17 March 2020 
Ashley Shelbrooke, HEPA and Project Specialist
Coronavirus is already having a significant impact on supply chains globally. This is particularly true in the ICT, electronics and travel categories, but also in categories such as packaging, fleet and people.
This page summarises the cross-sector work that has been undertaken to help HEPA members deal with Coronavirus, as well as offer some guidance and best practice for procurement teams.
The Higher Education procurement community undertook a comprehensive risk analysis exercise as part of its no-deal Brexit preparations, and many of the lessons learnt then will be useful today for institutions tackling Coronavirus.
The UK Universities Purchasing Consortia (UKUPC) have undertaken an impact analysis with suppliers to the sector. The latest version of this analysis in a spreadsheet form will always be available on the HEPA website - last updated 12/05/20.
SUPC and the University of York have shared a list of digital resources that have been made available for free or with extended access here.
NEUPC have begun work on producing supplier risk reports for their members who have expressed an interest – more information is available here, including how to request a report.
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) highlight several practical steps that organisations can take in the current environment. From stockpiling and seeking alternative sources of supply where possible to supply chain analysis beyond tier one suppliers, perhaps the most important advice from CIPS is to prioritise high risk supply sources – geographically, by sector, by commodity and by value to your institution.
In addition to this, Rob Johnson at SUPC makes four excellent recommendations to procurement teams within institutions:
The Home Office have issued guidance on Modern Slavery reporting during covid-19 – our HEPA summary is here, and the guidance itself is here.
Finally, LUPC have collated a matrix of legal updates from suppliers to the sector on their legal services framework.
Cabinet Office have released PPN 01/20 which sets out information and associated guidance on PCR 2015 and responding to the current coronavirus / covid-19 outbreak. The PPN includes reference to the regulation 32(2)(c), covered on this page below.
Cabinet Office have released PPN 02/20 which sets out information and guidance on payment of suppliers to ensure service continuity during and after the coronavirus / covid-19 outbreak.
We believe that as the principal regulator, the OfS would expect exempt charities to do the same as any other business or charity to safeguard business relationships and their own cashflow according to business priorities. It is not envisaged that a situation would arise where the OfS would instruct exempt charities that they regulate to comply with the PPN.
The slides from the time to talk session covering PPN 02/20 hosted by Veronica Daly, CPO, Kings College London, and David Hansom, Partner, Clyde & Co. are available to download here.
SPPN 04/20 raises awareness on handling some procurement related issues as a consequence of the current coronavirus / covid-19 outbreak.
Please do read PPN 01/20, PPN 02/20 and/or SPPN 04/20 and familiarise yourself with the contents.
As contingency plans are activated as a result of coronavirus and teams across institutions transition to working from home for what could potentially be a prolonged period, it is important to remember that criminals will almost certainly look to utilise this situation as an opportunity to commit fraud – our dedicated coronavirus fraud page is available here and covers phishing, bank mandate fraud and supplier fraud.
Heads of Procurement can access the Coronavirus thread on the BUFDG discussion boards for Finance Directors, Estates Directors, HR Directors and Heads of Planning.
Don has started a thread aimed at sharing requirements / specifications should you have supplies in your institution which could be of use to NHS.
Bahar has started a thread to discuss the role of procurement and share approaches.
Suppliers of goods and services who can assist the NHS at this time can register their support online with gov.uk here.
It is worth remembering that the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 32(2)(c) state that:
32.—(1) In the specific cases and circumstances laid down in this regulation, contracting authorities may award public contracts by a negotiated procedure without prior publication.(2) The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts in any of the following cases:—…(c) insofar as is strictly necessary where, for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with.Bevan Brittan discuss the use of this approach in the case of ferry contracts in this article; the approach should, of course, be considered carefully and in line with your own legal advice.
