Transport team gets top marks for procurement

16 November 2012

Staff from Hampshire County Council's passenger transport and procurement teams are celebrating after seeing off stiff competition to win the prestigious 2012 Society of Procurement Officers (SOPO) in Local Government Award for a transport project that has saved over £1million.

More than 60 local authorities submitted entries for the award, with four county councils shortlisted.

The award was announced at the SOPO conference in London on 12 November, where Hampshire County Council chief executive Andrew Smith was a keynote speaker on the National Procurement Strategy.

The winning Client Transport Efficiency Project, which took three years to complete, has already achieved significant savings of £1.2m through effective partnership working across departments and support from parents and schools.

The County Council transport and procurement teams explored new and innovative ways of providing public, client and community transport schemes, including home to school and social care transport, with a combined budget of £26.5 million.

New systems were introduced to increase competition and the use of online purchasing, provide drop-in centres for local suppliers and speed up the tendering process.

Cllr Mel Kendal, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Transport and Environment said:

"This project is a deserving winner as it has enabled us to achieve savings and maximise value for money, while opening up new routes for suppliers who have not previously dealt with us. Online tendering has made a significant difference to the procurement process.

"The project has allowed us to provide better value for money, ensure suppliers have good opportunities to do business with us and Hampshire residents receive the best possible service.

"We will now be looking to build on this success to improve our procurement processes further and generate even more savings."

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