Sam Tse, assistant category manager, explains how a new solution from Crown Commercial Service can help the education sector save money on their tail spend, and make ethical and sustainable procurement choices
Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is the biggest public procurement organisation in the UK.
In January we launched a new tool for quicker and easier purchasing of low value products, with the aim of saving schools, colleges, universities and other public sector organisations millions of pounds each year.
What is tail spend and what are the problems associated with it?
There is wide agreement across the public sector that tail spend is an under-managed and often overlooked area of spend that is increasingly important for organisations to deal with. It’s estimated that public sector tail spend on goods is currently in excess of £4 billion per year.
Tail spend is often invisible until purchases appear in an organisation’s end of year accounts, and can cause significant budget pressures if not controlled properly. This is the first time a centralised tail spend solution has been made available to the whole UK public and third sectors.
Tail Spend Solution will help the education sector to get the best deal on the procurement of millions of low value products.
The solution was developed after extensive engagement with CCS’s public and third sector customers and the supply market. It aims to support public sector buyers to spend less time and money on invoicing, increase visibility and control of ‘hidden’ spend, and improve their spend data.
Unmanaged tail spend – the solution for schools
Schools are currently facing a range of cost increases, including rises in teacher and support staff pay, as well as in food and energy prices. CCS understands the powerful impact procurement can make on a school or academy. But we also know that not everyone has a procurement expert on hand and there isn’t always time to hunt down exactly the right product and get a range of quotes for your requirement.
Our Tail Spend Solution agreement allows spending decisions to be undertaken quickly and easily whilst meeting all legal procurement obligations and also helping you to achieve your sustainability targets. As part of the buying platform, you can decide what level of access and approval a buyer in your organisation has. You can set permissions and organise your user accounts by for example; vendor, category or product and through personalised approval levels.
Tail Spend Solution can save schools, colleges and other public sector organisations millions of pounds each year.
Whilst most of us want to shop sustainably it is often factors such as price, service and availability that take priority, which is why we’ve ensured that suppliers awarded contracts under this framework have had to meet official sustainability standards, in line with Government Buying Standards, complementing the government’s aim of achieving net zero by 2050.
What can I buy through the Tail Spend Solution?
Tail Spend Solution is a ‘first of its kind’ digital marketplace style solution, which lists millions of products from a vast range of suppliers.
Does your PE department need 20 new footballs? Do your students require compasses for the Duke of Edinburgh programme? Or do you urgently need 100 clipboards for a school trip next week? If so, we can deliver all of these and thousands more to you easily and at competitive prices.
Five benefits of using the Tail Spend Solution
Free access to analytics and reporting
Through the Tail Spend Solution framework there are no hidden costs for accessing spend analytics and reporting. This differs from many similar marketplace providers who require customers to subscribe to additional packages at an increased cost in order to obtain oversight of their data or access certain functionality.
You will have the ability to see what your organisation is spending in their ‘tail’ and analyse and understand it, allowing you to make more effective decisions and achieve greater benefits.
Social value filtering and reporting
The Tail Spend Solution has built-in filters to enable customers to choose the criteria that are important to their organisation and align with their social value priorities. The advanced search filters allow customers to quickly identify product and vendor options related to sustainability and social value credentials.
Choosing your preferred suppliers
Our Tail Spend Solution allows you to filter and nominate your existing or preferred suppliers. For example, where a customer is already purchasing from a supplier with strong social value and Carbon Net Zero credentials, they can choose to work with them as part of their bespoke supply chain. Customers can also choose to purchase solely from local vendors and support local businesses.
Strengthening your data security: ISO 27001
ISO 27001 is the only auditable international standard that defines the requirements of an information security management system, it is an essential requirement for all suppliers on the Tail Spend Solution. This means we’ve ensured that framework suppliers on the agreement have this accreditation so that your data remains safe at all times.
Improving Compliance
Tail spend is often viewed as non-compliant spend as it generally isn’t ‘strategically managed’ and doesn’t go through the procurement process. The Tail Spend Solution guarantees a compliant process and removes unwanted risk, underpinned by public sector terms and conditions and Government Buying Standards.
Find out more
To learn more about CCS’s Tail Spend Solution, visit crowncommercial.gov.uk/tailspend or, get in touch with the team directly by emailing us at [email protected]
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