Hannah Gill:
Today we're here in Harlow Council, it's a fantastic area. It's actually one of the key new towns which was built post war and it's quite famous for being a sculpture town which just demonstrates what a vibrant area this is. The theme for this challenge is around procurement. How can we take something that might seem process driven and really use it to invigorate change and transformation in the council.
James Gardner:
In Harlow, we're extremely ambitious, so we set this challenge really to help inform us of how we can take a step forward with our procurement, both meeting the challenges laid down by the new legislation, but also within our corporate plan of delivering more at greater quality, greater value and at greater speed.
Amy Lipley:
Harlow Council has asked us to look at their procurement processes, especially with local businesses and residents in mind. The output that the council has asked for today is some training material alongside a presentation and a report.
Angelo Da Costa:
Procurement is one step of commissioning which I work in. What I've found interesting so far is the differences when it comes to the commissioning process here in Harlow compared to Tower Hamlets where I work, and I can see ways where they can kind of meet in the middle.
Aoife O’Gorman:
We've just come from a meeting with officers from across the council working in different areas. We had a really good chat about how the procurement process impacts them and some ideas on how it could be more streamlined and made more accessible and how to make that easier to understand and easier to work through.
Adeel Hussain:
It's really interesting to have conversations around the different teams and their perception of procurement. We've also learned through this session that the leader and the executive of the council have a really strong vision of the future.
Helen Potter:
The task is really interesting - that they're trying to get people more engaged in procurement because it's an area that I don't work in and so I probably have the view that they're trying to challenge, which is that procurement is bureaucratic.
Jess Finnin:
I think it's challenging the part we're up to now, which is how to weave in some of the other elements that they wanted, including involving local businesses and also how we ensure that Harlow are getting the best impact on their procurement for the residents.
Amy Lipley:
It’s just after 10pm and honestly what an incredible day. I don't think procurement was anything that any of us expected to be challenged with. Being in Harlow another local Essex council to me, has honed in my skill about what it means to work for a new town and the similarities which we all share.
Angelo Da Costa:
Today was a very eventful day, I’ve really enjoyed working with my team. We challenged each other, and in the end, you know, we still found time to have a laugh and try to enjoy this process that we’re in. There’s only one winner but at the end of the day we could make long lasting bonds and friendships. Bring it on.
Virginia Ponton:
It's day 2 and after initially grappling with this technical challenge, the teams have now settled into their ideas and do seem to feel confident in what they've developed. This morning they'll be going on a short trip to Discover Harlow at the Harvey Shopping Centre.
Michael Barrett:
Whilst this is quite a technical challenge, the output is actually quite creative, so the teams do have a lot of scope to play around with their ideas and we think there's going to be some interactive elements to both presentations which we're really looking forward to. The deadline is looming so they'll be preparing their presentations and their paperwork for the 12:30 deadline.
Harriet Vitty:
We've just come back from a meeting with an external solicitor at Discover Harlow to discuss how the new Procurement Act will impact the Council's processes around procurement and the shift in focus towards looking at contracting local contractors, the flexibilities that councils now have to involve and embed the social value aspect of their procurement processes.
Rebecca Dentith:
Within the team today I've been working more on reviewing the report and starting to get the slides ready for the presentation. I've only worked with procurement in a very narrow lens to do with systems for specific projects, so it's been really interesting actually understanding the breadth and considerations across entire organisations for procurement, and the complexity, and unsung heroes that they are.
Shohum Dave:
We have just done the tech test. Our slides look great on these big screens. Everything worked really well. We've tried to be a bit innovative in our presentation, we've got some AI channelling the voices of the people of Harlow, both the staff and the residents, bringing their voice to the presentation, letting the judging panel know from a procurement point of view exactly what they require, and how the council can facilitate that.
Mike Campbell:
I think we're doing OK. We had a bit of a rethink late yesterday, but we've been able to use all of the good work in a really conducive way and I think we've produced a really solid final product. We decided that we should be thinking at a more strategic level than operational level. We'll see whether we're right.
Angelo Da Costa:
Our idea is to redesign the procurement process in Harlow Council as per the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023. To do so, we'll have a new gold standard called the Heart of Harlow, which means that decisions are made much quicker, they're fast tracked and we're also looking to utilise AI, move away from papers and emails into a full digital service, which means that everyone is in the same place and then we can move things faster.
Amy Lipley:
Our report and our presentation focuses on a cultural shift for procurement at Harlow. We are focusing on four Ds: Define, Design, Deliver and Discover so that the whole process of procurement can be encompassed and that all officers have a responsibility of the life cycle of procurement. We're focusing on social value and making sure that small to medium enterprises are also involved in the process.
Cllr Dan Swords:
Team Ascend won today. They absolutely smashed it out the park. It’s a really tough challenge. We were after real innovation and not just sort of how can we do things better, but how can you rip this problem apart, and really come up with some something that's going to change our approach to it. And that's exactly what team Ascend did. We have some brilliant ideas from both teams to now implement.
Angelo Da Costa:
Massive congratulations to Amy's team. They worked really hard, and well-deserved. Amy and I caught up today, and on our different times we got to sleep around two in the morning, so there was that element of really wanting to succeed.
Amy Lipley:
I think the best moment in this entire challenge is being told in the feedback that our report could be given to a consultant and they could run with it from day one.
