transform magazine from iese

Contents

iESE Tranform Issue 12

Transform - Issue 1

3 Welcome from the editorA welcome from Dr Andrew Larner on this the First Issue of Transform magazine.

4 ContentsWhat’s in this First Issue of Transform?

6 In FiguresHow we’re doing at a glance

8 Focus & CommentA welcome from Dr Andrew Larner on this the First Issue of Transform magazine.

13 Waste… The new Gold?Peter Jones OBE on services and innovations to the waste industry.

14 iESE Introduces…Our Personal Profile section, in the spotlight this issue, Councillor Paul D Bettison.

15 Transform with us…Discover the benefits and potential savings your council can make by working in conjunction with iESE.

Editor’s letter

iESE Transform Issue 1 3

WelcomeW

elcome to the first edition of iESE’s new magazine “Transform”. Each quarter we will bring you the latest information on how we are working with councils to transform their services, ensure they are getting

the best value-for-money deals available on the market and how our work is helping them further improve their services to their residents.

The world of local government never stands still and there are always new challenges around the corner. Helping councils improve and become more efficient is why iESE exists and I hope that Transform will provide you with a channel to find out what is going on around the country on areas that you may need support with.

By working with iESE councils are finding new ways to share services from procurement, construction, trading standards and customer services to name just a few. The more councils that sign up to our many shared procurement services, the more market leverage you will have when looking for new contracts. We also have years of experience in working with the sector on service transformation, social care, and waste. We’ve already saved 51 councils £45 million on their adult social care provision and are recognised by government as a national lead on waste services.

We kick off our first issue by showcasing our brand new waste services management framework. It has just gone live and is the first ever waste framework in the UK. Already councils are queuing up to become involved. It is open to 141 councils over the next four years and has the potential to collectively save them up to £85 million. This framework is just one of many projects that we are embarking on.

To find out how we can help you transform the way you deliver to your residents, contact us on 01883 732 957.

Enjoy!

Dr Andrew Larner Chief Executive, iESE

Focus & Comment


Focus

New Procurement and Commissioning WebsiteNext month will see the launch of iESE’s brand new Procurement and Commissioning website. The website will showcase best practise guidance and advice as well as detail all the support iESE can provide to your procurement team.

The website will also be the home to ProClass, local government’s procurement classification standard. ProClass provides a common, overarching system for local authorities to analyse and compare spend on a like-for-like basis, and allows councils and their partners to pin-point new areas for collaboration and sources of savings using well defined, unambiguous categories.

Watch this space!

Comment

Social

The Welfare Reform Act marks the biggest change in the country’s benefits system since the 1940s with Universal Credit covering a number of credit payments, allowances and benefits. The aim - to improve work incentives whilst simplifying the system and making it less costly to administer.

As part of the Act, councils are preparing to take back in-house the payment of council tax benefits and are looking to rapidly find new technology to support delivery, whilst those residents on housing benefit will also see a new payment method being rolled out. The challenge is now on for councils to ensure the smooth transition of 12 million people onto this new system, but it is a challenge that they will conquer. Best placed to provide face to face contact with residents and offer support and guidance throughout the transfer process, they are clearly working hard to prepare for October 2013.

Councils want to tackle unemployment and poverty in their areas so improving work incentives is nothing new for them. They are already uniquely placed and working with local businesses in a way that no other public body could to boost local economies and employment.

In our role of supporting councils to transform services and tackle challenges such as these, the Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise is holding a half-day workshop entitled “Planning for the reform of the benefits system” on Thursday 20 September 2012 in London.

This is a free event where delegates can find out about the latest impacts and timetables for transition; hear from key technology suppliers on how they are developing systems to support councils; share ideas for tackling this massive delivery change and collaborate and discuss supply market engagement.

For more information on the event please visit www.iese.gov.uk To book a complimentary place, please contact our Business Support Unit on 01883 732 957 or email [email protected]

Keep up to date with all the latest iESE news and events by following us on Twitter @iESELtd


Waste… A local authority’s goldThe recent launch of the iESE Waste Management Services Framework marks an important step in iESE’s aim to bring together supply markets and customers so that all parties can benefit from a more joined up approach to delivering both services and innovation to the waste industry.

Waste as a valuable resource is a well established concept within the waste industry and in speaking to iESE, Peter Jones OBE, former Director of Biffa Waste Services, explains how important it is that the public sector also recognise that what is one person’s waste, may indeed be a local authority’s gold.

The global financial crisis of the last 3 years has been a salutary reminder of how that which was thought to be solid, permanent and resilient – our banking system- could be transformed into something insubstantial, insolvent and mutually self-destructive. All was not as it seemed!

This transition from the solid positive to an insubstantial risk inherent situation is also characterised in the current malaise surrounding the more mundane dynamics of municipal waste management. Why and how so?

Household waste – a step change in its creation and collection…For years household waste collection had been the last surviving local service perceived as having no possible value – deemed an encumbrance, without economic value other than via enforced taxation at local level, driving a negative association in the public mind i.e. waste and recycling collection is essential but unloved.

Fifteen years ago the introduction of a Landfill Tax started the change. The annual increase in Landfill Tax from 2005 initially drove a steep increase of investment into systems that convert waste to a resource, underpinned by motives of tax avoidance with savings of £80 to £100 per tonne for the right solutions…

Feature


Feature

Peter Jones OBE, former Director of Biffa Waste Services talks to delegates about how all parties can benefit from a more joined up approach

iESE Tranform Issue 1 8

Feature

This initial stimulus is now being replaced by a far more “solid” attraction in the form of end-market prices firming up for all those outputs into which former waste materials can now be transformed, such as recyclate, gas, electricity, transport fuels, industrial gases, fertilisers and much more.

This analysis cannot impact the old certainties in household waste management surely? Unfortunately it not only could… it is happening. The historic legal differentiation of domestic from industrial and commercial waste is something that market pricing tends to both ignore and erode.

In the private sector market, Eddie Stobart is now the largest carrier of wood waste as more co-fired wood and coal capacity is developed. The second largest waste company (ignoring the Government and its tax take of around £1.6 billion each year) is a fibreboard manufacturer in the form of David S. Smith/SCA. Recyclers such as these are hungry for new material to feed the expanding demand for improved packaging in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

Parcels companies are among the largest retrievers of WEEE – in part because home deliveries are no longer about letters but rather parcel delivery of goods ordered via the internet. These incursions into the old order of household waste flows are also occurring in the form of multiple retailers taking over the control of former local authority operated bring banks in their car parks. Retailers are doing this in part to reinforce their Corporate Social Responsibility on recycling, whilst also benefiting in profit from the near doubling of value of cardboard, paper, metals and fabrics in the past 4 years.

Not content to stop there, they are now trialling points for returned WEEE in store for everything from hair dryers to mobiles. Marks and Spencer’s “Schwopability” scheme encourages in-store return of old clothing in exchange for new clothing- no discounts yet but watch this space as former “waste” is handled in sensitive retail environments.

In the context of the Localism agenda, my own village is looking to introduce a 15,000 tonne anaerobic local energy plant to offset our carbon footprint. This is to be fed by waste, which would otherwise be sent dozens or hundreds of miles to landfill, composting or incineration. The sums stack up and we will be asking our County to let us collect from local villages to feed the plant

to supplement other feeds from local farms and abattoirs.

The spread of intelligent knowledge systems for “scrap” resources (in the form of community recycling and recovery exchanges) is being facilitated by standardised software packages, which allow small not-for-profit organisations to participate in shared “neural networks” which enable integrated collection, delivery, payment and traceability requirements. The first of these, funded by the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB), is now being rolled out within the M25 and is easily replicable elsewhere.

So where might it all end? Increasingly, there is increasingly no presumption of local authorities having the forward monopoly to manage waste and resources. The council bins once regarded as the unchallenged repositories of whatever the public chose to discard, are now being challenged by the external entities such as those referenced above, who offer blandishments to households to consider their alternatives.

Achieving capacity becomes crucial…As the capacity of end conversion sites expands (whether for recyclate, energy, soils or transport fuels), investors hungry for throughput will drive down gate fees once local reprocessing capacity (for recycling, composting or green energy) exceeds local supply of “feedstock”. In the case of those authorities who have invested in PFI funded strategies, their forward exposure is likely to depend on two simple precepts:

1. The flexibility of their chosen technology and logistics choices

2. The contractual small print and the extent to which an authority can share their contracted capacity to bid for other available material from commercial streams.


iESE

“Put or pay”, RPI indexed linking and similar structures that looked so tempting and risk free routes in the pressured ‘nineties, assume a different complexion in this emergent world of shifting price structures and new entrants from unexpected quarters.

In such a world there will be strength in numbers…District councils will find it increasingly hard to keep abreast of these developments or to understand why and where they are seeing less and less material passing through their services. They will come alive to the need to achieve greater scale, spread knowledge and recognise that anticipating these trends lies in mutual interlinkage.

County councils could find their falling WDA based tonnages jeopardising invested or planned capacity installations - combined with added unpredictable shifts in mix as food, fabric, fibre, plastic and glass, waste input levels could also fall prey to incentivisation from competing recoverers to householders.

In such a climate the iESE Waste Support Programme offers a clear beacon in the storm. The demise of the regional structures can be viewed as a set back in an industry sector where sites are scarce and scale can alter dramatically the unit operating cost profiles. Most councils have individual approaches to these challenges with multiple duplication and replication of legal, procurement and operational management costing their constituents over £1.7 billion a year.

The iESE support programme targets opportunities for realistic savings in these areas, utilising staff skills learned within the cultural backdrop to Local Government service provision.

This is achieved by adopting standardised and streamlined packages and transferring knowledge via channels such as the Waste Improvement Network and the National Waste Partnership Forum, and particularly in relation to collection services costs and maximising access to re-evaluation of the rising incomes from recyclate and energy income streams.

Additionally there is scope for improved knowledge sharing around fleet and asset utilisation, scheduling, best in class comparators and the emergent area of traded permits, PRNs and the like.

Will local authorities rise to the challenge? Some are already on the path, under the guidance of iESE or within the protection of large Integrated Waste Management PFI Partnership arrangements.

141 Councils in the Southern England, London and West Midlands are already able to get onto the path via the iESE Waste Management Services Framework with realistic, transparently audited savings in the pipeline.

Working in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy, WRAP and LWARB, the programme is focussed on collection contracts, cleansing, bulky waste and ground maintenance. Operated as a free service from a not-for-profit organisation, the incentive for contractors to perform is based on a subscription and rebate model and iESE provides bespoke procurement

support, based on the requirements of the contracting authority.

For those outside the fold, the future could prove uncertain in the extreme. And once household electorates realise their waste is attractive to other providers, the potential to migrate their waste to them demands a proactive , informed approach embedded in the public service ethos – which, after all, is the core strength of municipally based service provision.

Would you rather be in or outside the tent when it starts to rain?


iESE Waste Management Services Framework is launchedMinister encourages councils to be bold in their procurement as the iESE Waste Management Services Framework is launched.

As the fringe events at the LGA Conference 2012 began on Tuesday 26 June, it was standing room only at District Council’s Network (DCN) and iESE session on procurement excellence.

Cllr Neil Clarke, Chairman of the DCN and Leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council, welcomed delegates and said the large number of attendees clearly reflected the importance of sector-led procurement excellence.

Minister for Local Government Bob Neill MP provided an excellent overview of the challenges facing councils and gave a clear message that local government needn’t be risk averse when looking at procurement solutions, saying “With a procurement budget of £62 billion a year, local government procures more than any other part of the public sector and we need to do this more cleverly. My message to local government is to be bold when making procurement decisions”.

The session then moved into chat show style format, with iESE Executive Director Alison Templeton hosting Councillor David Tutt, Leader of Eastbourne BC and Andrew Grant, Chief Executive of Aylesbury Vale DC.

Through a question and answer session both guests provided insight into their own experiences of procurement and how they were looking at opportunities in the broadest sense to benefit their councils and residents.

Cllr Tutt explained that having fully engaged with their local economy in Eastbourne, it was clear that the priority of local businesses was an affordable high-speed broadband connection. In response to this Eastbourne Borough Council has become a 25% shareholder in Cloud Connx, enabling the delivery of twice as fast broadband for half the price with the added bonus that for every £1 profit, Eastbourne BC makes 25p.

Framework launched


In discussing Aylesbury Vale District Council, Chief Executive Andrew Grant shared how a long-term joint venture in managing their commercial property was an example of effective asset management enabling financial benefits. Andrew also explained how being a founding member of the iESE Shared Procurement Service enabled the authority to access the right skills and capacity at the right time and that this shared business model will be right for other authorities with AVDC already achieving 10% savings through re-procurements. Speaking about the future direction for AVDC, Andrew said “‘AVDC are aiming to change their business model to operate successfully without government grant, effectively monetising current loss making services. This involves using the Business Model Canvas approach to rapidly evaluate the potential for enhanced or new Council products delivered in an entrepreneurial way.”

The floor then opened up to the audience with lively and enthusiastic debate on income generation, market engagement and how the variances in local economies will invariably influence the procurement approach an authority adopts. Specifically, the Minister and panel were asked about setting out procurement best practice, which was aligned with both risk and outcomes so councils could make an informed decision. Dr Andrew Larner, Chief Executive of iESE was happy to announce that by August iESE will have launched an online portal to achieve just that, saying “iESE recognises the need to develop skills within the sector. We already have portals with standards and best practice information for waste and social care that are used by over 90% of councils in England. To compliment these we are launching a portal for procurement and commissioning. The procurement portal will be open to officers and Councillors across the sector.”

The session was wrapped up iESE Chairman Cllr. Paul Bettison, who reflected on a number of successful efficiencies that have been achieved by the sector through smarter buying but challenged the room to consider placing procurement at the heart of their strategic planning to really shape markets and deliver transformational outcomes.

“Councils understand how the results from collaboration, spend analysis and so forth can deliver savings and improve processes. Through our work in iESE we are now looking to take those successes to the next level - setting out solutions that aim to place procurement as a strategic tool in our armoury, to help councils get the best from markets, encourage suppliers to want to work with us and to help our local economies grow.”

The finale to the event was the official launch of the iESE Waste Management Services Framework – the first of its kind in the waste, recycling, street cleansing and grounds maintenance sector. Commenting on their involvement with the framework, Mark Stanley

from Veolia said, “I think that the iESE waste framework is a bold and audacious initiative. There are costs that are incurred when tendering for contracts - such as putting together a pre qualification questionnaire -which lead to additional costs that could be used to provide services. Any way we can innovate to reduce costs has got to be good.”

This procurement solution is freely available to 141 local authorities across Southern England, West Midlands and London and means environmental services contracts can be awarded in up to half the usual procurement time, whilst the participating authorities benefit from iESE procurement support without having to bring in external expertise.

In launching the framework, Cllr.Bettison continued “iESE arebringing skills and expertise into play in some of the key local government market sectors. Environmental and waste are key services we provide to residents but it’s a service area that faces challenging times, needing new solutions and ideas to come forward. The Framework has been co designed in partnership between iESE, LWARB, local authorities and the industry to meet these very challenges and I am delighted to announce it is open for business.”

Latest newsTandridge District Council has made its commitment to the country’s first ever UK Waste Management Services Framework.

The Framework, led by The Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise (iESE) aims to assist councils in getting a better deal on their £1.7bn anticipated spend on waste services over the next four years. It is available to 141 councils across Southern England, London and the West Midlands and has the potential to save them up to £85m.

Jointly set up with the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB), the Framework will cover four service areas: recycling and waste collection; street cleansing; grounds maintenance and bulky waste collection. It has been partly funded by Defra through the wider iESE National Waste Support Programme and has been supported during its development by Keep Britain Tidy and WRAP.

Cllr Paul Bettison, Chairman of iESE, said:

“Currently most councils buy their waste contracts separately, with the majority lasting longer than seven years. During this time councils rarely retain in-house expertise and have to spend significant sums on consultants. Individually, they don’t have sufficient knowledge of the market to determine if they are getting the best deal available to them and do not have the buying power to influence the market.

“The collective approach of the Waste Services Framework solves this problem. It offers councils a compliant and free solution to the waste market with the flexibility to specify levels of service and performance, tailored to their own local needs. It will save both time and council taxpayers’ money and will cut red tape and the bureaucracy with which councils are currently faced. Suppliers also benefit from a much quicker and more consistent tender process.

“Our framework covers the services that really matter to people, giving councils the opportunity to deliver even better services, save money, and work with waste contractors in a much more transparent way. Having Tandridge District Council’s commitment to the Framework is fantastic news. As more councils come on board, the greater the market leverage will be.”

From now on, councils joining the Waste Services Framework will be able to award contracts in half the time through a mini competition process. Suppliers (1) pay a membership to be part of this innovative solution and, as in common practice across procurement frameworks; a percentage rebate on the total contract value is paid for the 4 years the framework exists.

All councils involved in the framework will receive support throughout the mini-competition process. The bespoke packages of support will be delivered by iESE, who has a wealth of experience in managing major markets, using best procurement practice and implementing change to deliver significant improvements and savings.

As part of Tandridge District Council’s commitment to the Waste Services Framework, iESE will also ensure:

n project management assistance to achieve a clear and realistic plan with support throughout the four years;

n attendance at the council’s programme board meetings to challenge and check the agreed programme;

n advice in relation to the framework;

n examples of good practice are sourced and intelligence shared;

n expert guidance is provided when completing tender documents; and

n full training is given to both officers and councillors involved in the framework.

Councillor Tony Elias, Chairman of Tandridge District Council’s Community Services Committee, said: “This was the best procurement route for our council and an exciting opportunity to be part of this innovative solution. This framework has made us appreciate the potential benefits of using frameworks for other services, whether those frameworks are delivered by iESE or elsewhere. We are also looking at other contracts and we are likely to call upon the expertise of iESE to support us in ensuring these too are procured in the most efficient and compliant way. If local authorities are able to look to markets and approach them from a more joined-up position, we could certainly start to use our buying power to make sure all our residents and communities are getting the best deal.”


EventsWednesday 12th September 2012

Waste Partnership ForumRWM/CIWM Conference, NEC Birmingham

Thursday 20th September 2012

Universal Credits WorkshopLondon

To find out more about any of these events, contact us at 01883 732 957

News & Events

iESE Awards 2013



iESE Introduces…Personal Profile: Councillor Paul D BettisonLeader of Bracknell Forest Unitary Authority, Chairman of LGR Chairman of iESE Ltd and LGA National Lead Member Peer.

Born in Preston, Lancashire, 58 years ago, Paul has spent most of his life to date in the South of England. Paul has been married to Jean for 36 years, and they have two daughters, Clare (28) and Emily (26).

Having spent ten successful years with US based Rockwell International, before setting up his own successful business supplying printing equipment to the UK newspaper and general printing industry during the mid 1980s, Paul turned to local politics as his next challenge in 1991.

He was elected to Sandhurst Town Council in May of that year, and to Bracknell Forest Borough Council at a by-election in October 1991. He rose first in the Town Council, becoming Deputy Mayor in 1992 and Mayor from 1993-1995.

In 1996 Paul was elected Leader of the Conservative Group (then in opposition) at Bracknell Forest. In the elections in May 1997, Paul led the Conservative Group to victory, gaining the distinction of being the only Conservative Leader in the country to wrest power from Labour on what was generally not a good day for the Conservative cause!

Under Paul’s leadership, the Conservative Group at Bracknell Forest managed a “seamless” transition to unitary status in 1998, and following many innovative local government initiatives, he led his

Group to further gains in May 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2011 with swings to the Conservatives of twice the national average.

Paul is active within the LGA, and is firmly committed to local government representation at the highest level.

From 2000 to 2002 he was Chairman of the LGA’s Housing Executive and oversaw the introduction of many innovations in Bracknell Forest’s housing service.

Paul believes fervently in local authorities’ power of community wellbeing and asks, ‘What could be more fundamental to anyone’s wellbeing than the roof over their head?’ From 2002 – 2004 he chaired the LGA’s Rural Commission and Executive, and was successful in persuading DEFRA that local government can play a key rôle in the delivery of the rural agenda in the post-Haskins era.

From 2006 – 2009 he chaired the LGA Environment Board, where he gained national recognition as the ‘Bin Baron’. He currently chairs LG Regulation (formerly LACORS - Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services) and sits on the LGA Executive. Paul was, for five years, the Local Government Association e-Government Champion and has been the Conservative Party’s National spokesman on local government ICT matters.

He has been on the Board of Directgov, Government Connect, and of the National Opportunity Card.

Located in the heart of the UK’s “silicon valley” Paul’s authority of Bracknell Forest is seen as the leading UK council in the area of electronic service delivery, with Bracknell Forest on-line, BF Net, a thriving CRM roll-out, and the world’s first multi-application smartcard – e+. A long list of awards is testimony to his council’s commitment to e-Government.

Paul chairs the Environment themed partnership of IESE and is also Chairman of the Executive Board of IESE Ltd (Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise). Paul is a Trustee of Keep Britain Tidy and a Board Member of the Gangmasters’ Licensing Authority and sits on the Board of the Conservative Councillors’ Association as the Unitary Councils’ representative.

A firm believer in self-help for local government, Paul spent 18 months as a peer mentor to the Leader of the Conservative Group of Hackney LBC, and performed the same task for the Leader of Walsall MBC for 5 years. Paul has worked with Swindon Borough Council, Kingston upon Hull Council, North East Lincs Council, Plymouth Borough Council, Trafford MBC, Northampton Borough Council, Milton Keynes Borough Council, Southampton City Council and the Isle of Wight Council. He is the National Lead Conservative Member Peer at LG Improvement and Development (formerly known as I&DeA.)

Paul retired from his business activities in 2004, and now devotes himself full-time to Local Government.

Pho

to ©

Dan

ny F

itzpa

rtic

k P

hoto

grap

hy

Personal Profile

Transform with us!

www.iESE.gov.uk 15

Be a part of…

When iESE works with you to save your authority money and improve its services it also transfers its skills to your authority’s staff. Not only does this mean that you can sustain your transformation, it also means that you can become a part of iESE and help other authorities transform.

Whilst our sector owned ethos starts with the way we do our work, it doesn’t end there. iESE is a mutual whose owners are local authorities.

If you are considering using iESE’s services then you also have the option of becoming an owner. Whether you want to own a part of the business or you want to have a leadership role for the mutual as a whole you will always be welcome. Our members have the benefit of accessing our services without the need for the usual procurement bureaucracy reducing the cost oftransformation to us and to our local authorities.

You may also considering creating a mutual from their services. Having created local government’s first transformation social enterprise, we are always willing to share our experience of creating a mutual. Your mutual can also become a part of the iESE network and in these cases we will co-invest in establishing the mutual.

Our passion is finding new ways to significantly reduce the costs of delivering higher quality public services.

At the Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise we believe the only way to do this to ensure that our work remains both by and for the sector.

To help your organisation benefit from the wide range of services we offer, why not find out more about becoming part of iESE - contact us today

on [email protected] or call on 01883 732 957

31

95

%

%

Construction framework has made

£92m

of savings

Waste Management Services Framework aims to save councils

£85m

Care Funding Calculator has saved authorities

of councils registered to

www.socialcare.improvement efficiency.org.uk

of local authorities registered on

www.win.org.uk

iESE has generated over £250 million worth of efficiency savings over the last 5 years…

£250mIn Figures

T: 01883 732 957E: [email protected]

£45m

transform magazine from iese

Documents

transform issue

issue of transform magazine

iese councils

shared procurement services

new areas

new gold

new ways

customer services