LGP Debt Recovery Panel Contract (LGP109-3)

At the Revenue Professionals Conference in Coffs Harbour last month there was a lot of uncertainty from both, council employees and LGP Approved Contractors, as to the impacts of the new State Debt Recovery Bill 2017 recently passed through Parliament.

As Local Government Procurement is here to support both councils and our approved contractors, these concerns were shared with LGNSW. 

LGNSW has been advised by the NSW Minister for Finance, Services and Property that the Government has no intention to mandate the use of Revenue NSW for debt recovery within the local government sector. Councils who are satisfied with their existing debt recovery arrangements may continue with those arrangements. This new Bill provides councils with Revenue NSW as an option for the recovery of debts.

We hope this helps to clear up any confusion or uncertainty. NSW councils can continue to use the LGP Debt Recovery Panel Contract (LGP109-3).

For further clarifications or queries, councils are requested to contact their respective LGP Business Development Manager. 

Debt Recovery Panel contractors may contact Santhosh Dorairajan - Category Manager, ITC & Services, either by email or call 02 8270 8732.

How to Exclude Your Tender from a Tender Evaluation Process

by Heidi Wolfenden, Contracts and Legal Officer​

It has been a chaotic last few days. You have rallied the troops and ensured that they all draft their contribution in your company’s tender submission to the LGP tender. You didn’t attend the Tender briefing session but you are already an LGP panel member and you know what is involved. After all, you have lodged countless tender submissions over the years! You have done the final review of the responses to the tender and you have answered all the questions. All returnable schedules have been prepared and uploaded. Statutory declaration - signed and uploaded? Check. Insurance certificates – valid and uploaded? Check. Pricing schedule? It has been completed but even though the Request for Tender states to return it in excel format, you want to ensure the pricing is not shared and decide to PDF the pricing, rather than return it in the excel format. Everything appears to be in order and with a well-earned sigh of relief, you press the ‘submit’ button.

Over the next few months, there is no word from LGP as the tender evaluation is taking place. You eagerly await the tender outcome. One afternoon, an email appears in your inbox from the LGP Tender Team with the attached notice of the Tender Outcome. Opening the attachment, you see the word “unsuccessful”. There is a lump in your throat. “How is this possible?” you think to yourself, your brain frantically searching for answers. Where did you your submission fall down? Your confusion soon turns to anger and you immediately call the LGP Tender Team and request a Tender Debrief to understand how your company’s tender submission was deemed “unsuccessful”.

At the Tender Debrief, you are informed that your submitted pricing schedule was not complete. “Impossible!” you say, “There must be a mistake! I entered in all the pricing myself!” It transpires throughout the conversation that the pricing schedule was not simply incomplete – there was no pricing submitted at all. The Tender Team explains that what must have happened was that when you decided to submit the pricing as a PDF document, instead of the required excel spreadsheet, you failed to select all the ‘tabs’ in the spreadsheet to capture all of the pricing. When you saved it as a PDF you actually only saved the first ‘tab’ of the spreadsheet – and this was just the instruction page with no pricing on it at all! So, when the Tender Evaluation Panel opened the uploaded pricing attachment, early in the evaluation stage, and saw that there was no pricing, your tender submission was unable to be considered further and was excluded from the Tender Evaluation Process. On the basis of no pricing submitted, your tender was “unsuccessful”.

“If I knew this earlier, I could have given you the actual completed pricing schedule!” you say, frustrated and angry at the process. How can LGP be so rigid? LGP informs you that due to legislation and its Prescription, it is unable to accept a tender submission without completed pricing and advised that the RFT specifically states this. The main reason LGP ask for the excel format is to avoid a situation like this, as unfortunately, it has happened before – more than once. The Tender Team then said it raised this very issue at the Tender briefing and issued an addendum with this information in the copy of the slideshow. After much discussion you walk out from the Tender Debrief. It is a very disappointing outcome for you, LGP and councils, but it is a very hard lesson now learnt. A very hard lesson indeed.

Price: Tender Requirements

LGP is a prescribed entity under the Local Government (General) Regulations 2005 (NSW) (the ‘Regulations’). Accordingly, LGP’s operations (including running tender processes) are subject to the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) (‘the Act’), the Regulations and the Tendering Guidelines for NSW Local Government (October 2009).

Under section 55(3) of the Act, there is an exemption for NSW councils to tender in their own right, i.e. instead of running their own tender process, a council may elect to instead use “a contract for the purchase of goods, materials or services specified by a person prescribed by the regulations made with another person so specified, during a period so specified and at a rate not exceeding the rate so specified”. LGP is the “person prescribed by the Regulations”.

The phrase “a rate so specified” is a reference to the tendered pricing. If the tendered pricing has not been submitted, there is no ‘rate so specified’ and as such, any tenderer for any LGP panel who does not submit ‘rates’ (a completed pricing schedule) will be rejected. A tender submitted without pricing is a fundamental issue and as such, would be considered to be a ‘non-conforming tender’.

The absence of a completed price schedule is not a minor non-compliance; it is a fundamental component of a tender submission. LGP is unable to ‘clarify’ with a Tenderer about an incomplete price schedule as it is a legislative and Prescription requirement that pricing is to be submitted in an LGP tender; LGP is also restricted to accept pricing submitted after the tender close. Unfortunately, the omission of pricing immediately renders it a non-conforming tender and will be an “unsuccessful” tender submission.

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact Heidi Wolfenden, Contracts and Legal Officer  via email or Margret Szanto, Procurement Manager, Tenders and Special Projects via email.

Electric Vehicles and Recharging: Preparing for the Tipping Point

More on this at LGP's Sustainable Procurement Forums Registrations Now Open!

There are many benefits to transitioning from fossil-fueled to electric cars. In addition to the widely known and accepted benefits of reduced emissions and improved local air quality, there are also the benefits of reduced waste heat, increased fuel security and reduced transport costs.

Yet, the uptake of electric cars in Australia is still relatively low and this is primarily due to car price and recharging concerns. It is anticipated that within the next 5 years the tipping point, where electric cars will become price competitive with fossil-fueled cars will occur and councils need to prepare.  

There are many factors (and challenges) to consider when planning and installing recharging facilities in both residential and non-residential locations. For example, how does a council with a large percentage of residents without off-street parking provide recharging options for its residents? Kensington and Chelsea Council in central London is currently rolling out a lamp post electric vehicle charging network to help solve this problem.

Due to substantial government investment in the electric vehicle industry in the UK and other parts of the world, there are many case studies available outlining research and learnings on the issue of installing recharging networks.

To hear more about this topic and be part of the discussion, attend one of the upcoming Sustainable Choice Forums. An Australian leading expert in electric vehicles and recharging networks will be presenting on the findings of the extensive research she has undertaken and will be available for questions and discussion.

The following forums are scheduled for 2018:

• 2 May – Sydney, Manly Town Hall
• 8 May – Shellharbour, Council Auditorium
• 27 June – Byron Bay, Byron Bay Services Club

'Networking Meeting' - Wagga Wagga

Registration Now Open!

LGP would like to extend an invitation to council staff in the Southern NSW region, to attend the upcoming 'Networking in the Bush' event being held in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 24th May 2018.

The event aims to further build the capability of procurement in NSW local government. This year we promise to deliver another exciting and informative program covering off on current topics and issues.

This event is free of charge to the local government community and is a great opportunity to network with your peers, gain awareness and knowledge of topics covered and for ongoing professional development. The agenda will be out shortly, however the highlights of the day are as follows:

• Probity session – Phill Scott, Head of Contracts and Tendering
• Sustainable Choice and ISO20400 Training – Sara Lindqvist, Sustainable Choice
• The Auditor-General's Mandate and Observations on Procurement Practices – Presenter from the Auditor-General’s Department - NSW
• Procurement Practices and LGP Update
• Buy Regional Program – Alicia Te Hiko, VendorPanel
• Legal Session – Monica Kelly, Prevention Partners

We will also have time for the popular 'Q&A Panel Session' that will be open to the floor to ask questions and discuss ideas with the attendees on the day and the guest speakers.

LGP Regional Procurement Training

Wagga Wagga - Wednesday 23 May/Friday 25 May

While you attend the 'Networking in the Bush' event at Wagga Wagga on Thursday 24 May, we would like to provide you with the opportunity to attend procurement training locally. 

Course fee: $600 (exc. GST)
Duration: Full-day (9:00 am - 4:30 pm)
Location: Wagga Wagga (Venue TBC)

Please register your interest now so that we can plan for the delivery of the most sought after training courses regionally for you.

The Local Government Procurement Conference is an established industry event for NSW local government. The conference provides a unique opportunity for suppliers to showcase their goods and services to a cross section of procurement professionals from across the state over two days.  It is also an excellent opportunity to attract potential customers and build on existing relationships already established.

The conference will be held on Thursday 18 October and Friday 19 October 2018 at Doltone House, Darling Island Wharf, Pyrmont Point.

Sponsorship opportunities are limited. Suppliers who wish to participate as a sponsor or as a trade exhibitor can view our Sponsorship Prospectus.

Cricket, Procurement and Us

by Phill Scott, Head of Tendering and Contracts

Cricket fans were avidly watching the media to see what would happen to Steve Smith, Dave Warner and Cameron Bancroft.  The implications of their recent actions in South Africa were significant with suspensions and loss of paid contracts.  But the implications went wider.  The integrity of the whole Australian cricket team came into question, as did that of Darrel Lehman the coach and even Cricket Australia as head body. It’s said that a leading ABC sport reporter was bordering on tears when speaking of the incident on television.  The Australian Prime Minister weighed into the debate as did most households and coffee machine meetings.

Whilst sports fans will be very opinionated on this ‘event’, it’s also of some interest to many non-sporting members of the public.  To watch the impact on Australian society is fascinating.  Here we have esteemed members of arguably Australia’s top, most respected and revered sports team, throwing moral fortitude to the wind and taking on a risk that they seem to have totally under-estimated and were not prepared for. What they did affected not only them, but will have materially or psychologically affected their team peers, employers, sponsors, family and supporters.

Let’s think procurement. Most procurement people have been encouraging (and in some cases policing,) that council business be done strictly per the policy (i.e. Council’s own policy).  Excellent we all say!  But the moment I, you, or we, drop the standard of our own performance, or ignore our supposed ethics or principles, the impact will be far reaching.  Just like the far reaching impact of an unauthorised change to agreed ball-handling protocol.   All of us are under daily pressure to speed the process, look for efficiencies and avoid obstructionism.  But perhaps we should be ready to remind ourselves, our managers and our customers about that cricket incident, when someone decides to change the protocol, bend the rules, or whatever you want to call it, in order to gain an incremental advantage.

LGP's New eLearning Program

Procurement & Contract Management 

Learn on the go! Explore the newly created online courses!  

LGP has developed a brand new eLearning modular program specifically focussed on NSW local government. This package is hosted on a state-of-the-art Learning Management Systems (LMS) that will enhance the overall learning experience. 

List of courses

• Procurement for Local Government
• Contract Management in Local Government 
• Probity in Procurement

Benefits

• Flexible learning option: anytime, anywhere.
• Multi-device operability (computer, laptops or any other mobile devices)
• Interactive, engaging and independent learning
• Monitor, track and record learning journey
• Share knowledge and experience through discussion forums
• Administrative reporting on the progress and completions 

Some of the other services on offer include:

• Customisation of LGP’s current modules
• Instructional designing
• Content writing
• Graphic designing
• eLearning programming using Articulate 360(one of the best packages)

For a trial access, please contact Niv Roy, Training Manager via email  or call 02 8270 8709.

The Power of Procurement

‘The Power of Procurement’ is the theme of the 2018 Local Government Procurement Conference.  The conference will continue to build on last year’s theme, Building Procurement Capability and Embracing Innovation.

At the conference we will be demonstrating the strategic value of procurement and how you can use this to significantly elevate the role of procurement within your organisation.

Our core audience are procurement professionals from NSW local government, interstate councils, non local-government procurement specialists, National Procurement Network state bodies, Not for Profit and academic sectors.  The sessions will be made up of interesting topics and will revolve around global procurement trends, technology, business intelligence, data management and analytics, and contract management.

Over 11 years, the Local Government Procurement Conference has evolved, and this year the conference:

• will be at a new venue ‘Doltone House’, Darling Island Pyrmont
• has been brought forward to 18-19 October 2018
• is extended to procurement professionals from other sectors for the first time. 

Visit our website to view updated information, or register your interest here to receive conference updates direct to your inbox.

LGP Training would like to continue its pursuit to support in developing your knowledge and skills in procurement and contracting space during 2018. We are equipped to cater to your varied procurement training requirements through the following four suites. More details in the links below:

eLearning: You can control your learning through this choice that we deliver using a state-of-the-art technology. Currently, the following three modules are on offer:

• Procurement Essentials
• Contact Management
• Probity in Procurement

Public Courses: These face-to-face training units are delivered at our LGP office based in Sydney CBD. We provide a range of interactive and leading practice modules comprising of the following critical areas of procurement and contract management:

• Procurement for Local Government 
• Contract Management Essentials 
• Advanced Contract Management 
• Supplier Tender Training
• ISO 20400 Training
• Planning and Specifications 
• Spend Analysis for Savings, Efficiencies, Compliance & Collaboration 
• Evaluation, Supplier Selection and Contract Establishment 
• Social Procurement and Economic Development
• Project Management Essentials

Customised On-site Training: LGP Training can reach out to your premises and deliver any of the above-listed modules. If needed, the contents can be contextualised with client specific case studies, templates, policies & procedures for better expected outcomes in a more cost effective way.

Nationally Recognised Training (NRT) in Procurement: In partnership with ProLeaders Academy (Registered Training Organisation), we offer the following accredited Nationally Recognised Training from Certificate-IV to Advanced Diploma levels.  

• Certificate IV in Procurement and Contracting
• Certificate IV in Project Management Practice
• Diploma of Procurement and Contracting
• Diploma of Project Management Practice
• Advanced Diploma of Procurement and Contracting

For more information and to register click here.

Upcoming Training Sessions

ISO 20400 Training for Senior Management

This is a full day course designed to provide participants with an understanding of ISO 20400 on sustainable procurement and how it can be used in their own context and professional role.

This course covers how to analyse a council’s current sustainable procurement framework, identify drivers for sustainable procurement and define a sustainable procurement strategy and program of work that is tailored to your council’s context.

This course is targeted at: procurement management, management staff in charge of environmental, social and economic issues, management in finance, legal, HR, engineers and operations.

Date: Thursday 17th May 2018 (9:00 am to 4:30 pm)
Venue: LGP Office, Sydney CBD
Course fee: $600 (exc. GST) for non-members or $500 (exc. GST) for members.

For any information or assistance regarding training, please contact Niv Roy, Training Manager on 02 8270 8709 or send an email.

LGP Consulting Team

LGP extends its expertise and experience to provide councils with an additional service through its Consulting Team.

LGP’s Consulting Team are well positioned to facilitate end to end tender processes on behalf of individual councils.  Our Consulting Team comprises highly qualified and experienced professionals who have demonstrated success in facilitating tenders on behalf of councils.

Examples of recent tenders we have conducted on behalf of individual councils are:

• Refurbishment of Library Building
• Legal Services Panel – two individual council tenders
• Internal Audit Services
• Natural Resources Services
• Management and Operation of Swimming Centre
• Security Services - two individual council tenders
• Food and Garden Organic Processing
• Scrap Ferrous Metals, Green Waste Processing, Crushing and Screening of Concrete and Waste Bin Audit (4 separate tenders for a group of councils)
• Remediation of Land works
• Development and Management of Caravan Park (EOI)
• ICT Services Provider
• Vehicle Leaseback
• Cleaning Services
• Trade Services Providers
• Lighting and Sound Technician Services
• Dry and Wet Plant and Equipment – two individual council tenders
• Insurance Broker and Insurance Brokerage Services  for ten councils (joint tender process)
• CBD Reconstruction Tender

If you have any requirements for tender facilitation for any product or service please email the LGP Consulting Team or call 02 8270 8747.

We are pleased to inform you that the LEAP program has now been successfully rolled out to six councils, with more councils expected to sign up shortly. The councils who have begun the program now have a clear understanding of their current procurement standard, a strategic improvement path and understanding of council procurement savings.

Councils have been able to identify savings of around $750,000, through better procurement practices. To our knowledge this is the first time councils are able to identify savings. This number will only increase as the program continues.

LEAP, a low cost ongoing continuous improvement program that uses real data and evidence to improve procurement capability of council, continues to gain momentum!

If you would like more information about the program, please email us or visit our  website.

The LEAP program is delivered to councils by LGP in association with ArcBlue.

Update - 'Networking in the Bush' - Dubbo

The second of our “Networking in the Bush” meetings for 2018 was held in Dubbo on Thursday 8 March 2018 at Dubbo City Council. The day was an outstanding success attended by staff from Dubbo and 8 surrounding councils within the region.

The General Manager of Dubbo Regional Council, Michael McMahon, officially opened the event and the agenda for the day was well received with a range of current topics.

This year LGP has partnered with the NSW Audit Office and participants heard them present the findings from the 2017 audits of councils.

Discussions were also held on the latest procurement issues in the contract and legal space with Phill Scott (Head of Tendering and Contracts – LGP) facilitating with Monica Kelly (Principal of Prevention Partners). We also heard from Sustainable Choice on the new ISO 20400 standard for Sustainable Procurement and VendorPanel on their Local Supplier Engagement Tool.

In addition, we heard from our 2018 Network Meeting Sponsor, Boral, who provided the group with an informative briefing on the storage and handling of bitumen emulsion. The day was wrapped up with a Q&A panel session, where questions from the group were discussed and various viewpoints put forward.

We had 26 attendees present representing many different sections of councils such as procurement, fleet, finance, engineering, governance, economic development and executive. Some attendees travelled over 2 hours to be there.

Attendees were asked to evaluate the day. Below are comments we received:

Question: What were your greatest “take-aways” from this event?

Responses:

• The importance of networking.
• Information from Boral on Asphalt and legal/contracting from Monica.
• Latest Legal issues & Tendering, Contracting Probity.
• Items mentioned by the Audit Office were of interest and, as always, Monica Kelly's presentation.
• Understanding procurement processes for effective purchasing - VendorPanel: how it works and Intro to ISO20400.
• Auditor General's session.
• The link between Audit Office's new project and ICAC.
• Contract overview by Monica about what constitutes a contract.
• Monica Kelly’s presentation.

From LGP’s point of view the day was an outstanding success.

On behalf of LGP, I would like to thank all those who attended for participating and contributing to a successful day and I look forward to facilitating future networking events in Western NSW.

For information, the next LGP networking meeting will be held in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 24th May. For further information, please visit the LGP website.

Bruce Rose
Business Development Manager, Western NSW

Maintaining supplier details, including insurances and compliances, can be a very onerous and manual process. This inefficiency impacts both the council and the supplier. VendorPanel offers a Compliance Management module which allows councils to manage their insurances and compliances to support a more streamlined and efficient process for both parties.  

When councils are engaging suppliers on a regular basis and/or sourcing high risk high value goods or services, it’s crucial that council has a copy of the relevant insurances and compliances. It’s also important that these documents have been validated to ensure they are current, the suppliers have the correct level of coverage, and any other council requirements are satisfied - according to Monica Kelly from Prevention Partners NSW, council’s need to understand their risks and how these can be mitigated through maintaining such documentation.

When managing internal supplier lists in the VendorPanel system as part of the upgrade functionality, councils can specify the pre-qualifications, insurances and compliances that a supplier is required to provide.

When suppliers are invited on to a council’s internal list(s) in VendorPanel, they are required to upload the requested insurances and compliances. Once they have been reviewed and approved, these are visible to the buyer. This makes it easy for the suppliers as they are often asked for the same documentation multiple times, particularly in decentralised souring where there is a lack of transparency over who in council has access to these details.

The Compliance Management module includes the following functionality:

• System administrators will be notified when a supplier has uploaded a document
• The document can be approved or declined by the administrator and viewed and downloaded by the buyers
• Administrators can view the compliance dashboard to easily see the status of each supplier and areas which they are complaint or non-compliant
• Suppliers can be made inactive if they are non-compliant with councils’ requirements and/or be made active again
• A full report of all supplier compliance details can be downloaded

Having a VendorPanel profile makes it easy for suppliers to do business with councils - they only need to upload the requested documents to their profile once, and they can simply link it to all of the councils (or upgraded organisations) that they are working with.

When suppliers realise that the same system providing them with business and opportunities is also requesting their insurance and compliance documentation, they’re generally proactive in becoming compliant in meeting council’s requirements.

All of this adds up to ensuring the process of managing insurances and compliances is as hassle free as possible.

If you would like to schedule a demo of the Compliance Management module and the VendorPanel upgrade please click here.

Alternatively, to contact VendorPanel Commercial Manager for Local Government, Alicia Te Hiko please email or  call (03) 9095 6181.

Amendments to the Local Government Act 1993 made in 2016 which allow for a council to delegate to the general manager the power to accept tenders have been and are being considered across NSW. Questions are being raised regarding exactly what these amendments mean to councils and their general managers.

This brief article explains what powers can be granted to general managers and what restrictions are also in place.

Delegation to the general manager

The Local Government Act 1993 [section 55] and the Local Government General Regulation 2005 [Part 7] provides the statutory regime for a council to procure goods and services through calling for tenders.

It would be most prudent for council to nominate which staff have the power to enter into the contracts referred to by section 55(3) through well-drafted delegations, including the general manager's.

Message to take away

• A general manager’s delegation cannot include the power to reject tenders.
• Nor can a general manager’s delegation provide the power to accept tenders to provide services that council staff provide.
• Finally, the general manager’s delegation cannot extend to deciding that extenuating circumstances are such that it is unnecessary to call for public tenders.

Monica Kelly from Prevention Partners explains more here.

Contact Prevention Partners NSW on 0438 280 621 or email to assist.

If there is any topic you would like covered next month, please feel free to contact Prevention Partners NSW to make suggestions.

Managing High Volume Procurement

Under fire from all directions, a council took a courageous step.  Complaints from suppliers, loss of standing offer arrangements, staff tending to be overwhelmed by the high volume of RFQs – time to be decisive.  Council implemented procurement technology; the 360Pro online tendering and quoting system.  Sceptics warned of disaster – they were wrong. 

Learn how a council won the war on RFQs; and how, for the last 4 years, they’ve been managing RFQs in one of the most innovative ways imaginable. Read full Case Study.

For further information contact Col Lange via email, call 0418 481 494 or Skype: colin.lange2