
Luton Borough Council was prosecuted by the HSE late last year following an incident at a high school in which an assistant headteacher was attacked by a pupil and left with life-changing injuries.
The new Outsourcing Playbook, which can be found here, supersedes the original that was launched in February 2019. Much of its guidance is common sense (eg allocate risk to the party best placed to manage it) and some of it is aspirational (publish a 3 to 5 year forward procurement programme). It is also frustrating sometimes (eg accurately assess the economic and financial standing of tenderers, but only from the Standard Selection Questionnaire, which limits this to an assessment from the latest published accounts).
Key updates in the Playbook include the following:
The “make or buy” decision
The Playbook recommends a “delivery model assessment” to consider whether a service should be provided in-house, outsourced, or split between the two options. The Playbook provides a structured framework for this, and guidance on when each option may be appropriate. However, it provides no guidance on different contracting options (eg length of contract, number of contractors etc) so these key “contract strategy” decisions are left to departmental discretion.
The Playbook recommends piloting the outsourcing of a service that is being outsourced for the first time, suggesting various options how to do this.
“Should Cost Model”
The Playbook recommends creation of a “Should Cost Model” identifying the expected cost of the service over its “whole life” and makes this mandatory for complex services being outsourced.
Readers with longer memories may recall the “public sector comparator” used for PFI and other major contracts. The difficulty with these was always how to “compare like with like” with potentially very different cost, employment, management and governance arrangements between publicly and privately delivered services.
Procurement guidance
There are some aspects of the Playbook with which we strongly agree. Building in and procuring “social value outcomes” and avoiding “bias” in the award criteria towards “low-cost bids” are things we would support.
We also support the desire to minimise bidding costs for the tenderers. However, insisting on the open procedure as the “default” procedure is inconsistent with this. The open procedure requires tenderers to submit fully priced bids and complete “quality” submissions, where they may be one of a large number of tenderers. This is an excessive burden on tenderers in all but the simplest of procurements, where the costs of preparing “full tenders” are low.
The Playbook also suggests that the costs of using the CD or CPN procedures can be “significant” but “a good investment”. However, this fails to recognise that the cost of a tightly run CPN procedure may not be much more than the cost of a restricted or open procedure, especially where the option to award based on initial tenders is selected.
Form of contract
The Playbook recommends use of the CCS Model Services Contract as a “convenient and flexible starting point” for external contracts. Given this is 362 pages long, it is not surprising that smaller suppliers find it difficult and expensive to tender for Government contracts.
Contract management
The Playbook rightly emphasises the importance of effective contract management, including monitoring suppliers’ financial position. It encourages departments to undertake what they call “resolution planning” – planning for continuing the services if the supplier becomes insolvent. This is sound advice, particularly in current times.
For advice on procurement and contracting strategy, including on PPN 05/20 and the new Outsourcing Playbook, please contact Andrew Millross.
Luton Borough Council was prosecuted by the HSE late last year following an incident at a high school in which an assistant headteacher was attacked by a pupil and left with life-changing injuries.
This ebriefing looks at the proposal to set out 'public procurement principles' in the proposed procurement legislation.
Happy New Year - our first newsletter of 2021! Throughout this year we will continue to bring you news and developments relating to the charities sector.
Local authorities should be wary of reserving contracts for local suppliers, as recommended by Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 11/20. Other contracting authorities may want to maximise their use of this
Most housing practitioners have perhaps been waiting for this news since the latest lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister on 4 January 2021.
Climate change and biodiversity is an area where significantly faster changes are needed on a global and local basis.
Chris Lloyd Smith, Adrian Leonard and Lisa Whitehouse discuss the planning opportunities available to owners of businesses and how to prepare for unforeseen events.
In their 3rd podcast of the series, Chris Lloyd-Smith and Maria Ramon discuss a number of problems with and difficulties that can arise in mediation and the mechanisms they use to overcome them.
Our previous round-up began by sharing the news that two vaccines had shown very promising test results. Here we are, not even a month later, and the first vaccines have already been administered!
The Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated that there is great resilience and innovation in the housing sector across Greater Manchester, it has also brought shortfalls and other priorities sharply into foc
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.