E-Government Bosses in East Lancashire Nominated for a Top Award

Posted on Feb 22, 2005

E-GOVERNMENT bosses in East Lancashire have been nominated for a top award after cutting thousands of pounds from council procurement costs.

The East Lancashire e-Partnership has been nominated in the Procurement Section of the 2005 Local Government Awards.

The awards, sponsored by several organisations, including the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Zurich Municipal, attract thousands of entries from across the UK.

Awards are made in several categories, including Council of the Year, at a glittering ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London.

The East Lancashire e-Partnership, comprising the borough councils of Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale, has been behind a series of innovative “reverse e-auctions” that look set to slash up to £250,000 from council procurement costs.

Reverse e-auctions are a dynamic process, whereby sellers vie for business by undercutting each other in a live internet auction.

The Government wants them to become common practice in local government as a way of generating savings on the purchase of goods that can be ploughed back into front-line services.

Reverse e-auctions have been held in East Lancashire over the past several months for the purchase of paper, protective clothing, janitorial supplies, office furniture and vehicle fuel.

They have so far cut £80,000 from council procurement costs, with savings of £250,000 expected by the end of the financial year.

Ukprocure, a leading supplier of end-to-end procurement solutions to the public sector, and international business consultants Deloitte, help to facilitate the auctions.

The East Lancashire e-Partnership is also in the process of establishing an e-marketplace, where local suppliers can place information about their goods and services electronically.

The partnership’s director of service improvement, Lorna Dobson, said: “Local government is under constant pressure to deliver better value for money and the savings we are making in East Lancashire are fantastic.

“Competition in this category of the awards is particularly steep and to have been shortlisted is great news.”

ends

About UK Procure

UKprocure Systems (www.ukprocure.com) is the leading supplier of end-to-end procurement solutions to the UK public sector, with an emphasis on healthcare, local government and education. UKprocure Systems provides managed services and hosted solutions that support the full procurement process, from sourcing and managing to ordering and invoicing. Its industry-leading eSourcing and eMarketplace solutions, which are based on the robust Oracle platform, are reinforced by UKprocure Systems consultancy services and unrivalled knowledge of the public sector supplier base and business processes. UKprocure Systems enables its customers to achieve dramatic cost savings through the transformation of the procurement process, savings that can be re-deployed to improve front line service delivery. At the same time, UKprocure Systems innovative solutions help public sector organisations meet Government targets for Modernisation, Best Value and Collaboration.

For more information please contact:
Tara Williams
UKprocure Systems
T: 020 7936 9489
M: 07976 906673
E: tara.williams@ukprocure.com

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