PML Group has long advocated the use of collaborative working practice in the delivery of repair, refurbishment and new build projects across a range of market sectors. We strongly endorse the principles set out by ‘Latham’ and ‘Egan’ and the benefits that can be delivered by working in partnership. In our view, the current difficult market conditions, combined with an increased need for efficiency, make it essential to create a strong team to deliver projects successfully and the ‘added value’ outputs that are increasingly expected. This is particularly evident in the social housing sector where there are multiple stakeholders that rightly demand outcomes such as local employment, training, resident involvement and economic regeneration on the back of contracts delivered. It is all too easy to lose these opportunities in traditional contracting relationships or where procurement processes are insufficiently robust.
As such, we were pleased to participate in a working group convened by the Housing Forum to consider the ‘Future of Partnering and Procurement’. We have a strong track record of working with a range of best practice organisations and our Managing Director, Kim Newman, volunteered to work alongside a range of other industry experts in completing the research. As a management consultancy that has specialised in partnering and procurement we were well placed to provide a view and perspective.
The Housing Forum appointed Dr David Mosey of legal firm Trowers & Hamlins to lead the over arching project; and to break the project down into work streams. Kim was allocated to work on two of the twelve sub-projects within the study as set out below:
• Integrating new client structures with Procurement
• Options Appraisal in Context
The final report was published in April 2010 by the Housing Forum and made a number of recommendations. These included the need for savings and efficiencies to be transparent so that ‘cost’ can be balanced with ‘added value’ in procurement. Other recommendations included the importance of early contractor involvement, including the supply chain, and the need for simplicity and clarity in procurement. We have all had experience of overly complex procurement documentation, often containing conflicting messages, which has created obstacles to the market in returning their most competitive prices and proposals. The group also recommended greater clarity in the use of performance measures and proposed six basic key performance indicators to be used across the social housing market. This, in the view of the working group, would provide consistency across the market and embed ‘what works’ and ‘what does not’.
The published report has certainly the catalyst for much debate in the social housing sector particularly since the General Election. In a climate of public sector cuts and the need to deliver ‘more for less’, it will be ever more necessary to adopt the ‘Egan’ principles of integrated project teams and supply chains. The reports principle recommendation of ‘transparency’ and ‘clarity’ in both procurement and project delivery will be essential in meeting the expectations of all parties during these challenging times.
PML Group certainly advocates this approach and the recommendations in the report.
Further information can be found in the full report from the following links:
www.housingforum.org.uk/publications/downloads/future-of-partnering.pdf
For further information please contact Tyron Stalberg on 020 7256 2216