Preferred Supplier for schools

The request was successful.

Dear Monmouthshire Council,

I understand that you have recently sent out an email to all schools in Monmouth advising them they should be using the preferred supplier only for supply staff at the school (whether that be teachers or teaching assistants).

I would like to see a copy of this correspondence and advise on how an agency would seek to be added to the preferred supplier list.

Yours faithfully,

Hannah W

Trigg, Mike J., Monmouthshire County Council

Dear Hannah,

 

I refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

 

You asked:

 

I understand that you have recently sent out an email to all schools in
Monmouth advising them they should be using the preferred supplier only
for supply staff at the school (whether that be teachers or teaching
assistants).

 

I would like to see a copy of this correspondence and advise on how an
agency would seek to be added to the preferred supplier list.

 

 

The text of the e-mail, which came from our Strategic Procurement Team,
was:

 

I have recently met with New Directions, our appointed provider for Agency
Staff for schools, to review the contract. An item for discussion was
“contract leakage” (expenditure outside of the contract agreement) and how
it could be reduced, MCC schools spent £1.4M on agency staff during
2015-16 of which only £368,000 was via New Directions.

 

One of the benefits of using the appointed provider is the due diligence
that they undertake with all of the staff that they employ in terms of
safeguarding. As part of the tender process, to get onto the NPS framework
New Directions would have had to pass a robust process of supplier
appraisal to evaluate their  safeguarding capability, unlike the other
providers that schools are currently utilising.

 

To mitigate any risk that may occur with schools not using New Directions,
would it be possible to send out the attached note to all Headteachers? I
know that they are not obliged to use New Directions but they need to be
made aware of the risks if they do not.

 

To comply with the EU Procurement Principles of transparency and fairness,
Monmouthshire County Council does not operate a "preferred suppliers
list".  Many goods, services and works are procured using collaborative
frameworks that have been awarded to suppliers via purchasing consortiums,
for example The National Procurement Service (NPS Wales).  Monmouthshire
currently utilises a framework for the "Provision of Agency Staff" which
has been awarded by the NPS and this arrangement will continue until
September 2018.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the way the Council has handled your request
for information, you can request a review by e-mail to
[1]mailto:[email address] or by writing to:

 

Paul Matthews

Chief Executive

PO Box 106

Caldicot

NP26 9AN 

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a
right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

2nd Floor

Churchill House

Churchill Way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

 

Telephone: 02920 678400

Email: [2][email address]

Fax: 02920 678399

There is no charge for making an appeal. 

 

Regards,

 

Mike Trigg,
Data Protection and FoI Officer

 

Telephone:         01633 644744

[3][email address]

 

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Dear Monmouthshire Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Monmouthshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'Preferred Supplier for schools'.

I feel as though the questions I have asked have not been answered. I wanted:
A copy of the correspondence/email sent to schools in Monmouth advising them to use New Directions
How to be added to preferred supplier list? (i.e who to contact)

Other agencies are also extremely strict with compliance, including being very thorough with safeguarding.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...

Yours faithfully,

Hannah W

Trigg, Mike J., Monmouthshire County Council

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Dear Hannah,

 

Our Chief Executive, Paul Matthews, has asked me to pass this on to you.

 

Regards,

 

Mike Trigg

Data Protection and FoI Officer

 

Telephone:        01633 644744

[email address]

 

 

Dear Hannah,

 

You have asked us to review our handling of your request under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.  Your request, along with the Council's response,
appears in the attachment.

 

You request stated:

 

I understand that you have recently sent out an email to all schools in
Monmouth advising them they should be using the preferred supplier only
for supply staff at the school (whether that be teachers or teaching
assistants).

 

I would like to see a copy of this correspondence and advise on how an
agency would seek to be added to the preferred supplier list.

 

The Council’s reply provided an exact copy of the contents of the e-mail,
explained that the Council does not operate a preferred supplier list and
went on explain the arrangements in place.

 

In my view, the Council provided a full reply to your questions and it is
difficult to see what else could have been included.  I must therefore
find that the Council’s handling of your request was completely adequate
in all respects.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a
right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

2nd Floor

Churchill House

Churchill Way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

 

Telephone: 02920 678400

Email: [1][email address]

Fax: 02920 678399

There is no charge for making an appeal. 

 

Paul Matthews

Chief Executive

 

 

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