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Delivering a social value economy – a social value roadmap
At last year’s National Social Value Conference the question was posed – how do we start to build a social value economy? 1,500 attendees and taskforce members collaborated to help us answer it; the outcome of which was a white paper from the National Social Value Taskforce which sets out to define a social value roadmap along with a four-step commitment to deliver it. The taskforce's Social Value Conference will be held in Westminster on 13–14 June.
Working with the voluntary and community sectors –partnership-working toolkit
We have published a new partnership-working toolkit, developed with Locality, to support councils on their journey to developing strong, strategic relationships with their local voluntary and community sectors (VCS). This toolkit builds on research we published last year, which showed very variable quality of such relationships and identified some of the key barriers to better partnership-working. The toolkit aims to help senior officers and lead members put some of that learning in to practice by analysing, mapping and assessing the quality of key local relationships.
New research into the supported housing sector – survey for commissioners
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have commissioned research to assess the size, cost and demand of the supported housing sector. This will update and build on the 2016 Supported Accommodation Review. The research aims to ensure that Government has the best available data for making decisions on the future direction of supported housing policy. This will help ensure residents in supported housing receive good quality support and accommodation which represents value for money.
DWP sent links to the survey, on 22 March, via your council's single point of contact. If you did not receive these, or if you want to respond to the Supported Housing Commissioners survey for your organisation, please complete the survey by Friday 26 May. The research team would also like to speak with those involved in the commissioning of supported housing in more depth.
If your council would like to learn more about the research or discuss what is involved in taking part, please email Christina Beatty at c.beatty@shu.ac.uk. For all other queries, please email supportedhousingoversight@levellingup.gov.uk.
Community Ownership Fund
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has launched the third round of its Community Ownership Fund. There have been changes made to the fund, for instance the amount of funding all projects can bid for will be increasing from £250,000 to £1 million. The requirement for match-funding is also being reduced to as low as 10 per cent, making it easier for communities to acquire assets without raising additional private funding. For the first time, parish councils will also be able to apply to the fund, which has previously only been available to charities and community groups.
Advice on Bus Enhanced Partnerships
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published an advice paper on Bus Enhanced Partnerships. The advice aims to consolidate competition insights and reflections from the CMA’s review of enhanced partnerships to date. This should help Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) as they develop, monitor or vary enhanced partnership plans and schemes over time. The purpose of this advice is to enable good policy, and to ensure that LTAs are not discouraged from pursuing new and innovative policies.
Net zero across key cities
Metro Dynamics and Opergy have published a new report – Levelling Up, Emissions Down on behalf of the Key Cities network, revealing how cities are driving positive climate action despite a huge disconnect between local action and national policy. The report presents the findings of a programme of research, which involved extensive engagement with the 27 Key Cities, to assess progress to net zero and identify the barriers and opportunities for improvement across the UK.
Developing local partnerships for onshore wind in England consultation
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced that benefits packages will be broadened for areas that agree to have onshore wind farms. The new reward schemes include the potential for lower bills, in addition to current benefits such as holding a stake in a turbine, or funding for new community facilities, such as charging points for electric cars or new sports and recreation facilities. The Government is consulting on a more localist approach to provide local authorities with more flexibility to respond to the views of their local communities. The Government’s 'Developing local partnerships for onshore wind in England' consultation, which launched yesterday, proposes new benefits, such as the energy bill discount, which would be agreed between developers and communities on a case-by-case basis. The consultation proposals also include embedding best practice principles of engagement into planning guidance for local authorities and developers to ensure the views of the community are heard and addressed. The consultation closes on Friday 7 July.
Government Commercial College procurement fraud course and videos
Procurement fraud is a serious issue that can have significant negative impacts on local government. By being aware of the risks and taking steps to prevent and detect fraud, local authorities can protect their financial resources, reputation, and public trust. Procurement fraud can occur through various means such as bid rigging, conflict of interest, and false invoicing. By learning about procurement fraud, local government officials can protect their organisation from financial losses and maintain trust with their constituents.
In Government Commercial College's procurement fraud course and videos, you’ll learn how to detect procurement fraud, report it, and minimise (or even stop) it happening in your local authority.
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has developed this course using cutting-edge insights from educational neuroscience – so expect interactive questions, mnemonic devices, animation, impassioned storytelling and a whole lot more. Feel free to watch the videos on your own or with your team – the entire video series takes about an hour.
CIPFA Conference – Unleash the power of procurement to deliver better public services
Tuesday 16 May, 8.30am–3.30pm | The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) auditorium, 1 Moorgate Place, London EC2R 6EA
World Sustainable Contracting Day
Wednesday 17 May, 5.00am–9.00pm | Virtual event (Zoom)
Supplier Development Programme (SDP) Meet the Buyer Conference
Wednesday 17 May, 10.00am–4.00pm | Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), The Exchange, 150 Morrison St, Edinburgh EH3 8EE
Heat networks and heat pumps (Net Zero Go innovator workshop)
Thursday 18 May, 10.00am–12.00pm | Virtual event (Microsoft Teams)
Accelerating decarbonisation through public procurement
Thursday 25 May, 10.00am–11.30am | Virtual event (Zoom)
Procurex National Conference
Thursday 1 June | Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC), North Ave, Marston Green, Birmingham B40 1NT
Towards a Social Value Economy – The Social Value Conference
Tuesday 13–Wednesday 14 June | Church House, Great Smith Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AZ | In-person and virtual event
The Children's Services Commissioners' Conference
Wednesday 28–Thursday 29 June | The Hayes Conference Centre, Hayes Lane, Swanwick, Alfreton, Derbyshire DE55 1AU
The LGA Procurement team manages several LGA webpages dedicated to your needs. Please email guy.head@local.gov.uk if you would like any information added to our webpages:
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