Newsletter
April 2009
Report: Getting value for London – Launched on 8th April
The Mayor of London’s report ‘Getting value for London’ shows how the GLA Group plans to deliver value for money through responsible procurement practices. The GLA Group’s vision for responsible procurement for London is socially, environmentally and economically responsible procurement to deliver improved quality of life and better value for money for our people, our businesses and our city.
In the report the Mayor of London Boris Johnson notes, ‘Responsible procurement is a key tool at London's disposal for meeting current challenges. By using GLA Group’s purchasing power of more than £3 billion for goods and services each year wisely, we can deliver real benefits to all Londoners, our businesses and our city.
The report refers to programmes already in place and provides baseline information on what they have achieved. To find out more how the GLA Group plans to deliver its targets - through the use of the LDA support programmes and developing partnerships across the public and private sector.
TfL – Skills for future success
TfL has recently published its 10-year ‘Skills and Employment Strategy’ setting out a range of activities to ensure it has the skilled workforce necessary to deliver its challenging transport objectives, as well as addressing wider economic and social inclusion issues.
The strategy covers existing staff, the supply chain, prospective employees and those still in education. The accompanying Implementation Plan provides details of how TfL will implement this Strategy. TfL is delivering this by collaborating with the London Skills and Employment Board, the Greater London Authority and other stakeholders to deliver the strategy.
TfL has started to work with existing suppliers to deliver apprenticeship positions, employment opportunities and work placements. New contract requirements are also being piloted in the London Cycle Hire Scheme and Engineering and Project Management Framework contracts.
The Strategy, the Executive Summary and the Implementation Plan (PDF) are available on the TfL website. For more information about the Strategy, please email skills@tfl.gov.uk
Economic Recovery Action Plan (ERAP) through Responsible Procurement
In December 2008 the Mayor of London launched the ERAP report which includes a series of practical measures designed to help businesses and Londoners through the recession.
The Plan comprises 57 actions, a number of which relate directly to procurement. These include increasing the use of CompeteFor to advertise contract opportunities, simplifying procurement processes, delivering apprenticeship positions through the supply chain, promoting the London Living Wage and paying SME suppliers within 10 working days.
The Mayor published the first quarterly progress report in April 2009 highlighting the GLA Group progress against each actions. In total 12 actions have been completed, 12 more are due to be completed over the next quarter.
The ERAP and the progress report are available on the GLA Group website.
Events
‘Access for All’ Glover Stakeholder Forum
Collan Murray from the Central Responsible Procurement Team (CRPT) presented at the first stakeholder forum event of the Government Access for All programme (formally called the Glover programme). Procurement officials from all over the UK attended the event which was held in London on Wednesday 22nd April by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR).
The Forum aimed to discuss the implementation of the 12 recommendations made in the Glover Report which examined ways to make it easier for SMEs to access public sector contracts. The CRPT has been supporting the Government on this report and its implementation since July 2008.
Key projects include the development of a single, free to use portal to advertise contracts across the whole public sector, flagging contract opportunities suitable for individual SMEs
or consortia of SMEs and making the tendering process simpler through a standardised PQQ and more flexible approach to accreditation.
To access the presentation delivered by Collan Murray at the event please check the Responsible Procurement events page. Further information on the government’s Access for All programme
Coming up...
Responsible Procurement Training
A series of training session on Responsible Procurement has already been delivered to GLA Group members between February and March. More training will be made available to GLA Groups from June 2009.
For more information on any of the articles on the RP newsletter or to get a story published please contact MonicaFregaPoggioli@tfl.gov.uk
To sign up to the RP newsletter please contact ResponsibleProcurement@tfl.gov.uk or complete the online form
