Buying into a bargain

An ambitious pilot project, the first in the country, is set to make savings for Colchester Borough Council's taxpayers.

Thanks to a new consortium of council buyers money will be saved on the purchase of a whole range of products, services and programmes. The project is being led by Braintree District Council.

Increasing efficiency in the way goods and services are bought will bring benefits to residents and taxpayers by reducing costs. Savings will be made by analysing the spend of each authority and identifying areas where joint working and contracting will drive down costs and increase efficiency.

Councillor Nick Taylor, Portfolio Holder for Resources, said: "This is a new and exciting way of working together which will make savings and increase efficiency thereby improving the service we provide to residents.

"By working in partnership all of the councils will be able to get a better deal and improve value for money, which I am sure is what taxpayers want and expect."

As well as Colchester and Braintree, Uttlesford and Castle Point have already signed up and they will be joined by Maldon and Epping Forest, subject to Cabinet approval.

Tuesday October 24 saw the official launch of the Essex Procurement Hub at Braintree Town Hall with representatives from all six of the councils involved.

Also there were representatives from The Regional Centre of Excellence East, which handed over £70,000 towards the first year's running costs. It is involved in promoting collaboration on buying throughout the 52 local authorities in the east.

After hearing Braintree's business case it decided the project deserved a cash handout.

Mike Worron, regional director, said: "The RCE-East is proud to be associated with, and to support, the Essex procurement hub. This is demonstrated by the seed funding which we are providing to encourage the hub in its formation and expansion. "The RCE-East see this type of arrangement as an efficient and sensible path to better procurement for all the councils involved. We envisage the project expanding and the contracts used in the hub being used by a wide variety of authorities across the region and beyond."

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