Procurement Efficiency Forum Date: Wednesday 12 November 2014 Time: 10.00 – 1.00 pm Venue: Stafford College Minutes Present Apologies Bev Eastgate – Stratford upon Avon College Adrian Durnell – Walford & North Shropshire Corinna Marsh - Birmingham Metropolitan College College Alan Lynes – Heart of Worcestershire College Deborah Evans – Stafford College Dave Candlin - Walford & North Shropshire Louise Hollinshead - Stafford College College Roger Bevan – Warwickshire College Group Fiona Yardley - BMETC Sara King – Association of Colleges West Frank Adams – Dudley College Midlands Gita Chauhan – Solihull College Sue Perry - City of Wolverhampton College & Helen Daniel – Stafford College Walsall College Russ Bevan – Herefordshire & Ludlow Yasmin Byrne - Association of Colleges West College Midlands Sandra Buttigieg – King Edward VI College Nuneaton Guest speaker Karen Edmeads - Crescent Purchasing Consortium PART A – PRESENTATIONS 1. WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS AND APOLOGIES Sara welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted the apologies received. Sara thanked Deborah for hosting the meeting. Sara wanted to formally thank Pat Eagle for her contribution to these networks and wish her the best of luck in her new role. Housekeeping was advised by Deborah. 2. OVERVIEW OF PROCUREMENT FROM HOST COLLEGE Deborah provided the group with an update on procurement at Stafford College. Since Pat Eagle’s departure, the college currently do not have a Procurement Officer. Procurement activities: . Re-tendered insurance. Ran a mini tender for grounds maintenance contract through CPC to look after the college and football grounds. Tendered and awarded a contract for uniforms. During the summer the college implemented ID cards and a cashless system. ID cards are linked to Wisepay. New tills are in place in the canteen to enable this facility and IT team were heavily involved. Deborah is happy to provide information to anyone who would like feedback. A new art gallery will be opened soon and will have a cashless facility there. The college are looking at cashless for enrolment in the future. Ongoing projects: . Telecoms system – still making enquiries. Print room high volume machine due for renewal next Summer. MFDs coming to a close after a three year contract. Have had an initial discussion re general maintenance/service contracts with the council but very early stages currently. 3. CRESCENT PURCHASING CONSORTIUM – KAREN EDMEADS Karen provided an update on: The Autumn report and performance on frameworks Training offered by CPC FELP Cabinet Office EU training The new website CPC conference CPC staff update Recently launched frameworks Forthcoming frameworks Karen’s detailed notes circulated with the minutes. 4. PAG UPDATE Sara informed the group that both Pat Eagle and Ami Moss were PAG representatives and have both left their roles at their respective colleges. Therefore there was no PAG update to provide at this meeting. If anyone is interested in becoming a PAG representative please let Sara know and she will put you in touch with the Chair. 2 PART B – AOC BUSINESS 5. REVIEW PREVIOUS MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 19 JUNE 2014 The minutes were reviewed and agreed as an accurate record of the last meeting. 6. WM REGIONAL UPDATE – SARA KING AoC West Midlands run 16 networks in the region and feedback from these is very positive in regard to the speakers that attend and also the information sharing exercise that takes place at each network. Details of the networks we run can be found here. Supplier Showcase events run in conjunction with Sue Perry at Walsall College: We’ve held three showcase days and case studies for all of these are on our website. The driver for these events was a change to the financial management systems and colleges feeling they had little control. Sara and Sue worked together looking at the frameworks already in place and then engaged with colleges and suppliers to bring them together. Really positive feedback has been received about these events and some suppliers have changed their sales and marketing approach to the sector following these days. Going forward we are looking at Banking and Telecoms for future events. If there is anything you’d like us to include please let us know. Occupational health supplies: Sara has had requests to carry out benchmarking. To do this you’ll need to supply Sara with the following information: Supplier, Approach/Consultant/Price etc. Sara will carry out benchmarking and share anonymously. Exam invigilator fee: If anyone is prepared to share their hourly rate, we could also provide benchmarking to support this. We’d need the following information from you: Do you use an external provider/current staff or contracted invigilators, or a mix/Do you allow for set up and shut down time? Do you pay travel time and/or travel allowance and mileage? Contact Sara if interested in taking part in this exercise. Salix loan money is available for funding for energy efficiency and carbon reduction projects. Further information is available here. Actions: Sara to contact Petroc College for feedback on the successes since attending a supplier showcase event. Sara to liaise with Karen at CPC re supplier events. 8. INFORMATION SHARING AND NETWORKING LUNCH Deborah Evans The college received part funding for a major window replacement project which is underway and due to be completed February 2015. Funding received for a Science Technology Centre. 3 Sue Perry City of Wolverhampton and Walsall Colleges have moved to Veolia since tendering their waste. Walsall has started a new build for the sports and community hub that will also house catering and fine dining. The build will open in September 2015. A contractor has been appointed to build, but they will furnish it themselves. Black Country UTC (engineering) are moving to the town centre in 2016. City of Wolverhampton and Walsall Colleges are going to market for finance systems and will change before the next financial year. Currently reviewing the T&Cs of purchases for goods and services. A mini and full version will be done. A review of caretaking and security at City of Wolverhampton College is taking place as there is a cross over in some tasks. Looking at CCTV and alarms. At City of Wolverhampton College they’ve changed how P/L and finance deal with purchase orders. This new model sees them all sent to 2 members of staff and almost £50k in saves has been achieved in doing this. Actions: Roger Bevan would like to work with Sue Perry in her finance systems change. Sara to send Sue and Roger the simple version of the T&Cs she has so they can review and use if required. Sara to look into the potential case study for a future meeting of looking at models and strategies involved and training and approaches for purchase orders/finance. Corinna Marsh Building works have been carried out over the summer and a new construction will open in September 2015. James Watt Campus has received new windows. Hagley Road Campus has had a refurbishment of the science lab. A new rec and health and social care opens in February 2015. New engineering at Hagley Road Campus. New PC refresh quotes over the summer for purchasing new PCs. Looking at purchasing iPads and Wi-Fi for students across the college. Sue Perry mentioned her positive experience of using a neutral vendor for Wi-Fi and this approach was discussed. 4 Bev Eastgate The college are looking to replace their financial management systems for the next academic year and have been visiting suppliers for demos using the frameworks. Replacing chip and pin at the college which had been in place for 5 years. Their current provider has significantly reduced their prices once they were challenged. Printers are due for renewal in June 2015 so they will be looking into this. They are currently reviewing all contracts to identify current position with a view to achieving savings. £5k p/a has been saved to date. Looking into the service charges they pay for the rented buildings to ensure full breakdown of costs is received. Roger Bevan The college is awarded outstanding and student numbers are good. Have spent money upgrading the sites over the past 5 years. £12m to finish the refurb on Leamington Spa Campus and upgrade the land-based site and engineering centre too. Procurement is split across 6 sites with 70/80 people who get involved in buying. There isn’t a procurement function at the college and the Estates team account for 50% of spend. Only Directors of Academies can sign off invoices now. The college are looking at replacing their finance systems. 7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Speakers for the next meeting: Carl Jordan from the exam awarding body Asfi will attend and provide an overview of Asfi and their operations. Suggested: o Salix to talk about what they do, what funding they have on offer and provide examples. o CIPS to talk about their new training qualification. o It was requested that Sara provide an update on EU training. Sara and Karen will speak with Peter Brewer about this. Action: Sara and Karen to liaise with Peter Brewer regarding EU training. 8. DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS All from 10.00 – 1.00 pm Wednesday 18 March 2015, hosted by Pat Plant at City of Stoke on Trent Sixth Form College Thursday 18 June 2015, hosted by Corinna Marsh at Birmingham Metropolitan College, Matthew Boulton Campus 5 No/ Action Owner 1) Contact Petroc College for feedback on the Sara successes since attending a supplier showcase event. 2) Liaise with Karen at CPC re supplier events. Sara 3) Roger Bevan would like to work with Sue Perry in Sue her finance systems change. 4) Send Sue and Roger the simple version of the Sara T&Cs she has so they can review and use if required.