HEPA Digest: May 2021 (part 2)

Welcome to latest HEPA Digest.

Procurement Bill

We covered the Procurement Bill in the first part of this month’s HEPA Digest, and hot on the heels of that Digest going out further details of the Procurement Bill were announced, including its 7 main elements:

1. Enshrining in law the principles of public procurement such as: value for money, public benefit, transparency, integrity, fair treatment of suppliers and non-discrimination.
2. Overhauling the complex and inflexible procurement procedures and replacing them with three simple, modern procedures. This will allow the public sector more scope to negotiate with potential suppliers to deliver innovative new solutions.
3. Requiring buyers to have regard to the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement as set out in a new National Procurement Policy Statement.
4. Introducing procurement processes that allow contracting authorities to buy at pace, for serious situations that are declared a crisis, with strengthened safeguards for transparency.
5. Establishing a single data platform for supplier registration that ensures suppliers only have to submit their data once to qualify for any public sector procurement.
6. Tackling unacceptable behaviour such as supplier fraud through new exclusion rules and giving buyers the tools to properly take account of a bidder’s past performance.
7. Reforming the process for challenging procurement decisions to speed up the review system and make it more accessible and capping the level of damages available to bidders in order to reduce the attractiveness of speculative claims.

National Procurement Policy Statement

A little birdie tells me that the National Procurement Policy Statement as mentioned in element 3 of the Procurement Bill is due to be released next week… I will keep my ear to the ground and let you know as soon as an announcement is made.

Mini-umbrella company fraud

You will no doubt have read press coverage of mini-umbrella company fraud.  HMRC guidance has been published on this issue to highlight the potential pitfalls of employers entering into these types of arrangements, and the guidance also includes ‘10 things about due diligence’ and ‘advice on applying supply chain due diligence principles to assure your labour supply chains’.

Events, learning and development

Data Privacy - Time to Talk

Following on from our time to talk with Clyde & Co where we discussed Privacy Shield we are delighted to welcome Louise Sadler from BDO for a follow-up time to talk which will focus on Data Privacy.  Full booking details are available on our event page; the session will include:

• Impact on the fall out of the Schrems II decision, and the resulting invalidation of the EU-US Privacy Shield
• Update on Brexit and the implications on data protection (pending UK adequacy decision)
• Data Protection compliance considerations for Finance and procurement
• Q&A

The time to talk is free to attend and please do share the invite with colleagues across your institution who would benefit!

Energy: waste and savings

The Energy Consortium (TEC) and Energy Live News are holding a webinar exploring how AI can identify energy waste, identify energy savings and demystify your energy data at 10:00 on 10 June.  You can book your place here.

Summit 21

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation are holding Summit 21 on 8, 9 and 10 June.  The event is free to attend and you can find out more here, and register for your place here.

Northern Universities Purchasing Consortia Virtual Conference

NEUPC and NWUPC members can book their place for what promises to be a fantastic conference on 17 June here!  The agenda has something for everyone – from net zero to due diligence and internal stakeholder engagement.

Introduction to HE for Professional Services Staff

Are you within your first year of working in HE?  Then do check out our free ‘Introduction to HE for Professional Services Staff’ sessions held in conjunction with AUDE, UHR and HESPA – our next course takes place on 28 June.

PPN 04/21 – for information

The Cabinet Office last week published a new Procurement Policy Note (PPN) which covers Applying Exclusions in Public Procurement, Managing Conflicts of Interest and Whistleblowing.  The scope of the PPN is listed as “relevant to the wider public sector”.  You can read the PPN, guidance and FAQ’s here.

Fraud and Financial Crime Awareness resources

Continuing on from their fraud and financial crime awareness webinar, Barclays have released 3 resources which they have kindly made available to all HEPA members – click the links below to download:

1. Protecting education providers from fraud and financial crime
2. Managing the risks of financial crime in the education sector
3. Beware of offers too good to be true

Round-up

• Don’t forget that you can download WPM’s AML Policy template here.
• A lot of members have been discussing Virtual Learning Environment’s (VLE) – find out about APUC’s new VLE agreement here.
• Check out the updated guidance for getting a customs guarantee, including when you do (and don't) need a Customs guarantee and links to apply for one.