Collaborative procurement

Categories of savings from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2016 

• Electricity – £7,023,614

• Security services – £1,437,481

• Biomass – £17,812

• Natural Gas – £316,400

• Repair of office furniture – £52,190

• Banking services – £62,800

• ePurchasing card solution – £285,000

• Cash in transit – £75,999

• Liquid fuels – £24,400

• Copier paper – £337,500

• Fleet insurance – £330,500

• Vehicle and plant hire – £343,750

The Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) saved £5.3 million on collaborative contracts in 2015/2016, more than doubling its savings target which was set at 3 per cent. Between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016, 26 new collaborative arrangements for a range of common goods and services were awarded with an estimated annual value of £79 million.

Northern Ireland suppliers make up the largest bulk of the 63 associated with the new arrangements, with 48 being registered to the region. Thirteen suppliers are registered to Great Britain and two are from the Republic of Ireland.

The £5.3 million saving represents a 6.7 per cent saving and is above the target of 3 per cent. Large companies (251 or more employees) were awarded 19 out of the new arrangements, the biggest benefiter. Medium companies won 18 of the contracts and small companies won 16. Micro companies, consisting of between one and 10 staff, were awarded 10 of the new arrangements. A further £2.8 million were also achieved through the use of the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) frameworks.

A longer term analysis shows that between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2016, CPD awarded 43 collaborative contracts worth around £465 million. Of the 43 contracts, 27 (63 per cent) were awarded to SMEs and the remaining 16 (37 per cent) were issued to large organisations. Total savings are estimated to be £10.3 million across various categories. A further £8.7 million of savings were made through CCS and contracts under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Cabinet Office and the Department of Finance.

Key areas for collaborative procurement in 2016/2017

• Procurement pipeline for 2016/2017

• Campaign advertising framework

• Learning and development framework agency workers framework

• Payment solutions framework

• Personal protective equipment

• Fleet spot purchase

• Natural gas

• Waste management services

• Courier service to include dangerous / hazardous goods

• Disposal of protectively marked paper

• Desktops, thin clients, monitors

• Laptops and mobile devices

• General insurance

• Postal services

• Saloon and hatchback vehicles

• Childcare vouchers

• Employee assistance programme

Source: Collaborative Procurement Annual Update June 2016. Department of Finance