Welcome to a bumper summer 2022 edition of the HEPA Digest!
Time to Talk’s and a round-table discussion
We are delighted to present two time to talk sessions next week focusing on a hot topic for members which has been raised at a number of the recent Head of Procurement turnover group meetings: tail spend.
In addition, following on from a very interesting thread on the HEPA discussion board, we are pleased to host a round-table to discuss travel booking processes. The session will take place at 09:30 on Thursday 21 July and will be held via MS Teams; its aim is to share best practice. You or a colleague can book a free place here! Please come prepared to share how the travel booking process is implemented at your institution.
Learning & Development
The Government Commercial Function are running a series of Masterclasses this summer which provide attendees with a fantastic range of training delivered by experts free of charge. HEPA has secured agreement that members can attend the sessions, all of which are listed in the HEPA training calendar. Simply follow the links in the calendar or below to book your place!
- Shaping and Defining the Business Need, Wed, 20 July 2022
- Supplier Management, Wed, 27 July 2022
- Negotiations Masterclass: Back to Basics, Wed, 3 August 2022
- Planning and Using Commercial Pipelines, Wed, 17 August 2022
- Supply Market Engagement and Early Market Analysis, Wed, 31 August 2022
CIFAS are running two webinars to which they have invited BUFDG & HEPA members:
- The first webinar takes place on 19 July and explores the Political and Economic Challenges facing the UK response to fraud and financial crime as part of Fraudscape 22; the session takes place virtually, and you can find out more and register here.
- The second webinar covers what impact is the insider threat having on the public sector? Again, the session takes place virtually and is being held on 29 September – find out more and register here.
Transforming Public Procurement
HEPA represents the HE procurement community on the Cabinet Office’s Transforming Public Procurement L&D Working Group. You can find my notes from last week’s Working Group on the HEPA Discussion Board here. The notes include an update on the legislative progress of the Procurement Bill (with current best estimates of timescales), an L&D and e-learning update, an update on implementation and an introduction to Communities of Practice.
Please do let me know your thoughts on procurement reform in general as well as any specific feedback – I’ll ensure it is fed into the programme direct.
There have been two fantastic webinars on the subject of procurement reform recently; in case you missed them…
- Achilles & Prof. Sue Arrowsmith ran a great session providing a latest update on the UK Procurement Law Bill. The session covered timescales, L&D as well as a very useful overview of devolution issues. You can download the slides here.
- UKUPC & David Hansom of Clyde & Co ran another informative session on the topic and have made available a copy of the slides presented as well as a useful recording of the session The webinar covers: how the new rules will apply to my institution and me, information provision and transparency obligations in disclosing future bids, new rules on frameworks and a case law update.
Sustainability
JISC have launched a new report exploring digital carbon footprints, which you can read here. The report highlights the hidden environmental cost of the digital revolution and the steps members can take to address it.
Social Value UK are holding a global symposia inviting participants from HEI’s to explore do you think that Universities and business schools could play more of a role in creating value for society? The symposia is being held in partnership with Liverpool John Moores and the Liverpool Business School and takes place either in-person or via teams on 18 and 19 July. You can find out more and register for your place here.
Updates – UKCA, CIPS Salary Guide, TEC’s briefing note and NCSC / Russian tech products
- We noted last year the extension to the UKCA scheme. The government have now announced an update which will make it simpler for businesses to apply new product conformity markings for most products placed on the market in England, Scotland and Wales. Businesses have until 1 January 2023 to start using UKCA marking which replaces the CE and reverse epsilon markings. You can find out more about the new measures on gov.uk here, and read the full guidance here.
- CIPS, in partnership with Hays, have released this years Procurement Salary Guide. You can download your copy here. As well as detailing average salary increases, the Guide provides insights on the benefits procurement professionals want most in a role and how you can tailor your attraction strategy, the technical and soft skills seeing spikes in demand in light of current market challenges and how professionals see the future of procurement evolving and how organisations can adapt and innovate.
- TEC CEO Adam Clarke has published the latest TEC Briefing Note for the sector looking at continuing increases in UK Power and Gas prices, low levels of storage, what you can expect, and what you can do about it. It also looks at what might happen in the event of a Gas shortage.
- The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has published a blog which covers the use of Russian technology products and services following the invasion of Ukraine. The piece advises public sector organisations to consider the risk around Russian controlled parts of their supply chain as part of overall business risk management.
Round up
15 July 2022 
Ashley Shelbrooke, HEPA and Project Specialist
