14 June 2021 
Ashley Shelbrooke, HEPA and Project Specialist
The Cabinet Office have released the National Procurement Policy Statement which you can download on gov.uk here.
The NPPS states that contracting authorities should consider the following national priority outcomes alongside any additional local priorities in their procurement activities:
The related PPN also states that contracting authorities should publish procurement pipelines and benchmark their procurement capability: from April 2022 for an annual spend of £200m or more, and from April 2023 for an annual spend of £100m or more.
We will continue to keep you updated on the progress of the Procurement Bill, working with the relevant teams in the Cabinet Office to help members understand what this means for Universities and how we can support you and your teams through training, learning and development.
May’s Purchasing Managers Index showed construction input cost inflation at a 24 year high, driven by a double whammy of supply shortages and a surge in demand. The survey highlighted several trends for procurement colleagues to bear in mind:
We are very pleased to announce that we will be running a time to talk with Jisc on 25 June at 14:30 via MS Teams. During the session you will hear from Nicola Arnold, Chief Financial Officer, Sue Weston, Director of Procurement and Howard Moody, Deputy Director – Software Licensing, about a range of essential topics:
There are significant commercial benefits to you as a HE institution through CHEST – this is a must attend session for anybody not familiar with the agreement. As ever, please do feel free to share this session with your team and any colleagues within your institution who would benefit: Book your free place here!
The Cabinet Office have published a new Procurement Policy Note (PPN) which sets out how buyers should take account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major central government contracts. This PPN does not apply to Universities but is interesting in its approach and insight into potential future direction of travel.
Don’t forget that a summary of the Scope 3 carbon reduction resources available to you is on the HEPA website.
Download the resources from our Data Privacy time to talk with Louise Sadler of BDO here, including the impact on the fall out of the Schrems II decision, and the resulting invalidation of the EU-US Privacy Shield plus an update on Brexit and the implications on data protection.
Finally – who leads the development of your modern slavery statement – procurement, legal, governance or perhaps another team? Get involved in the conversation on the HEPA discussion boards today.
