How the 'Get Help Buying' service for schools will make a difference
Over the past year schools and trusts have faced some massive challenges and now - with normality slowly starting to resume, many are looking to strengthen their financial planning and ensure every pound is put to the best possible use.
News that the government is currently planning a new ‘Get Help Buying’ service, offering buyers and other buying decision makers in schools access to specialist support, relationships, information and tools has been welcomed by many.
This comes after two successful pilots of the Schools Buying Strategy in 2017 in the North West and South West which saved £19.4m on non-staff spend across 2,000 schools.
Here, we explore how the new initiative will work and the difference it stands to make.
Why is it important?
Having launched the first Schools Buying Strategy in 2017, the Department for Education (DfE) wanted to support schools to save over £1 billion a year by 2019-20.
This related to non-staff spend and focused on maximising available resources, improving pupil attainment and outcomes, as well as supporting schools to manage cost pressures.
The Schools Buying Strategy also outlined the benefits of schools working directly with other schools to achieve greater efficiencies, whether through Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) or through individual schools working together to negotiate deals and share services.
What role is the DfE playing?
Following the two successful pilot schemes, the DfE is now consulting on its chosen model of an in-house national service. The proposed service would offer online resources, digital products and work with the sector to build capacity and provide the right tools, guidance and resources procurement teams so desperately need.
Building this system in-house, gives the DfE more flexibility to develop the service over time, continually evolving as the school needs change. The initiative is also designed to ensure schools and trusts are well equipped to cope with any new challenges that may impact buying or create additional financial burden.
Under proposed plans, the Get Help Buying for Schools service would allow a user in a school to engage with the service through the DfE’s outreach and engagement team. This team would then direct them to the Buying for Schools GOV.UK pages where they can find resources and digital products to support their buying journey.
Once the service has been launched, the DfE plans to develop further digital capabilities which will allow schools to self-serve through the whole buying journey digitally.
How did the DfE identify what was important to schools and how will buying teams benefit?
Through user-led research the DfE identified robust and thorough procurement planning as one of the areas schools can generate the most significant savings, as it enables them to carry out the initial stages of the procurement process far more effectively.
From launch, schools will be able to access additional support for the procurement of a range of goods and services. The service will offer support in sourcing, identification of suitable frameworks, as well as deals and aggregation opportunities.
Buying teams will also be able to access support from procurement specialists when needed. These specialists can offer further advice and guidance, as well as conducting procurement on behalf of the school from source to contract award.
The DfE will continue to work alongside established public sector providers, using combined market knowledge and insight to create the very best solutions for schools.
Currently, the Get Help Buying for Schools service is due to be launched in autumn 2021 and with so many agreeing that smarter procurement is the key to vital cost savings, it can’t come soon enough for school buying teams.
