The first Buying Digital Community Virtual Meetup of 2021 ! Join us 23-25 February when we will be with you again to continue our buying journey together into a new year. 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(s) 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 23 February

Topic : Social Value

Description : A 'show & tell' from different buyers’ perspectives about their Social Value journeys. You will learn how they approached social value depending on their own personal levels of knowledge/experience, and the alternatives they considered. You will then have the opportunity to share your experiences, challenges, progress etc, and to ask for advice or share best practice.

Speakers : Anke Tymens (LNER), Maureen Gore (Home Office), Sarah Christopher (DfE)

Anke is a buyer with main focus on the Digital category at London North Eastern Railway. She has been working in public sector procurement across a variety of categories for over a decade, initially with NHS Supply Chain and then Highways England, where she started specialising in tech categories.

Maureen is an associate commercial specialist for Home Office via GCF. She has just re-joined the civil service after a period of self-employment and has spent the last 20 years in public sector commercial work, mostly in digital or tech categories, for organisations including Health, Education, Home Office (several times), BBC and some ALBs.

Sarah is a Commercial Lead in the Operations Category within the Department for Education. Within this role she is a Category Manager specialising in digital procurement and over the last 3 years has worked with CCS, OGDs and internal colleagues to develop and deliver the DfE Digital Commercial Strategy. Utilizing CCS Frameworks to procure expert digital suppliers, Sarah has supported the prototyping and building digital services as part of the department's digital transformation. Sarah is passionate about growing capability within the digital community, both within DfE and across Government.

Wednesday 24 February

Topic : DOS5 - what do I need to know ?

Description : Come and hear from a CCS colleague about the key changes coming with DOS5 and some best practices that we would suggest in order to gain the most from this new framework. We will examine this new framework, share our reactions to the changes, and plan for future implementation.

Speaker : David Elsley, Crown Commercial Service

David is a category manager for Crown Commercial Service with responsibility for the Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework. He has been with CCS for just over 18 months and has spent the previous 30 years in the commercial sector, working in procurement, IT and eCommerce for a number of different organisations spanning global ticketing platforms, national business solutions providers and smaller private companies.

Thursday 25 February

Topic : TUPE

Description : Exploring the implications of TUPE regulations within the digital journey, we will be presented with advice and guidance from a lawyer, before hearing from two buyers about covering TUPE issues in their own procurement journeys. You will then have the opportunity to share your own experiences and issues, and share advice and best practice.

Speakers : Michael Wright & Amy Millson (Hill Dickinson), Josh Dell (Home Office), and Hassan Kajee (NHS)

Michael is Hill Dickinson’s head of the Health Employment Team North. He specialises in providing employment advice to healthcare providers, commissioners and public sector organisations. Michael has particular experience of complex employment issues concerning the procurement, reorganisation and mergers and acquisitions within the health sector.

Amy is a legal director in Hill Dickinson's health employment team, providing advice to public, commercial and third sectors, with a particular specialism of advising NHS and other healthcare bodies, on all types of workforce issues, including disciplinary, grievances and performance issues, complex doctor disputes, employment litigation, restructuring and TUPE.

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.

Hassan is a Senior Commercial Manager working for the NHS Business Services Authority. He leads a team providing commercial input to complex and large scale digital transformation programmes. He is also the commercial lead for the Primary Care directorate which is responsible for paying £32bn per annum to pharmacies, dentists and other NHS providers.