MOHAMMED SAEED – KIRKLEES COUNCIL. BRIAN THOMAS – WAKEFIELD COUNCIL. Making procurement savings through collaboration

Introduction Our version of what makes for a successful collaboration and ultimately delivers outcomes. Structure. Membership/Team Brief. Principals/Rules. Challenges. Savings/ Cost reductions /Innovations. Procurement Actual Savings/ Cost reductions delivered.

Other savings as a result of collaboration. Expansion of the group. Future funding.

Reporting Structure. Combined Authority LTP Board Procurement Group Design and Material standards Street Lighting Winter Maintenance NEC user Group Benchmarking Highway Drainage Asset Management Group. Structures.

Procurement Group Membership Bradford - Chris Leach (Highways Asset Manager), Calderdale - Dave Newton (Group Engineer), Leeds - Russell Martin (Highways Maintenance Manager) & Wynne Floyd (Procurement Manager), Wakefield - Graham West (Highway Network Manager) & Brian Thomas (Senior Contracts Engineer) Kirklees - Mo Saeed. York – Andy Wilcock (Category Manager) & Bill Manby (Principal Engineer Highways Delivery).

Brief. Deliver efficiencies by procuring Highways Services, Works and Goods as a region. Deliver more efficient services via Direct Labour Organisations. Pool resources and share expertise as the number of procurement specialists for highways was dwindling across the region.

Statement of Principles Full engagement/commitment. Decision making would be on a consensus basis and binding to all. Disputes would be referred to LTP board. Decisions would be taken on the basis of the greatest benefit to West Yorkshire overall. Open and trust each other. All would provide resources to deliver the WY workload. Share knowledge and experience to achieve best practice. Challenge current practice and be more innovative.

Early Challenges. Since abolition of WYCC in 1986 all had developed their own respective delivery models. Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield had maintained a level of specialist highways procurement capability. Calderdale had a “Term Works Contract”. Each council had moved away from the WYCC common standards. Highway Maintenance Contracts phasing. Establishing actual Prices.

Savings/Cost reductions. Saving could be delivered by: Aggregation of Services, Works and Goods, Standardisation of contract documents, Service standards. (prioritised) procurement costs, contract management and administration costs, innovation etc. Better programming.

Procurement. Engage with the suppliers to establish how we could get their best prices and amend the contract to reflect this wherever practicable. Convince suppliers that all WY parties were committed to and would use the contracts.

Innovation Use of supplier’s expertise on their costs to deliver cheaper prices. Fit for purpose compliant procurement. Removal of annual inflation clause. Setting the practically deliverable standards/ service levels. Streamlined contract management and administration. Use of contractor’s expertise to deliver further savings.

Continuous Improvement However! Know your market – Commercial Intelligence. Diseconomies of scale SME Development Local Spend Apprenticeships / Training Legal Changes Understand why, not what! Funding - Capital / S38 / Commuted sums

Examples of savings Salt contract. Average saving £5/tonne. i.e 17%, £300K. Planing and Surfacing Contracts. Average savings. 2.2%, £540K. Surface Dressing. Minimal. Traffic signal Maintenance Contract. Savings 8% - 15%, £190K per annum.

Miscellaneous. Bench marking with self, other members and private contractors. Joint Training. Joint Membership e.g NEC. Trials. Route Based Forecasting/Route Optimisation. Gulley Software etc. Appendix H. Joint responses to Dft. Resource sharing and learning from each other.

Expansion of Alliance York have joined. Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley have used our contracts. Letters going out to the remainder of Yorkshire Councils asking for expression to join. Formalise the Alliance. Case Study for HMEP.

Highways Maintenance Funding:15/16-20/21. The collaborative work is one half of the requirement to safeguard 20% of our future funding. The other half is dependent on Asset Management and client/provider collaboration.