A Neutral Vendor Managed Service provided by Comensura for Coventry City Council

1
A Neutral Vendor Managed Service provided by
Comensura for Coventry City Council Carol Jones,
Senior HR Manager Resourcing Kristian Smith,
Contracts Manager
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• Introduction
• Coventry City Council implemented a Neutral
  Vendor Managed Service for the procurement of
  agency workers through Comensura on 29th January
  2007
• Joint working by Human Resources and Procurement
  using a Project Management approach for
  procurement of the contract and its
  implementation

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• How it used to be
• Pre 2002 Directorate lead contracting with
  agency worker suppliers
• 2002/3 A preferred supplier list of 14 suppliers
  negotiated across four categories of workers
  6.5m pa spend
• Some off contract expenditure 1.5m pa spend
• Management control difficult
• Attempts to undertake centralised reporting
• Exposure to risks

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• The drivers for change and deliverables
• To implement a contract with a neutral vendor
  that can deliver
• Workforce Planning
• Social inclusion and regeneration
• Value for money for the Council in the use of
  agency staff
• Greater management control over a strategic area
  of expenditure
• A single point of contact for managers across the
  Council
• A single consolidated monthly invoice
• To a lesser extent - savings

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• Mitigation against some risks associated with
  employment liabilities
• Substantial and reliable management information
  to aid strategic decision making
• Local market regeneration as a result of
  increased contract flexibility
• More competitive fees in the area of professional
  agency staff
• Savings in back office activities through reduced
  paperwork, consolidated invoicing and a reduction
  in manager communication time with agencies.

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• The Procurement Process
• OJEU call for competition via negotiated process
• Part A 'Agency service'
• Part B expenditure on workers plus perpetual
  procurement process
• Pre qualification (long listing)
• Supplier Day
• Service Design Proposals (short listing)
• Submission of Best and Final Offer sealed tenders
  (preferred bidder)
• Clarification
• Started Nov/Dec 2005
• Awarded June 2006
• Implemented January 2007
• Project Team approach

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• The Project Management Approach
• Joint working - Procurement lead on the
  procurement phase and HR lead on the
  implementation phase.
• Strong Project Board chaired by the Head of HR, a
  member of the Council's Management Board
• An active and committed Project Team all
  stakeholders involved
• Proactive communications strategy
• Intensive training programme

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• The Lessons Learnt
• The devil is in the detail time and commitment
  required
• Consistent Council policies need to underpin the
  neutral vendor
• Pay policy
• Job Summaries and Candidate Profiles
• Permissible reasons for using agency workers
• Duration of contracts
• Safeguarding requirements
• Service Level Agreement with Comensura
• Accurate information on organisational structure
  and location of workers
• Ensuring manager compliance
• Levels of IT access and skills
• Agency worker v consultant
• You can never communicate enough

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• Highlights
• All deliverables achieved
• Comensura operational across the council (except
  schools) for all categories of worker
• Safeguarding
• Increased management information
• Savings being achieved
• Q1 projected C.40k
• Sound understanding of the agency market strong
  negotiating position
• Greater control of agency worker use and spend
• Forerunner for other e-enabled manager self
  service systems e.g. HR/Payroll system

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• Future Plans
• Manage the contract (early days!)
• 3-year contract (2 year extension options)
• Option to review pricing model (shared savings or
  transactional)
• Expansion or contraction of services at point of
  re tender
• New market entrants/models?
• Ability to do in house aside from ICT system
  fixed cost option?