From 8-11 December we will be with you again as the Buying Digital Community come together online for our last meetup of 2020. As is our now customary format, we will bring you daily sessions starting at 10am each day. Sessions will last around an hour and a quarter (but up to 1½ hours have been allocated, should discussions naturally carry on longer). Each session will be led by a guest speaker and explore a range of topics designed to support you moving forward.

Please note that these events are specifically for public sector buyers. If you are a supplier, despite thanking you for your interest, we won't, unfortunately, be able to allow you to participate this time.

Tuesday 8 December

Topic: Statements of Work & Balanced Scorecards in Digital

Description: Colleagues from the Home Office and King’s College London share their different approaches to managing Digital contracts through the use of SOWs and Balanced Scorecards

Speakers: Josh Dell & James Fowles

Josh Dell, Commercial Lead at the Home Office, has worked in the Public Sector Commercial environment for the past 4 years, putting in place digital contracts for DWP, Department for International Trade and Her Majesty’s Passport Office.

Jim Fowles is Director of IT Procurement for King’s College London, and has previously enjoyed 10 years at the Houses of Parliament as their Head of the ICT Category, within their Procurement and Commercial Service. Historically he has a background in Information Technology (as a software developer, and business analyst), and made the move to focus on contracts and procurement in 2008.

Wednesday 9 December

Topic: Reform of the Public Contracts Regulations

Description: The UKs departure from the EU has presented the UK with the opportunity for bold and radical reform of the public procurement framework.

Moving away from the EU Procurement Rules allows new rules to be set that can meet national needs, increase innovation and remove unnecessary bureaucracy. For the first time, the UK will be able to make its own decisions on the methods it will use to spend more than £292bn of public money each year, whilst remaining committed to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.

Join us for a presentation from the project team working on the reform of the public procurement regulation and learn about the topics due to feature in the consultation on public procurement rules reform that is due to commence in December 2020.

Speakers: Lisa Stubbs & Lois Devey, Cabinet Office

Lisa Stubbs is a senior policy adviser in the International and Reform Team in Commercial Policy in the Cabinet Office. Having run a variety of entrepreneurial small and medium enterprises and holding other central government commercial roles, Lisa joined the policy team in 2017 and worked on procurement policy relating to the departure of the UK from the EU. She is now focussed on public procurement rules reform, specialising in commercial tools, transparency and open contracting.

Lois Devey OBE is a senior policy adviser in the International and Reform Team in Commercial Policy in the Cabinet Office. Before joining Cabinet Office to work on the transposition of the 2014 EU Procurement Directives, Lois was the head of complex transactions and procurement policy in the DfE. As the policy lead on the public procurement legislation for Brexit Lois had responsibility for the policy input of both the procurement no-deal EU Exit Regulations and the procurement EU Exit Regulations that implement the EU/UK Withdrawal Agreement. Lois is the project lead for the on public procurement rules reform project.

Thursday 10 December

Topic: Introduction to Service Assessments – government digital services for the internet age

Description: The Service Standard seeks to ensure that we deliver digital services that are fit for the internet age. During this session we will consider further What the Service Standard is and why it exists. As a procurement professional, where in the process should you be thinking about the Service Assessment and how do reflect the Standard when drawing up requirements ? We will discuss any problems or challenges you might face, share best practices, and think about the future. This topic will certainly be of interest both to Public Sector Procurement teams, and Public Sector Digital teams.

Speaker: Simon Everest, Cabinet Office

Simon is Head of Service Assessments at the Government Digital Service (GDS). Simon joined GDS in its infancy to support digital transformation in government. He is currently responsible for Service Assessments, which helps to ensure that new digital services meet users’ needs, delivery government objectives and achieve value for money.

Friday 11 December

Topic: How to run a marathon with no end : Mental Health & Resilience

Description: The challenges of this year have led many to evaluate the old normal (before even beginning to tackle the 'new normal'). This raises many questions and issues for each of us personally which is never easy. This will be an opportunity to share (only if you wish) and to discuss how to look after our mental health as we enter the winter with optimism and resilience.

Speaker: Chris Stevens, Cloud and Hosting team, Technology Pillar in CCS

Chris joined the Civil Service in 1999 after a short career in academia as an Osteoarchaeologist. Work in the Technology pillar at CCS, mostly in strategy with a particular focus on responsible procurement, on projects relating to social value, sustainability and ending modern slavery in supply chains. Have grown up with family members struggling with their mental health and decided to educate myself, and try to provide support to others by completing the Mental Health First Aid course in 2017. Established the Mental Health Guardians in CCS, with 143 active volunteers and over 20% of staff completing the MHFA course and growing. Am the current Chairperson for the MH Guardians Representation Group in CCS.