (SOPO) engages in a range of activities to promote its strategic purchasing, contracting and supplies functions. Representing over 1800 members, SOPO provides area networks and forums and produces guidance on best practice.

CIPS is an international organisation, based in the UK, serving the purchasing and supply profession. Dedicated to promoting best practice, CIPS provides a wide range of services for the benefit of members and the wider business community.

How To.. Quantify and realise the benefits from e-Tendering.
This paper discusses how e-Tendering can be integrated into a Council and the benefits that can be achieved through the use of e-Tendering.

EM LawShare is a consortium of 22 local or public authorities/bodies legal departments, it was originally established to jointly procure external legal services to assist in-house departments in times of work overload and in areas of discrete specialisms.

The Consortium are currently working on a number of new initiatives including:

• shared services and working arrangements
• a training programme for legal and administrative staff
• a regular EM LawShare newsletter
• a shared precedent bank
• joint procurement of electronic resources

The Midland Highways Alliance (MHA) seeks to increase cross authority working by promoting joint procurement of highways services and by identifying and embedding best practice. The collaboration will improve the procurement and delivery of the four strands of the highways services:

• Major capital highways schemes
• Capitalised maintenance and minor schemes
• Professional services
• Highway term maintenance

The Regional Centre of Excellence Waste Information Network (WIN) has been developed by the South East Centre of Excellence (SECE) as a support tool for local authorities and provides up-to-date information on all aspects of waste management relevant to local authorities. WIN will make it easier to find waste information by signposting users to the relevant place and should be the first port of call for local authority waste officers for any waste management issue

The Regional Commissioning Framework provides support to those who work to improve services for children, young people and their families. The website and handbook detail the commissioning process and provides information for providers, service users and others who need to understand the commissioning process.

The strategic objectives of the IDeA are derived from the LGA's Performance Partnership themes. For 2004/5, these are: improving leadership skills; building corporate capacity; developing workforce capacity; improving service delivery; and strengthening community well-being and engagement.

LGEM promotes the voice of local government in the East Midlands. Working alongside a range of local, regional, national and international partners - such as the national Local Government Association, the Improvement and Development Agency and the Employers' Organisation - we seek to deliver better outcomes for local people living and working in this region.

IDeA Knowledge delivers in-depth improvement news and examples of good practice from councils across England and Wales, and provides access to the IDeA's range of tools and services. IDeA Knowledge delivers forward-thinking and in-depth content on improvement issues, shares examples of good practice from councils across England and Wales, and provides information on the IDeA's range of tools and services. IDeA Knowledge aims to stimulate and support self-sustaining improvement within local government.

Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)
http://www.communities.gov.uk

DCLG's responsibilities for local and regional government, housing, planning, fire, regeneration, social exclusion and neighbourhood renewal put the Office at the heart of the Government's ambition to create sustainable communities for all. The Aim of the DCLG is to create prosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities for the 21st century - places where people want to live - that promote opportunity and a better quality of life for all.

4Ps is the local government procurement expert, providing advice, guidance and skills development to local authorities undertaking projects, procurement and partnerships. This includes private finance initiative (PFI) schemes, strategic service partnerships and all other forms of partnership working.

The 4Ps have extensive experience and expertise in developing, procuring and delivering large, high risk, complex projects, 4Ps offers comprehensive procurement support to local authorities, including hands-on project support, Gateway Reviews, skills development and "know-how" procurement guidance in the form of procurement packs, case studies and extranets.

East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development. In 1999 they set a vision for the economy of the East Midlands; to be a top 20 region in Europe by 2010. It's an ambitious target, but they believe they can achieve it by making the region a place where people want to live, work and invest.