When I look back over my career in the education sector, my sleepless nights have either been people or procurement related. I can’t offer any pearls of wisdom to overcome the people induced insomnia but have come to realise that for school leaders and business management professionals, there is a solution to procurement stress: frameworks.
In an unprecedented era when the pressure on school budgets is unrelenting, frameworks provide the option to invest precious resources elsewhere. We are a public body and are therefore bound by the requirement that our procurements must achieve “the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay over the period of use of the goods or services bought”. I see our role as adding value to the schools, settings and trusts that choose to work with us by procuring the best-in-class products at the most competitive prices by using our position as an aggregator. In short, we do the extensive legwork, enabling you to invest your time and efforts where it really matters. This means no more stress around the risk of delays, litigation or poor outcomes.
As we approach a new school year, school leaders will need to generate efficiencies to pay the utility bills and to meet the costs of staff pay increases. We all know that most efficiencies have been realised and the reality is that schools will need to do more with less. Having a contract register from which to base future procurement is not going to bridge the gap in budgets resulting from rocketing energy bills and pay awards, but it may enable you to realise some savings by accessing the products you identify as best-fit.
The HFL Education Multi-Supplier MIS Framework is a great example. Our framework enables schools, settings and trusts to procure licenses for Arbor, Bromcom and ScholarPack at up to a 35% discount. We have used our position as an aggregator to drive the best possible deal with these key MIS providers. In addition, schools, settings and trusts can save at least 4 months in procurement time compared to running an open procedure with a fraction of the work and staff time to complete a procurement. Finally, the icing on the cake is that the procurement risk is borne by HFL Education. Schools, settings and trusts can ask HFL Education to call-down on the Framework on their behalf, safe in the knowledge that it is a fully-compliant Public Framework.
Attention to detail is key, when considering options, ensure you are comparing apples with apples.
The inflationary increases that will be applied between contract years is an area of detail often overlooked. Inflation plus a couple of % is a standard clause in many contracts and with inflation running so low for so long, hasn’t been a factor for so many. However, schools, settings and trusts may be looking at a 12% increase in licence costs this year if inflation stays where it is. This is the detail that matters and the that expert organisations will look to secure the best deals for schools, settings and trusts in. look at inflation between contract years to ensure you are getting the very best deal.
When I started my career in education, procurements needed to be run at Local Authority or school level because be-spoking software to user needs was seen as essential. The world has moved on, and we all now accept that tweaking our processes to adapt to off-the-shelf products is a far more efficient and effective way of operating. The recognition that off-the-shelf is the right path has made the traditional procurement route for licences for software, largely redundant. Why reinvent the wheel when you can leverage better value and save time and risk by choosing a compliant Framework? The market has matured with expert Public Bodies able to offer scale to vendors through national procurements that makes offering great terms easy.
We all recognise just how tough this year will be for school leaders and business management professionals financially. With around 75% of school budgets committed to staffing, realising efficiencies in operating costs is essential. There are inflation-busting deals to be had out there, like the HFL Education MIS Framework. Holding a Contract Register and shopping around for the best Framework deals in good time is one way to stretch your operating cost budget further. Sleepless nights over, stretch don’t stress!
If you are considering changing your MIS and would like to speak with us further about our MIS Framework, please email us at misframework@hfleducation.org or visit HFL Education: Multi-supplier MIS framework.
Catherine Tallis
