CPC are delighted to announce that we have been invited to present about UK Education Sector Procurement and to engage with suppliers at a Procurement Partnering Conference Event taking place in South Korea on 13th May. The aim of the conference is to promote engagement between UK and South Korean suppliers and manufacturers.

The project to set up a framework for working with Awarding Organisations is progressing well. In January the steering group ran a supplier day in London. A variety of suppliers attended either the morning or afternoon session and there was a great deal of discussion about the project which was been extremely valuable to the group.

Please see the fantastic results that have been achieved in the benchmarking exercises that have been carried out during January and February 2016.

We are pleased to inform you that the new Security Services – Manned Guarding Framework was launched on 22 February 2016 and is now ready for you to use.

After a number of months evaluating the 67 tender submissions we are pleased to announce the launch of the framework that hopefully will not only satisfy your ICT needs but exceed them.

Using a CPC framework avoids the need to invest in an e-tendering system as we offer members access to our e-tendering systems free of charge. For mini competitions via a framework that exceed £164,176 we recommend using the CPC Intend Mini Tender Tool. This tool complies with all the requirements of the Regulations including those that come into force after 18 October 2018. If you would like access to the portal please email the CPC Helpdesk at helpdesk@thecpc.ac.uk and we will set up an account for you.

Crown Commercial Services (CCS) have issued guidance on the changes in The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 that affect the way in which contracting authorities (i.e. schools, academies and colleges etc) communicate with tenderers during a tender process for contracts above £164,176 in value. The full guidance document can be viewed from Further Education Library of Procurement (FELP), however as a reminder below is a summary of the regulations and the date upon which they apply:

For insurance renewals due 1st August 2016, now is the perfect time to start preparing your insurance tenders for the CPC FE Insurance framework...

We are delighted to let you know that Sheila Smith joined the CPC team this month as one of our Senior Contracts & Procurement Officers, taking over the frameworks that Ranjana previously managed.

New thresholds for the application of the various public procurement regimes come into force on 1 January 2016. For supply and service contracts awarded by education establishments the new threshold above which the public procurement regime will apply is €209,000, or £164,176, for public works contracts its €5,225,000 or £4,104,394.