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Welcome to the NAG and SOPO newsletter for 27 March 2020. Feel free to circulate to your colleagues.
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LGA support
We are committed to supporting councils to access reliable support and information regarding COVID-19. To find out more about how the LGA can support your organisation email coronavirus.enquiries@local.gov.uk or visit the LGA’s Corona virus: information for councils web page. The information you tell us will also help to inform our conversations with MHCLG and partner organisations.
Local Partnerships support
The continued provision of core services is vital at a time when resourcing will be significantly impacted. Local Partnerships has in-depth experience dealing with the issues you or your contractor may be facing. Areas of support offered are:
- reviewing the form of commercial arrangements in place and prioritising the interventions
- assessing whether COVID-19 would be treated as a Force Majeure event or not. This issue is treated differently in different contractual forms
- assessing the robustness of the contracting party due to issues such as the availability of facilities management resources and the financial resilience of the supply chain
- considering whether it is appropriate to alter a service specification in the short term (for example, increasing the frequency of cleaning rotas)
- interpreting the Procurement Policy Advice being issued by Cabinet Office. This new guidance is being issued to deal with pressing issues, including the need to procure other services quickly
To find out more visit the Local Partnerships COVID-19 web page
PPN 02/20 Frequently Asked Questions
A number of queries have been received following publication of Procurement Policy Notes 01/20 and 02/20 last week. We have been working with MHCLG on a FAQ document which has now been published. It includes:
- Confirmation that suppliers should not be claiming supplier relief from councils alongside falloughed worker relief
- Additional guidance relating to moving to ‘open book accounting’ methods that will be needed when following the guidance in the PPNs
- Clarification that the scope of the PPN is not for devolved administrations – we understand that devolved administrations will be issuing similar guidance to their contracting authorities shortly
- Confirmation that the PPN guidance does not relate to grant payments
Additional guidance relating to construction contracts is being developed and will be available soon.
We have been working with MHCLG to provide a set of terms that contracting authorities can use to implement PPN02/20 in providing contractual relief to suppliers who have been affected by COVID-19. This includes preventing a supplier claiming separate relief from another source of Government financial support on COVID-19, to the effect that the supplier gains an undue advantage by claiming relief twice for the same hardship.
Read the full PPN02/20 implementation document.
Cabinet Office have also this week published a guidance note on Payments to Suppliers for Contingent Workers Impacted by COVID-19.
Construction industry guidelines
The Construction Leadership Council has issued guidelines to help clarify best practice for site operations, this is the direction that the whole industry must follow, and they are aligned with the latest Public Health England and Government’s advice. The guidelines are being regularly updated, so stay up to date by visiting the Construction Leadership Council’s Site operating procedures during COVID-19 web page.
Infrastructure
One of our key supplier bodies has prepared a short briefing to update UK infrastructure clients about how the industry is responding the Covid-19 crisis, and how members of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association want to work with their clients to overcome associated challenges. The briefing is available here at www.ceca.co.uk/ceca-briefing-covid-19-client-communique-27-march-2020/.
Key supply chain support
With unprecedented pressure on key supply chains for food, PPE, hygiene products (handwash) and the funeral services industry, we are working closely with MHCLG and partner organisations to understand where potential areas of failure may occur and to provide support accordingly. This is a complex task and we will keep you updated. If you have any market insights that could help to inform this work, please email coronavirus.enquiries@local.gov.uk.
Free contract management e-learning course
For those of you not involved in front line service delivery and currently being asked to work from home, you might now find some time for some continuing professional development. We negotiated a number of places on the Government Commercial Function’s Building contract and supplier management capability across government contract management e-learning modules. The foundation course aims to help contract managers achieve better outcomes and value for money through informed and timelier contract management decision-making. More than 1,000 council officers have enrolled on the course with 500 alone signing up in the latest cohort. Please get in touch if you or your colleagues are interested to join them. Email productivity@local.gov.uk.
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