We are delighted to share the wonderful news that Mon-Yee Ackers (CPC Management Accounts Officer) and her husband Russell have a new addition to their family, Mon gave birth to Alyssa Mae on Monday 28 December.

We are pleased to inform you that the Photographic Equipment & Consumables Framework has been awarded to seven suppliers as below:

We are pleased to inform you that the Mandatory Standstill Period has now passed without challenge and providing we receive the necessary paperwork back from the successful suppliers we are hoping to launch this framework on 11 January 2016.

We have recently changed our telephone and IT infrastructure, and as a result we have new email addresses and telephone numbers for all CPC staff.

CPC, CCS and AoC would like to thank all member institutions who kindly completed the recent Survey about Awarding Organisations. The project group were delighted with the number of returned surveys as we received 205 responses containing extremely useful information to help with the project.

The CPC, along with NWUPC and members of the Furniture Commodity Group are due to hold review meetings with suppliers on the Office Furniture Framework in January 2016.

We are pleased to inform you that the Recycling Bins & Street Furniture Framework has been awarded. We believe that the new framework will not only offer a wider choice of suppliers but also cover our members' requirements comprehensively. The framework is split into the following lots:

You'll have seen in last month's newsletter that we've recently been recruiting for a Senior Contracts and Procurement Officer; this is because we are shortly to be losing Ranjana Kapur to pastures new.

A procurement challenge brought by European Dynamics earlier this year serves as a reminder of the importance of giving reasons to unsuccessful bidders when carrying out procurements subject to The Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

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.