In this newsletter we keep you informed about conversations that are 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:

- Procurement for the future
- Expressions of Interest for Community of Practice – Common Process Model
- Case Study: Te Puni Kōkiri’s Progressive Procurement Capability Uplift programme supporting Māori Businesses to thrive
- New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) awards Maritime Fleet Sustainment Service contract – Hāpai Taua Manuao to Babcock New Zealand
- First stage of requirement to use a sustainable building rating system has commenced
- Government supplier relationship management
- Annual AoG agency satisfaction survey
- Updates on eInvoicing

Across the sector, many of you are now involved in groups or hui that will help us as we work towards the vision for government procurement in 2030 – where it is fair, transparent, inclusive, and efficient, delivering more value to New Zealanders and responds to changing government priorities.

In July, we will introduce a dedicated website page to share updates on the work underway. Look out for it on our website.

New Zealand Government Procurement

The three strategic focus areas underpinning the vision for our procurement for the future programme are:

• data and transparency
• working together as one
• unlocking value.

We have an impressive range of projects and planning developing within these areas, including our Influencing in Action programme which has now kicked off.

An initial cohort of 19 public sector procurers, from across 13 agencies, is involved in this inaugural development programme aimed at equipping procurement professionals with techniques to become stronger influencers of colleagues, suppliers and stakeholders, as well as relationship builders and trusted advisers.

This two-month programme is facilitated by Stu van Rij and is a key component of our act now stream within procurement for the future. Once this inaugural Influencing in action programme has been piloted and assessed, we will consider its place as a professional development offering across the wider government procurement community.

The beauty of the programme is that it is delivered largely online and enables participants to learn and apply the skills on an active current project they have selected. This approach avoids a common issue with some training, which is that it can’t be immediately applied back in the workplace.

In our next update, we’ll be able to bring you more information about progress across the whole programme.

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Are you passionate about improving the capability of procurement across government?

We need you! We are looking to create a Community of Practice to support the establishment of a common process model for procurement.

You need to be:

• an experienced procurement practitioner or manager
• available for six workshops two to three hours (max), at a frequency to be agreed with members
• committed to the stewardship of procurement knowledge
• a system-motivated thinker
• keen to put your mark on this new model.

This system level piece of work will be completed over a six-week period, contributing to the re-development of procurement in New Zealand.

If you are interested in becoming a member or would like to know more about this role, email your expression of interest to our PFLG Coordinator by 12 July 2022.

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We are working with Te Puni Kōkiri to deliver a progressive procurement kaupapa to increase the diversity of government suppliers, starting with Māori businesses.

This kaupapa is further supported by the recent announcement in Budget 2022, with Māori business engagement receiving an additional $26 million investment over the next two years.

Mahi Tahi Media, Evolution Scaffolding Limited and Eco Pristine Clean are just some of the Māori-owned businesses receiving manaaki and mentoring by Warner Cowin at Height Project Management through the uplift programme.

Learn more about the impact our mahi with Te Puni Kōkiri is having for Māori businesses.

Progressive procurement — Te Puni Kōkiri Ministry of Māori Development

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A recent contract signing between the Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Kevin Short and Babcock‘s New Zealand General Manager, James Morton represents another proud moment for New Zealand Government Procurement (NZGP)’s Commercial Pool.

Under the Hāpai Taua Manuao contract, Babcock will provide asset management services to the entire Royal New Zealand Navy fleet.

Read more about the Maritime Fleet Sustainment Service contract — Hāpai Taua Manuao

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The procurement guide to reducing carbon emissions in building and construction has been revised to include the requirement to use an approved sustainable building rating system for new government owned non-residential buildings from 1 April 2022.

As part of the Carbon Neutral Government Programme (CNGP), Cabinet agreed that procurement mandated agencies must use an approved sustainable building rating system when building a new non-residential government owned building.

Read more about the sustainable building rating system.

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Mobilising the supplier relationship management toolkit

The final part of our supplier relationship management (SRM) toolkit is now available on our website. Part 3 of the toolkit encourages agencies to work toward joint business plans with strategic suppliers.

The government supplier management programme aims to improve practices across government, the resilience of our supply chain, and achieve greater value from suppliers.

Parts 1 and 2 help agencies to set up and implement key elements of supplier management. The real value – and goal of the toolkit – is to work towards better mutual understanding and practices between government agencies and strategic suppliers.

Using the tools and templates from parts one and two, and by convening joint business planning workshops, agencies can work towards a shared business plan.

Consistent and uniformed practices will unlock greater value for all.

In the spirit of continuous improvement, we’re using the feedback we get from you through the AoG agency satisfaction survey and in discussions with New Zealand Government Procurement’s account managers to strengthen and refine the toolkit.

Supplier management toolkit and guidance for leaders

State of Flux annual supplier management research 2022

We’ve been working with State of Flux to improve New Zealand Government Procurement’s supplier management capability. Each year they conduct a global survey on supplier management and write a book on current trends and practices.

It’s free to participate and it will give you and your agency a benchmark of how you are doing, plus a copy of the book when it is published.

Their 2022 survey is currently open. All you need to do is click the link and take their survey.

State of Flux annual supplier management research 2022 survey

You can download past State of Flux books on Supplier Management here.

Research — State of Flux

Significant Services Contracts: going forward New Zealand Government Procurement will not be collecting Significant Services Contract data in its current form

Thank you for your feedback and previous completion of the Significant Service Contract (SSC) reports. We wanted to let you know that we will not be collecting this data for the next 1 October cycle.

The SSC framework was established in June 2016, and a number of factors have contributed to the decision to pause reporting, not least the background environment of the last two and a half years. We want to discharge you from this reporting requirement temporarily while sector and supplier groups work on reporting criteria that will deliver better outcomes for us all.

Ensuring strong contract governance and identification of SSC’s is critically important. You should continue to develop risk and governance programmes that identify and capture the risks associated with significant contracts, and ensure engagement with key stakeholders is occurring.

We’ll keep you in the loop with any suggested future reporting changes. This will likely be a check-in via survey after the other 1 October reporting is completed. Thank you for your ongoing support.

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Thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s survey. We really appreciated the time you’ve taken in completing the survey and we’re currently analysing the results.

Your feedback helps us identify areas for improvement, gain a clear understanding of the level of agency satisfaction with All-of-Government (AoG) contracts and if we are delivering the intended value and meeting our customers’ needs.

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What eInvoicing means for government contracts

eInvoicing continues to be adopted across New Zealand with many businesses and the wider government sector progressively becoming enabled to send and receive eInvoices.

As you may be aware, central government agencies were tasked to implement ‘receive’ eInvoicing capability by 31 March 2022. Fourteen government agencies now have this capability, with the remaining adopting the capability over the next 12 months.

Find out what eInvoicing means for government contracts

Open syndicated panel available to facilitate Government adoption of eInvoicing

This is a reminder that late last year the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) Hīkina Whakatutuki completed the procurement process for an eInvoicing Open Syndicated Panel of access point providers. This is available on the Government procurement website.

Find out more about the open syndicated panel available to facilitate Government adoption of eInvoicing

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