Mark Glaister Procurement Manager Surrey County Council

About Surrey

Key Statistics  The Councils gross budget for 2004 was £1.26 billion of which £737.6 million is spent on goods, services and works.  A population of 1.1 million supported by the County Council, 11 Districts and 14 Borough Councils  Surrey Children’s Service currently provides support to over 3,000 children and young people from an annual budget for goods and services of £34 million  The Council is committed to saving £2m during 2004 / 5, £3m during 2005 / 6 and £4m during 2006 / 7. In addition, the Council has recently launched a Policy and Productivity review with the aim of saving an additional £5m per year over a 3 year period. Total savings target of £24 million over the next 3 years.  The Council recognise that more effective procurement will be key if these targets are to be achieved with e-procurement very high on the agenda.

The Temporary Staffing Requirement - Children’s Services

The Requirement Children’s Services requires temporary staffing agencies to supply the following categories of worker:  Social Workers (qualified and un-qualified)  Residential Social Workers for Waking Nights & Children with Disabilities  Admin and Secretarial  HR  Procurement How was this requirement historically being met?  £2 million spent per annum with 52 different local agencies

Problems In Meeting This Requirement  Lack of control over spend - different charge rates/pay rates across agencies  Lack of visibility over spend - no process for tracking and monitoring spend  Ordering processes inconsistent across teams - temp quality inconsistent  No central records of temps held by the Council - high risk exposure  No process for measuring the performance of agencies  Considerable management time spent on processing timesheets and invoices  5,000 temporary staffing invoices processed per annum  8,000 temporary staffing time sheets processed per annum

The Objective

 To achieve best value temporary staff supply  To reduce the current level of temporary labour expenditure within Children’s Services by 10% - 15% in direct and in-direct savings  To reduce the amount of management time currently allocated to staff ordering, invoicing, time sheeting and management reporting and allow managers to concentrate on their core activity.  To achieve a consistent application of policy governing temporary staff usage within Children’s Services  To manage risk more effectively  To identify where, when and why temporary staff being used to inform workforce planning The Objective

The Options

Managing Supply  Option 1 - Establish a preferred list of agencies (PSL)  Option 2 – Establish an in-house supply agency  Option 3 - Appoint a master vendor  Option 4 - Appoint a vendor neutral managing agent Managing Delivery  Option 1 - Purchase an e-procurement system  Option 2 - Purchase an outsourced e-procurement system  How should we manage supply?  How should we manage delivery?

The Decision

Managing Supply  Option 4 - Appoint a vendor neutral managing agent Managing Delivery  Option 2 - Purchase an outsourced e-procurement system

Vendor neutrality ensures maximum competition for all available staffing orders. Service quality drives movement between tiers Multiple portals into a single ordering point Delivery driven by a web- enabled exchange and exceptions managed by experts in Comensura’s service centre Social Work Vendors Carer Vendors Site 1 Site 2 Site 1 Site 3 Site 1 comensura.net automates:  Ordering  Candidate submission  Invoicing  Time Sheeting  Real time spend information Tier 3 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 3 Tier 2 Tier 1 Location and skill-set specific tiers Programme Overview

The Decision – benefits to Surrey “To support business improvement through cost effective and efficient purchasing of goods and services through corporate implementation of e-procurement. Working with local suppliers to equip them to take advantage of e-procurement activities” ODPM 2004 Vendor Neutrality  Encourages local suppliers to work with the Council in line with the Governments Priority Service Targets  Promotes a consistent temporary staffing workforce  A more diverse and higher quality temporary workforce  Best value temporary staffing supply. Vendor Neutrality promotes continuous improvement amongst the agency supply chain. E-Procurement  Complete visibility and control over spend – authorisation levels set for ordering, invoicing and time sheeting  Automation of costly back office processes – invoicing, time-sheeting etc  Standardisation of job specifications allowing for greater skills matching of candidates by agencies  All costs associated with technology maintenance, training, and upgrades borne by outsourced provider  Bespoke market place - Integration with Councils SAP System

The Decision – benefits to suppliers Vendor Neutrality  Orders are contested on the basis of quality and price not size or reputation  Equal opportunity to increase market share across the Council E-Procurement To be competitive, staffing suppliers must add value to their temporary staff and concentrate on attraction, interviewing, matching, developing and counselling  Engage with authority easier and quicker – all that is required to interact is access to the internet  Reduce their staffing and account management costs dramatically, through instant access to key recruitment decision makers across the Council  Respond to temporary/permanent vacancies quicker due to instant notification supported with detailed job and skill requirements  Obtain feedback on performance – promotes continuous quality improvement  Reduced cost of transaction with client – automated time sheeting and invoicing

Q&A

Additional Information For additional information on this programme or indeed the other programmes being delivered by Comensura across Local Government please contact: Andy Weston Sales & Marketing Manager Comensura Tel: Web: