In this newsletter we keep you informed about conversations happening across the public sector that focus on procurement. We welcome your feedback and suggestions for stories to include in upcoming editions.

In this newsletter:

• There’s a new team in New Zealand Government Procurement!
• Getting the best from panels of suppliers
• Have your say!
• Consultation on extending the Government Procurement Rules
• Consultation on implementation of changes to Government Procurement Rules
• Initial findings from the 2020 Procurement Capability Index
• RFx templates refresh
• NZBN numbers grow in support of COVID-19 response
• Demystifying procurement – workshops in 2021

New Zealand Government Procurement (NZGP) have recently established a new advisory team focused on construction. The Construction Procurement Advisory team supports the work of the Construction Accord to transform the industry, with a specific focus on using government projects to help move the industry in the right direction. The team provides support and advice to government construction and infrastructure projects, helping them to follow good practice and adopt the Accord’s principles.

Read more about the new team in NZGP and what they are wanting to achieve

Webinar - Introduction to Construction Procurement Advisory team

The team is keen to share more about how they can help you with your construction procurement and project needs, and so we are gauging whether you would be interested in attending a webinar that will provide an overview of the work of the Construction Accord, an introduction to the team, as well as more detail on how the team can support government construction projects.

The proposed details for the webinar are below:

Time: 2:00pm

Date: Thursday 26 November 2020

Sign up to our webinar

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The Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) has been looking into panels of suppliers and how public organisations use them, as part of their three-year programme on procurement. The OAG has now completed this work and published an article “Getting the best from panels of suppliers”.

Read more on getting the best from panels of suppliers

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We’re currently running a number of consultations and we’d appreciate your input.

Submissions close on Monday 23 November 2020.

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This consultation will inform our policy development process and advice to Ministers on the potential benefits, opportunities, and other impacts of extending the Government Procurement Rules to more government entities in the New Zealand public sector.

Read more on the consultation on extending the procurement Government Procurement Rules

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To deliver greater public good for New Zealand through procurement, Cabinet has approved changes to the Government Procurement Rules:

• Rule 12A – Procurement response measures
• Rule 18A – Employment outcomes

Following the approval, we are seeking feedback from mandated agencies on how these Rules will be implemented.

Read more about the consultation on implementation of changes to Government Procurement Rules

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Early analysis of this year’s Procurement Capability Index (PCI) agency assessments shows there has been a 2% increase in procurement capability maturity on 2019 results. The analysis is focused on comparison of the 2019 and 2020 scores for the 58 agencies who submitted their self-assessment by 12 October.

Read more on the initial findings from the 2020 Procurement Capability Index

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We’re currently updating our RFx templates to improve the user experience for both government agencies preparing tenders and suppliers shaping their responses. Some of the improvements that the refresh will bring include:

• A more cohesively designed look, feel, and organisation of content, to make the template information easier to read and understand.
• Changes to make the templates easier, quicker and more efficient to work on and edit.
• Bringing the templates in line with contemporary regulations, procurement rules and use of language.
• Broader outcomes.

We aim to have the templates ready to use by early 2021 and we’ll let you know once the refresh is completed.

Procurement templates

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Over 780,000 New Zealand businesses, including 56,000 sole traders, now have a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN), making it faster and easier for them to connect with government and other businesses.

This significant increase comes as a result of the integral part NZBN played in the delivery of the Government’s COVID-19 Business Support packages. As the reliable unique identifier for New Zealand businesses, it enabled the efficient, seamless and reliable sharing of validated business information, for initiatives including the Ministry of Social Development’s Wage Subsidy Scheme and the Inland Revenue Department’s Small Business Loan Scheme.

Read more on the NZBN numbers growing in support of COVID-19 response

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We are seeking expressions of interest for face-to-face demystifying procurement workshops for 2021. This will help us plan where (eg Auckland, Christchurch) you would like us to hold workshops.

Demystifying procurement is a free, face-to-face workshop suitable for new or occasional procurers at your agency. The interactive, 3-hour workshop will introduce the procurement lifecycle and some of the key activities in it. 

Read more on demystifying procurement – workshops in 2021

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For more information about anything in this newsletter please email the Procurement team.