E Procurement in Local Government

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E Procurement in Local Government
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• Warwickshire County Council
• Paul White - County Procurement Manager
• Coventry City Council
• Angela Kirby I Procurement Project
  Manager

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Overview of Local Authority Procurement

• Total expenditure 40bn
• 400 plus Councils.
• National Procurement Strategy for Local
  Government sets a national vision and key
  milestones
• By December 2005
• Appropriate e procurement solution
• Appropriate use of procurement cards

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• The e procurement agenda is the same for all
  local authorities so it is as important for
  councils to get it right as it is for suppliers

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E Procurement

• Benefits both buyer and supplier
• Fewer pieces of paper which means reduced cost
• Speed Orders are sent and received instantly
  where possible
• Earlier Payment Invoices paid quicker/as little
  as 4 days for Purchasing cards
• Less invoice chasing as a result of priced orders
  and invoice matching
• Management information what we buy, what you
  sell

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Current Procurement at Warwickshire CC

• 200m per annum on bought in goods Services
• A range of procurers
• ESPO
• County Procurement Unit
• Local purchasing by managers
• Currently paper based systems for ordering
  invoicing

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What Changes Are We Proposing

• Ordering
• Vision
• No hard copy orders sent by post
• Sending orders to suppliers electronically
  attached to an e mail
• Sending orders to suppliers by automatic fax
• BUT WE RECOGNISE THIS WILL TAKE TIME

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What Changes Are We Proposing

• Invoicing
• Vision
• No hard copy invoices processed
• Creating the facility to receive electronic
  invoices from our suppliers
• Using common standards
• Which can be uploaded directly into our financial
  systems
• Ordering and paying by Procurement Card
• Not Consolidated invoices YET

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What Changes Are We Proposing

• Payments
• Vision
• No cheques raised to suppliers and all payments
  and remittances made electronically
• Direct into suppliers bank accounts via
  electronic transfer.
• Ordering and paying by Procurement Card
• Electronic remittances via e mail

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Current Position at Coventry

• What do we do?
• Central Procurement Services e.g Utilities,
  Office supplies, Food Catering, Services
• Social Services Commissioning and support
  services
• Construction and Civil Engineering New Building
  and major works projects

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What are Coventry Doing?

• Purchase Order
• Purchasing Cards
• E Auctions

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Purchase Order

• What is electronic Purchase Order?
• Electronic requisitioning that sends out orders
  electronically
• Preferably by e mails with orders attached
• Sometimes by fax
• In the future to files that can be read by
  supplier systems
• Removes paperwork, reliance on post and its
  quicker

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Whats happening

• Rollout of electronic purchase order since
  September 2003
• Currently over 1000 users on the system
• 6 Catalogues
• Orders worth 50 million
• Over 20,000 orders

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The Future

• e Marketplaces and more catalogues
• Complete rollout to 1600 users by December 2005
• Majority of council spend through electronic
  purchase order
• Electronic data exchange/invoicing
• Schools

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Purchasing Cards

• What are Purchasing Cards?
• Credit card transactions where the invoice is
  replaced by a bank statement
• A compliment to e Purchase Orders
• Emergency and/or low value purchases
• Travel, petty cash, accommodation
• Over 350 Purchasing Cards in Coventry
• so far!!!

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THE ADVANTAGES

• Payment within 4 days by the bank
• Fewer invoices/statements
• Fewer points of contact for queries
• WHAT DO YOU NEED
• Credit Card facilities arranged through your bank

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How Will We Communicate From Now On?

• Via Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development
• Visit our websites at
• www.warwickshire.gov.uk/procurement
• www.coventry.gov.uk/procurement

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• ANY QUESTIONS?