|
Feel free to circulate this email to your colleagues and suggest that they sign up to receive it themselves. Create or manage your LGA bulletin subscriptions or read previous editions of this bulletin.
Transforming Public Procurement update
Commons Report and Third Reading stages of the Procurement Bill have now been confirmed for next week. The Bill will then progress to ‘consideration of amendments’ in the House of Lords. If the Lords disagree with any Commons amendments, or make alternative proposals, the Bill will continue to go back and forth until both houses reach agreement. Following this agreement the Bill will then proceed to Royal Assent.
Progression of the Bill through Parliament has taken longer than anticipated but now we are nearing the conclusion of the Parliamentary process the Cabinet Office have advised that they are planning for an October 2024 commencement – following a six-month preparation period.
Work to develop the secondary legislation that will eventually sit under the Procurement Act is nearing completion and we will shortly launch a public consultation on the detail of these Statutory Instruments (regulations). These are the implementing regulations which enact the legislative powers and bring to life many of the provisions contained within the Procurement Bill.
The public consultation will comprise two distinct phases. The first part refers predominantly to areas of the Bill which require lists, calculations or further definitions to be used in practice.
The second part of the consultation focuses on the transparency provisions and notices that will be used by contracting authorities to fulfil their legal requirements under the Act.
Find out more at GOV.UK Transforming Public Procurement or email the Cabinet Office at procurement.reform@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
New research into the supported housing sector – survey for commissioners – extended deadline
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.
The deadline for the Supported Housing Commissioners survey has now been extended until Friday 30 June.
Infrastructure assets and audit – response to CIPFA survey
Councils will be aware of the problems caused last year by the issue of accounting for infrastructure assets, such as roads which added significantly to the current crisis in local audit. A temporary solution to these problems was put in place in December when CIPFA published an update to the accounting code (supplemented by CIPFA Bulletin 12) and DLUHC made a statutory override to the Capital Finance and Accounting Regulations. This temporary solution will last until 2024/25. CIPFA is now running an online survey of councils to understand the impact of changing the reporting of information for infrastructure assets and to help develop a long-term solution to the way such assets are valued. The survey closes on 14 June.
Funding to support rollout of quality skills training
The Department for Education has announced a £48 million skills injection fund to increase the rollout of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs).
HTQs are technical courses at levels four and five which equip students with higher-level skills needed to secure well-paying jobs, such as software developer or construction site supervisor. The funding will allow colleges and other providers to deliver more HTQs by funding specialist equipment, facilities, and upskilling staff.
If you have any questions please email team.highertechnicaleducation@education.gov.uk
Sustainability in council services
We have developed our Sustainability in Council Services hub in response to councils asking for help to embed sustainable practices in everything they do. The LGA commissioned the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) innovation lab to bring together council staff from a range of policy areas to discuss how they might do this. Together, we have developed a series of themed route maps based on the participants’ discussions.
Invest in energy-saving products from the Energy Technology List
The Energy Technology List (ETL) is a list created and updated monthly by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). It provides details of energy-saving products for businesses and the public sector. Since its inception, the scheme has assessed nearly 60,000 products, and now features 62 technology categories.
Low emission bus schemes
The Department for Transport (DfT) has published a report outlining findings from a trial considering data on refuelling, recharging and distance travelled by low emission buses. The report found that electric vehicles are the most energy efficient of all the low emission bus vehicles.
Climate change adaptation
We launched our Accelerating Adaptation Action report this week which includes a range of recommendations we hope to see reflected in the third National Adaptation Programme expected to be published later this year. We have worked with Local Partnerships (LP) and the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) on developing the report and survey. The project builds on LPs climate change adaptation toolkit and engagement with Government via the Local Adaptation Advisory Panel.
Greenhouse Gas Accounting Tool suite
The Greenhouse Gas Accounting Tool provides a straightforward and consistent approach for councils seeking to calculate their own carbon baseline. As of January 2023, featured alongside the tool is a Waste Emissions Calculator that has been developed by Cambridgeshire County Council and University College London (UCL) on our Net Zero Innovation Programme. If you have any questions or suggestions for improvement in relation to the tool or the calculator, please email ghgaccounting@localpartnerships.gov.uk
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
Value erosion in contract management – what's influencing it? (Government Commercial Function)
Thursday 22 June, 1.00pm–2.00pm | Virtual event
The Children's Services Commissioners' Conference
Wednesday 28–Thursday 29 June | The Hayes Conference Centre, Hayes Lane, Swanwick, Alfreton, Derbyshire DE55 1AU
Pubic Sector Show – public procurement with purpose
Tuesday 4 July | Etc.venues, County Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1 7PB
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:
The LGA's membership magazine, 'first', is delivered free each month to just under 17,000 councillors and local authority chief executives. Access first online to browse all news articles, features and opinion pieces, including those from past issues.
Councillors who receive the magazine should also be receiving the first e-bulletin. If you find that first online and the first e-bulletin satisfy your need for information from the LGA, please consider helping us reduce our carbon footprint by opting out of receiving the magazine. Councillors and officers can sign up for the first e-bulletin using their council email addresses.
|
