The benefits of CPC membership

CPC membership has and always will be completely free. We are the only national purchasing consortium dedicated to Further Education and we offer access to over 89 professionally arranged framework agreements covering a wide range of goods and services 

The Department for Education (DfE), following a benchmarking and auditing exercise, have chosen to recommend 17 of our frameworks to Schools and Academies.   due to the proven savings that they have made and the simplicity of use. 

CPC’s 89+ frameworks are compliant with procurement regulations and help with tight budgets as they have been pre-arranged with vetted suppliers to ensure they provide savings and Value for Money. CPC frameworks are also time-saving and reduce workload as the extensive procurement work has already been done, enabling schools and academies to access the frameworks in just a few minutes using the easy to use quote tool. 

The DfE are currently recommending the following frameworks, with more expected to follow in the near future: 

• Audit Services 
• Building Cleaning 

• Employee Screening Services 
• ICT Hardware and Peripherals Equipment 
• ICT Networking and Storage Solutions 
• Insurance and Associated Services for Academies & Schools 
• Leasing Services 

• Legal Services 
• Library Resources and Associated Services 
• Multifunctional Devices and Digital Transformation Solutions 
• Outsourced Catering Services 
• Outsourced Human Resources inc Payroll Services 

• Software Licenses & Associated Services for Academies and Schools 
• Staff Absence Protection & Reimbursement 
• Stationery and Education Supplies 
• Synthetic Sports Facilities 
• Utilities Supplies & Services 

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CPC are working with the DfE to offer our School and Academy members some more similarly tailored frameworks to meet your requirements and specifications. We offer our members access to free professional purchasing advice from experienced Framework Contract Managers and also more general queries can be raised via our dedicated Helpdesk and contracting support team who are in place to assist you throughout your membership and provide you with any support you may need. 

 

The Further Education Library of Procurement (FELP) is a document and knowledge sharing resource centre containing templates that are intended to aid you in the creation of your own procurement policies and documents. The templates are designed to give you a starting point rather than being finished documents. We envisage this will save you time and allow you to personalise the final documents to your institution’s own corporate style. 

There are templates covering the following areas: 

• Procurement strategies, policies and procedures 

• Template documentation for the creation of request for quotes and tenders 
• Tender specifications 
• Terms and conditions of contract 
• Other guidance material 

 

To download any of the document templates from FELP you will need to create a user account. If you have an @ac.uk email account, you will be able to register automatically. If you work for a school or academy, your registration application will be processed within two working days. 

Registered members of CPC also have full access to our Procurement Learning and Development platform that provides fully funded training courses, resources, templates and guidance and latest news. 

We want to make sure that support and guidance is available to everybody that has some responsibility for procurement within our membership. Whether you are new to our procurement community or a seasoned practitioner, you will find something to help you in your role. 

The Procurement Learning and Development platform is delivered and sponsored by our overarching charity, CPL Group and gives you access to a range of procurement resources, all geared to helping you to be the best you can be at procurement. 

 

The key areas are: 

• Free Procurement Training - We are pleased to offer the opportunity for our members to attend a variety of procurement training courses free of charge. 
• Learning Resources - We have pulled together the key knowledge resources that you'll need to tackle whatever issue you're facing. Including FELP, a library of procurement information, your go-to for any guidance or template documents you might need. 
• News & Insights - Find the latest news and stories, as well as CPL business updates to enhance your procurement knowledge and processes. 

CPC recognise the need to enable collaboration and effective communication between us and our members, establishing the Procurement Advisory Group (PAG) back in 2010.  

The group works by way of regional representatives, who bring discussion points and new ideas from the area to monthly meetings. At these meetings it is decided what recommendations should be put to the CPC Board. In this way, the procurement requirements of all colleges are heard and taken into account when plotting CPC's future activities. 

PAG consists of professionally qualified procurement managers from across the UK. They are committed to: 

1. Providing professional procurement advice and promoting the importance of procurement through CPC to the education sector 

1. Supporting and promoting CPC contracts and the benefits of consortia contracting to colleagues to increase contract throughput 

1. Advising CPC on training requirements to continue up skilling within the sector 

1. Making contracting recommendations to CPC 

1. Working with CPC and others to develop and enhance benchmarking within the sector 

1. Looking at other bodies involved in procurement within the sector and provide a gap analysis to CPC to assist with their procurement strategy. 

 

As a group, PAG are passionate about ensuring that CPC provides exceptional value and service to the sector. They need your input to drive change and cement best practice where necessary. 

Given the financial pressures that we are all facing going forward, now is an excellent time to engage with CPC and to use the PAG as your voice with the CPC Board. Therefore, for those colleges that are not yet fully engaged with CPC, we would strongly urge you to talk to your regional representative who will offer an unbiased and objective opinion of the consortia as it currently stands and maybe even point out potential contracts that your college may not have considered previously. 

Should you wish to discuss the work of the PAG further you can find the contact details of your regional PAG representative by clicking here.  

Our Regional Procurement Advisors are available to provide face-to-face support and assistance to CPC members free of charge. 

Our Procurement Advisors are there to help you get the most out of your CPC membership, and to provide hands on support for using our services. Please get in touch if you wish to know more about our frameworks, or for more information about: 

• Procurement Regulation compliance 
• Who to contact for services not covered by the CPC 
• Good procurement practice 

• Dealing with any local supplier issues 
• Resources for further procurement advice and guidance 
• PAG (Procurement Advisory Group) Regional Procurement meetings, CPC conference and training workshops 

 

In addition to individual visits, our Procurement Advisors are available for presentations to groups of College staff / School and Academy Business Manager groups. They can also provide remote support and assistance covering all of the above if this is more convenient for you. 

To book in with: 

• Jack, contact him directly on 07765 241639, [email protected] (South West, Wales) 
• Louise, contact her directly on 07407868914, [email protected] (North West, Yorkshire & Humberside) 
• Tracey, contact her directly on 07407 864028, [email protected] (North East & North Yorkshire) 

 

“We find CPC very helpful in terms of advice and support. The ability to use their frameworks saves us time and expenditure within our own procurement activities and ensures we remain compliant with procurement regulations. Regional seminars and training activities help us to network and to build up the knowledge of our own procurement staff.” 

Sandra Wilson, City College Plymouth 

                  

Our dedicated Helpdesk team is ready to answer any questions or issues you might have. You can contact them at any time during office hours, either by phone or email. Contact details are below: 

Steven Gorst 
[email protected] - 0800 066 2188 

Adam Richardson 
[email protected] - 01618230553