This document provides an update on procurement policy in Wales. It discusses the context of procurement spending in Wales and outlines key policies and initiatives, including the Wales Procurement Policy Statement, community benefits, the Supplier Qualification Information Database (SQuID), low value advertising requirements, joint bidding guides, the proposed National Procurement Service, and implications of new EU procurement directives. It also previews next steps, which include procurement reviews across various sectors and analyzing spend analytics data. The overall aim is to maximize the social, economic and environmental benefits of procurement for Wales.

1. Procuement Policy Update
Dr Sue Hurrell,
Special Project Manager
Value Wales

2. Wales Procurement Policy Statement
Agenda
The context
Lower Value Advertising
Community Benefits
Joint Bidding Guide
SQuID
National Procurement Service
New EU Directives
What’s next?

3. • 3.1m people (1 in 20 of UK’s population)
• Workplace GVA per head is around 3/4 UK average
• Annual procurement expenditure over £4bn
• Over 90% of Welsh suppliers are SMEs
• “Opening Doors Charter”- 2006
• 52% public contracts to Wales-based suppliers
• What’s the benchmark?
The Welsh Context

4. 4
Welsh public sector
• Welsh Government (plus WGSBs)
• 7 local Health Boards and 3 all-Wales Health Trusts
• 22 local authorities, 4 police and 3 fire authorities
• 8 Universities and music/drama college
• 14 colleges
• National Procurement Service
• NHS Shared Services Partnership
• Regional and sectoral consortia

5. Caught in the crossfire
Maximise economic benefit
Pile it high and buy it cheap
Centralise and control
Devolve closer to the business
Manage reputational risk Be proportional and efficient
Specify in detail
Promote innovation
Maintain exit routes and
competition
Partnering

6. Policy background
• McClelland Review “Maximising Impact of Welsh Procurement Policy”
• Wales Procurement Policy Statement (WPPS) - Dec 2012:
• Strategic
• Professional Resources
• Economic, Social & Environmental impact
• Community Benefits
• Open, Accessible Competition
• Simplified, Standardised Processes
• Collaboration
• Supplier Engagement & Innovation
• Measuring & Impact

7. Wales Procurement Policy Statement
• WPPS announced by the Minister for Finance December 2012
bringing together all Welsh Government’s procurement policies
• Expectations and commitments
• Delivering value for money AND wider social, economic and
environmental benefits to Wales
• Widespread commitment to adopt key policy approaches such as
community benefits, SQuID and Sustainability Risk Assessment
(SRA)
• All 22 LAs confirmed adoption plus NHS & HE/FE
• Minister monitoring closely & made clear adoption is not optional –
may consider legislation/regulation if necessary

8. Procurement policy in Wales
Develop new policies
collaboratively
Pilot before
implementing
Train as many
practitioners as possible
Enshrine in formal policy
statement
Seek formal adoption
Monitor uptake and
review
The Welsh Government has no legislative powers for procurement

9. Community Benefits
• CB = using social clauses to build socio-economic benefits into
contracts targeting disadvantaged people furthest from job market
• Maximises provision of local training and employment opportunities
and the use of local supply chains
• Programme for Government commitment
• ‘Tackling Poverty’ Action Plan
• CB approach built into the local Government Compact and being
embedded into projects within the Wales Infrastructure Investment
Plan (WIIP)
• Applied to 80 projects worth over £4 billion. Of the first 24 projects
worth £321m:-
• 443 people helped into employment and training;
• 12,782 weeks of training provided;
• 82 % has been re-invested in Wales - £86.5 million directly on salaries to
Welsh citizens, and £189 million with Wales-based businesses, 85% of which
were Welsh SMEs

10. SQuID
• Supplier Qualification Information Database
• Simplifies & standardises questions
• Risk-based tool for buyers to select the best questions (squizard)
• once-only data entry…less duplication of effort…save time/money
when bidding
• Launched by Minister for Finance Feb 2012
• Built into e-tender tools provided through ePS
• 31 orgs used it & suppliers banked 131k answers for future re-use
• Widely adopted across Wales and was recently commended by the
Federation of Master Builders
• Significant impact in the construction sector: Welsh contractors
now win 80% of all major construction contracts & framework
places awarded through sell2wales –up from 30% prior to SQuID
• Electronic SQuID on Sell2Wales being developed –

11. Low Value Advertising
• WPPS specific requirement for public bodies to advertise all
contracts above £25k on www.sell2wales.gov.uk
• Ensuring public procurement contract opportunities are open to all
is a Programme for Government commitment
• Growing - 78% of all contract notices now being for lower value
opportunities
• Greater visibility of contracts & involvement of smaller & more local
businesses in delivering public contracts
• SMEs now win 55% of the overall procurement expenditure across
Wales, with Wales-based businesses winning 52%
• Sub-contracting advert facility on Sell2Wales (was Tier One)
• Further monitoring will continue utilising S2W reporting functionality
• New Procurement Advice Note (PAN) will be issued shortly

12. The Joint Bidding project
• Welsh Government, Wales Council for Voluntary Action and Wales
Cooperative Centre funded guide to joint bidding
• ServQ awarded (advertised) contract to research and develop the
guide
• One guide for both the buy and sell sides
• 18 short pdf chapters, with practical tools, forms, case studies etc.
• Available on-line in English and Welsh
www.wales.gov.uk/jointbidding

13. The Joint Bidding guide
• Minister launched new Joint Bidding Guide in October 2013
• For buyers and suppliers to promote consortium bidding as way of
providing greater access to public sector contracts for smaller
businesses and Third Sector organisations
• Addresses commitments in the Wales Procurement Policy
Statement and the Microbusiness Strategy Report
• Good response by procurement staff and organisations
representing businesses and third sector organisations
• Suitable “demonstration projects” now being identified following
which lessons will be shared
• Training for buyers will be delivered as part of the new Value Wales
Training Contract

15. Questions for buyers
• Look at organisational processes etc. Do they make joint bids hard?
• Can I make future opportunities visible earlier?
• Analyse the requirement – does it lend itself to joint bids? If so, say
so.
• Do I understand the market?
• Are timescales realistic?
• Think through how I’d assess a joint bid fairly against a single bid –
are the questions worded correctly and how will they be scored
fairly?
• How do I manage risk?

16. Messages for supply side
• Pre-forming a consortium – what are my organisation’s goals,
strengths weaknesses and hence opportunities to collaborate?
• What sort of consortium should we set up?
• Could I fall foul of competition law?
• Should we bid for THIS opportunity? (next slide)
• How do we develop a collaboration agreement?
• How do we manage risk?
• How do we develop a joint estimate and pricing?

17. Types of consortium
Special Purpose Vehicle
Membership
Usually the core consortium partners
Hold Assets
Board of Directors
Drawn from the members
Employstaff
Draw down
funding
Bid for
contracts
Lead Body
This organisation will draw down the required start
up funding, leases, premises and employ staff
Lead Body Board of Directors/Membership
The Lead Body is accountable to its own Board of
Directors and Membership
Delivery
Partners
Delivery
Partners
Steering Group
Made up from all
the delivery partners
Hub Service
Model
Delivery Partner
Delivery PartnerDelivery Partner

18. Opportunity Assessment
Key Area 1
Consortium’s Market Position
Score
(0 to 5)
Exposed
(Y/N)?
1 Is this opportunity a good fit with our Consortium's goals?
2 Will winning enhance our Consortium's reputation and market positioning?
3 Will winning open up new market opportunities for our Consortium?
4 Are any members of our Consortium known to the key decision makers?
5 Does any member of our Consortium understand the imperative need or problem driving
this opportunity?
6 Do we know the Opportunity's evaluation criteria and how they will be weighted?
7 Do we know the proposal time frame?
8 Do our Consortium's features and benefits give it a distinct competitive advantage?
9 Can we compete if price is a major factor in selecting the winning Bid?
10 Do any of our members have successful track records with similar opportunities?
11 Does our Consortium have differentiators that improve its odds of winning this
opportunity?
12 Does the Consortium know who the other competitive bidders are likely to be?
13 Can we win against a good competitor if it is currently in post?
14 Will winning this opportunity give our Consortium future business advantage over its
competitors?
Sub Total (out of 70 marks)
Key Areas 1’s % score = (Sub Total/70 marks) x 100% %

19. Opportunity Assessment
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Market Position Bidding Resource Delivery Competence Commercial Issues Risk Planning
Example Scoring
Must improve Good Excellent Maximum

20. Trust
Trust Statement (each person in the meeting to mark out of 5)
Never
Rarely
Sometime
s
Often
Always
1 I feel a high level of trust in this Consortium
Why?
1 2 3 4 5
2 There is a high level of trust between the Consortium membership
Why?
1 2 3 4 5
3 I believe this Consortium helps me get my needs met
Why?
1 2 3 4 5
4 I believe I help my partners to get their needs met
Why?
1 2 3 4 5
5 It is easy for me to express my needs to my partners
Why?
1 2 3 4 5
6 I believe my partners trust me
Why?
1 2 3 4 5
7 I believe I behave in a trustworthy manner
Why?
1 2 3 4 5
8 I believe my partners behave in a trustworthy manner
Why?
1 2 3 4 5

21. National Procurement Service (NPS)
• National Procurement Service (NPS) launched Nov 2013
• Hosted by the Welsh Government and governed by the National
Procurement Service Board, NPS will incorporate WPPS principles
• NPS will deliver collaborative contracts and frameworks across the
Welsh public sector covering some 20-30% of total public sector
expenditure (common & repetitive spend areas)
• Will drive fair and open competition for all suppliers across Wales,
identifying supply chain opps for smaller suppliers
• Will adopt Fair Payment Charter for Wales and ensure prompt
payment down supply chain
• Expected to deliver £25m efficiencies p.a. once fully established
• For more info - http://npswales.gov.uk/?skip=1&lang=en

22. New EU Procurement Directives
• Directives been revised and updated – several consultations taken
place
• WG worked closely with UK government over last 2 years to ensure
Wales views are reflected
• New rules in line with WG procurement policies and will help
strengthen our work in Wales
• EU Commission due to adopt/finalise early 2014
• UK Government want to transpose faster than the 2 year deadline
to realise economic benefits – in 7 months
• New rules estimated to take effect towards end of 2014
• Lord Young review into making procurement more accessible for
SMEs – legislation will not apply in Wales.

23. New EU regs –SMEs and third sector
• Simplifying selection – proportionate approach, less paperwork
• Mandatory acceptance of self-declarations, self-cleaning
• Limitation on requirements for bidding and ensuring conditions are
justified to encourage joint bidding
• Limiting number of lots suppliers can bid for to avoid larger
suppliers winning all lots
• Adopt or justify approach to splitting contracts into lots
• Asking tenderers for indication of % sub-contracting
• Capping turnover requirements
• Direct payment of sub-contractors (optional provision)

24. New EU regs – Innovation
Innovation strongly encouraged in new rules - aligned with WG’s aims
to increase innovation and engagement with suppliers, key changes
include:-
• Pre-tender dialogue with suppliers encouraged
• market consultations encouraged
• Increased use of outcome-based specifications encouraged
• New Innovation Partnership procedure & Competitive Procedure
with Negotiation will encourage dialogue with suppliers
• Acceptance of variant bids will encourage innovative offerings
• Whole life costing will be strongly encouraged

25. New EU regs – eProcurement
• Mandated use of electronic procurement in new rules
• In line with the work of the ePS in Wales (formerly xchangewales), -
key changes include:-
• Mandatory electronic contract notices, electronic tenders and
electronic access for suppliers to documents
• Switchover to full electronic procurement – ie contract notice and
expressions of interest through to tender - within 30 months of
transposition
• Reduced timescales for expression of interest and tender return
• Impact on suppliers – WG’s Economy, Science & Transport Dept
alerted so can work with suppliers to ensure they are e-enabled

26. What’s next?
• Procurement Fitness Check results for LAs & reviews to start in
NHS, FE & HE
• Spend analytics results
• Project Bank account pilots
• Business Wales – offers support for suppliers & provides tendering
adviser services
• Access all best practice information and WG policies on 3 x PRPs:
www.prp.wales.gov.uk

27. Thank you
Any questions?