Collaboration in Procurement and Commissioning Within British Public Services - Essay Example

Collaboration in Procurement and Commissioning within British Public Services Name Course Name and Code Instructor’s Name Date The public sector has a great responsibility of quality service delivery to the public and one way of enhancing quality service delivery is through collaborative procurement. The term procurement according to Uyarra (2010, p. 2) refers to ‘the process of acquiring goods, services and works by government or public sector organisations, both from third parties and from in-house providers organizations’. Public procurement aims at ‘delivering value for money as well as social inclusion, sustainability, regeneration, employment generation and support for small businesses (Uyarra 2010, p. 2). On the other hand, commissioning goes beyond procurement to cover identification of public needs, planning, sourcing, delivery, and performance management (Uyarra 2010, p.12). To improve service delivery in the public sector, it is important for public and private sectors to partner together to ensure community participation in design and delivery of services (Uyarra 2010, p.12). One of such partnerships is in collaborative procurement/purchasing that entails partnering of two or more organisations in the acquisition of goods, works and services as well as in the sharing of information and resources (Uyarra 2010, p.12). This paper focuses on collaborative procurement within Lancashire Constabulary, which is part of the Police Procurement North West (PPNW) that was formed in 2010 with the aim of improving service delivery through partnerships as well as making it easy for tender bidders to apply for tenders. For collaborative activities and in particular collaborative procurement to be successful, the right governance, policies, measures, agreements, systems and processes need to be put in place (Killin 2010, p.3). Lancashire Constabulary can collaborate with other police departments and local authorities within Lancashire to improve public service delivery. In fact, it has taken a big step by being part of the PPNW, which is composed of all of the North West Region Police Forces. Lancashire Constabulary can achieve economies of scale as well as other social benefits by doing collaborative procurement with other public sectors. There are several buying activities that Lancashire Constabulary can practice collaborative procurement. Firstly, this constabulary can jointly purchase energy with the local authorities and police departments in Lancashire to reduce the costs on energy. Through collaborative procurement of energy from power supply companies, the constabulary will cut on procurement costs as well as save on time that is spend on planning for procurement. This benefit of bulk purchasing has been supported by the NIEP for the Built Environment (2010, p.4) and recognises that bulk purchasing is cheaper and reduces the number of suppliers. Secondly, Lancashire Constabulary can collaborate with the other police departments in Lancashire in the purchase of water from the water supply companies. This, like the collaborative energy procurement will reduce supplier numbers as well as improve the service delivery. The service delivery will be faster because there is the power of the masses unlike when an organization is purchasing utilities individually. Another area where the Lancashire Constabulary can be involved in collaborative procurement is in the purchase of staff uniform for the different police units. Through collaborative procurement with the members of the Police Procurement North West (Cheshire Police, Cumbria Constabulary, Greater Manchester Police, Lancashire Constabulary, Merseyside Police and North Wales Police), Lancashire constabulary will reduce supplier numbers and also reduce the expenses of purchasing since bulk purchasing is cheaper. The buying of police vehicles such as patrol cars and motorbikes also call for collaborative procurement. Lancashire Constabulary can jointly purchase police vehicles from one dealer to get bigger discounts. This will also ensure that best quality vehicles are purchased since the integrated procurement team will be of high expertise. Furthermore, Lancashire Constabulary can adopt collaborative procurement when acquiring police equipment such as handcuffs, batons, teaser guns, glock pistols, stab vests, first aid kits, torches, incapacitant spray, limb restraints and rifles. All of the above items can be purchased from one supplier and if not possible items that are in the same category such as firearms can be purchased from one point. In addition, collaborative procurement can be applied in the air support units of the police departments. Lancashire Constabulary can jointly purchase helicopters and jets. This is an expensive sector that the government can save on if collaborative procurement is adopted in the police units. Another buying sector that seems insignificant though is important is in the purchasing of food supplies for police dogs. North West Constabularies and other police departments can jointly purchase these food supplies from a single supplier to reduce the supplier numbers. Finally, the police departments usually need to buy materials for their construction projects and they need contract engineers to do the work. The Lancashire Constabulary can partner with other police units to contract engineers as well as in the purchase of construction materials. The materials can be bought directly from manufacturers since they are in large numbers and this will in turn save on the procurement costs. Through the above collaborative procurement activities, Lancashire Constabulary will yield numerous financial as well as social benefits. One of the unique benefits is economies of scale whereby the partnering organisations will be able to save money through bulk purchasing. Organisations involved in collaborative procurement usually aim at reducing procurement costs. Economies of scale can also be achieved through joint contracts and shared services. According to NIEP for the Built Environment (2010, p.6), collaborative procurement has helped organisations in saving funds especially through aggregating procurement. Additionally, Dobson and Swan (2008, p.7) argue that organisations sharing services ‘achieve economies of scale and efficiencies hence reducing the cost of services and enables them to redirect the savings to frontline services’. Therefore, Lancashire Constabulary through collaborative procurement will be able to save funds that can be used in other development projects that will benefit the public at large. A second benefit of collaborative procurement to organisations is that it builds long-term relationships between organisations (NIEP for the Built Environment 2010, p.4). When organisations partner for whatever reason, relationships are built. Through collaborative procurement, Lancashire Constabulary will not only build long term relationships with the other police units in England, but it will also build relationships between itself and suppliers that range from large manufacturing enterprises to small and growing businesses. Thirdly, collaborative procurement promotes best practice due to the use of an integrated team in the procurement of services, works and goods (NIEP for the Built Environment 2010, p.4). The procurement team is composed of members from different police units who have individual expertise that when brought in the group promotes innovation as well as high quality expertise in the procurement process. This qualified team of experts ensures that the best contractors are hired, the best quality equipment is purchased and that the number of procurement exercises is reduced. All these will ensure that the constabulary gets value for their money as well that will in turn affect the service delivery to the public. For example, when the constabulary gets the best food for their dogs, the dogs will be healthy hence they will perform their duties with efficiency. Another example is that when there is best practice in the administrative structure of the constabulary, this will translate into quality service delivery to the public due to good management. Additionally, when the best contractors build durable offices using quality materials for the constabulary, it saves on the building costs since there will be minimal repairs and it will take a long time before any new buildings are needed unless for expansion purposes. Another benefit of collaborative procurement is that it promotes collective risk management (NIEP for the Built Environment 2010, p.12) which is an important tool of problem solving. This is especially useful in the construction work where the team identifies a risk and manages it jointly or gives it to an expert in the tem to deal with it. In the Lancashire Constabulary, risk management will also help in saving costs because risks are expensive to mange but if managed jointly it is cheaper and further damage is prevented. However, this benefit is very significant to the construction industry where collaboration between contractors and project teams promotes innovation. Moreover, through collaborative procurement, organisations save on time due to the speed of delivery of materials and services. According to the NIEP for the Built Environment (2010, p.14), procurement trough a framework is speedy and can even save up to 15% of the programme. To cut on the budget, Lancashire Constabulary can adopt collaborative procurement in its buying activities. In addition, sharing of services through collaborative procurement will promote economies of scale. Through sharing of facilities and resources, organisations save on costs and promote efficiency in their service delivery (Department for Communities and Local Government 2006, p.32). This will be the same case for Lancashire Constabulary if it engages itself in collaborative procurement with other public sectors especially those that they share common services such as the police units. Collaborative procurement will also promote efficiency in the delivery of services to the public. For example, when the constabulary purchases good quality equipment such as laser guns, crime and other social crimes will be significantly reduced and the public will be secure. Collaborative working also leads to better use of resources, which translates, into better value for money. In other words, through working together there is direct savings on the overall expenditure (Department for Communities and Local Government 2006, p.34). Collaborative procurement will help Lancashire Constabulary in effective use of resources especially the financial resources. There is also a greater buying power when organisations partner in purchasing of goods and services. Public organisations have a great responsibility of ensuring that they deliver quality services to the public. To ensure this is the case always, it is advisable to work in partnerships especially in the field of procurement to save on money, time and achieve social inclusion. The term collaborative procurement refers to the partnering of two or more organisations to jointly procure services, goods and works. From the above discussion, it is evident that collaborative procurement is quite beneficial to any organisation whether a hospital, police unit or even private organisation. The most significant benefit is economies of scale through getting value for money and saving on costs. Economies of scale of scale can also be achieved through efficiency and reduction of risks. The second benefit is building of long-term relationships between partnering organisations as well as between them and the suppliers. Another benefit is that there is improved service delivery to the public. Additionally, there are the benefits of best practice and saving of time, which translate to economies of scale. References Department for Communities and Local Government. 2006. Structures for collaboration and shared services: Technical notes. London: Crown. Dobson, L., and Swan, P. 2008. Team Lancashire shared services strategy. Bolton: Aperia Limited. Killin, M. 2010. Collaborative procurement-why it matters. London: ProcServe Holdings Limited. NIEP for the Built Environment. 2010. The benefits of collaborative procurement. London: NIEP for the Built Environment. Police Procurement North West. 2010. How to do business. Roots, B. 2009. The Roots view: review of arrangements for efficiencies from smarter procurement in local government. London: Crown. Uyarra, E. 2010. Opportunities for innovation through local government procurement: A case study of Greater Manchester. London: NESTA. Read More