Sharing knowledge in Local Government

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Charles Gould speaks to Government Opportunities about Brightwave's new Local Government E-Learning Service and how a collaborative procurement exercise secured efficiency gains for a group of Scottish councils.

When a group of Councils in Scotland worked together to procure an E-learning Service this summer they led the way in two huge areas of cash savings for local government across the UK. The collaborative procurement process has provided efficiency gains and cash discounts. The Service itself enables sharing of learning and staff development which promises to save training budgets millions of pounds.

The group of 8 Councils in the Clyde Valley has procured an E-learning service which will provide online training to more than 100,000 staff. The Clyde Valley Learning and Development Group (CVLDG) was set up to shares approaches to L&D and, where appropriate, procure shared L&D services to maximise training budget value. The E-learning Service contract was the most substantial of the CVLDG's activities with a contract value of approximately £500,000 over three years. It was also the first major procurement undertaken by all eight Councils. South Lanarkshire Council acted as the lead member Authority for the group and facilitated the procurement process.

The Local Government E-learning Service will provide the a series of key benefits to all Clyde Valley councils.

• Provide access to online learning to all council employees
• Provide councils with records of staff training and competencies
• Capture ongoing training needs across the Clyde Valley
• Improve access to relevant expertise and resources, wherever they may be within the group
• Increase collaborative working and knowledge sharing

Gerry Farrell from South Lanarkshire Council was seconded into the role of project manager to see the procurement of the Service through. In a process that took well over a year to conclude, it was Farrell's job to coordinate what he describes as a 'loose affiliation of distinct organisations'. This was a crucial role but one with little or no precedent that Farrell was able to follow.

"The most important aspect at the start of this procurement project was to establish a Governance Structure, which was agreed by all councils and in place at the start of the project.

We were in an unusual position of not having a single set of statutory legal systems. Hence, one of the first jobs was to set up a binding agreement at the start of the project. We created a Joint Committee Structure with agreed processes and structures. This Joint Committee included representatives from each of the eight member councils, who meet on a quarterly basis."

E-learning specialist, Brightwave, was finally awarded the contract to provide the Service. The tender was both comprehensive and exacting but despite the substantial effort required, CVLDG's approach brought significant efficiencies and benefits to all involved

Brightwave's Managing Director, Charles Gould said:

"From our point of view, the collaborative procurement process clearly reduced the time and costs of engaging with each individual Council and their respective procurement departments. That meant we were able to pass on substantial cost savings in the form of discounts. With all 8 Councils adopting the service, we have discounted the price by 25%. That amounts to a saving of over £170,000."

The benefits of collaboration go well beyond procurement. In many ways, e-learning is a model for public bodies to work together and share resources. The Service enables Council staff to access online training modules from work or from home. These modules can be created by experts within - or external to - the Council. The real gains, however, are from the ability for each Council to customise these modules for its own purposes without having to start from scratch. For example, if one Council developed an e-learning module on Confidentiality it could make it available to all other Councils using the Service. The chances are that the content of this module would be just as applicable to one Council as another. So, multiple Councils can benefit from this sharing approach but still have the option of customising it - perhaps to include links to their own Council policies and local information.

Several other Councils are also interested in the E-learning Service from Brightwave. Fortunately, the way the CVDLG procurement has been set up, when additional Councils sign up there is potential for further discounts. Gould comments:

"The greater the uptake of the Local Government E-learning Service, the greater the benefits will be. It will help avoid duplication of effort - a massive opportunity for efficiencies as we face the prospect of severe spending cuts across the public sector. This really is an example of joined up thinking and joined up action that will maximise training budgets and benefit Council staff, and ultimately tax-payers as well."

Three of the eight Councils have already implemented parts of the Service while the remaining Councils will be up and running at the start of 2010. "The procurement process is now complete, Brightwave has been appointed and implementation of the shared e-learning service is now underway" said Farrell.

"Based on our experiences, I would offer the following top five tips for other large-scale collaborative procurement projects across Local Authorities:

Top Tips for Successful Collaborative Procurement - from the Clyde Valley Learning and Development Group

1. Get Governance

It was crucial to the success of this project, that an agreed structure was set up in advance with clear lines of authority and responsibility. Without it, you risk lengthy discussions, different opinions, alternative approaches, slow decision making and extended time-scales.

2. Build In Contingency Time

When planning a large procurement with just one organisation, there are many decision makers – with eight such organisations the number of decision makers multiplies by eight! Therefore, it is crucial, with so many stakeholders involved, that there is a clear time-frame set at the start to gather all of the information, make decisions, collate decisions and take it forward. Add a contingency to that expected time-frame, as it usually takes longer than expected!

When building a time-frame I would recommend working back from your implementation date and then planning each stage to create a detailed timeline – basic project management principles.

Following the initiation of this project concept,,agreeing the service required, plus gaining approval from the Joint Committee, the collaborative procurement for the e-learning system from Brightwave took approximately six months.

3. Agree Decision Making And Approval Process EARLY

Start as early as possible to agree the individual and organisation decision making process. Each member council has their own budgets and approval processes, so do ensure those processes are built into the timeline.

4. Maximise Other’s Experience

Whilst it is important to have only one project manager to pull such a project together, it is also worth taking advantage of the experience of others within each member council – from an individual and organisational point of view. There’s a lot of talent to tap into which should be maximised to help ensure the best results possible.

5. Keep Records

I would advise keeping a record of what worked well and what could be improved on, to ensure something can be learned for future similar projects. I learned a huge amount during this process and would most certainly allow more time for similar procurements in future.

6. One Lead Authority – one procurement process

With so many different councils involved, there is a potential for numerous different processes and much scope for confusion. Therefore, having one lead authority and agreement to use its procurement process and financial regulations, avoids overly-complicating the process. Since South Lanarkshire Council was the lead authority for the project it was appropriate that I was the project manager to push it forward.

About Brightwave's Local Government E-Learning Service

Brightwave's E-Learning Service enables councils to design, publish, track, assess and maintain e-learning - all in a customisable and user-friendly way. The service has been shaped to meet the needs of local government and there now exists a real opportunity to share learning, avoid duplication and drive down training costs significantly.

About The Clyde Valley Learning and Development Group (CVLDG)

CVLDG was established informally in 2005 to explore opportunities for improvement through joint working and shared delivery of learning and development. The group comprises eight local authorities located in west central Scotland and two associate members.

CVLDG group members are East Dunbartonshire Council, East Renfrewshire Council, Glasgow City Council, Inverclyde Council, North Lanarkshire Council, Renfrewshire Council, South Lanarkshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Council. The group’s current associate members are North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire Councils.

Note to editors - About Brightwave

Brightwave is the UK's leading workplace e-learning specialist. Expert in developing quality e-learning solutions that achieve a positive measurable impact, Brightwave works in partnership with clients to provide a complete e-learning service, from bespoke content solutions to e-learning portals and platforms, capability building and consultancy.

Focussed on ensuring success, Brightwave makes design decisions to meet business goals and places the learner experience at the centre of every project regardless of business area - from onboarding through to major business transformation.

Clients include: BBC, BP, British Airways, Bupa Health and Wellbeing UK, Pfizer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sky, Royal Bank of Scotland, Unilever, Vodafone and Waitrose as well as public and third sector organisations like; City of Edinburgh Council, Glasgow City Council, National Trust, NSPCC, Renfrewshire Council, South Lanarkshire Council and The Home Office.

 

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