Echelon Improvement Partnerships (EIP)

Join us for our next Disrepair Improvement Group meeting on Thursday 14 November, where Justine Hunkins, Partner at Devonshires LLP, will discuss the increase in Personal Injury claims linked to disrepair issues in social housing. Justine, who has a wealth of experience in handling disrepair claims, will share insights on the rise in such claims and offer practical advice for attendees navigating these complex cases.  The session, which is open to AMIP members, and runs from 10am to 12 noon, will round off with a Q&A. Questions for Justine can be submitted in advance at https://lnkd.in/eT9evznp Register your place at https://lnkd.in/e-_Sq7Wk The Disrepair Improvement Group was set up in conjunction with Riverside, with the aim of working with the sector to investigate different ways of managing disrepair to provide better outcomes for tenants.  Not an AMIP member? Email us at amip@echelonip.co.uk to find out more about the benefits of membership and how you can access our industry groups, training programmes and masterclasses. #disrepair #personalinjuryclaims #ukhousing

In a recent survey by Inside Housing, recruitment and retention was identified as a significant strategic risk for the sector, and it’s having a huge impact on how organisations manage, maintain and develop homes. The next session of our six-month Raising the bar: competency and conduct programme, taking place from 1pm to 3pm on Tuesday 12 November, will focus on the growing challenges facing the sector, and the potential impact of the new Competence and Conduct Standard. Following a roundtable format, the session, which is open to all AMIP members, will explore how the mandatory qualifications may affect the ability of organisations to retain senior staff and recruit suitably qualified managers, with 44% of housing associations saying that they have found it significantly harder to recruit frontline housing staff in the last 12 months. It will explore how the competence requirements, which may come into play for Tier 1 contractors (service providers), could exacerbate the “alarming skills gap” in the trades, as highlighted in the UK Trade Skills Index 2023. With more than 565,000 tradespeople expected to have retired by 2032, the situation will only get worse, adding to the challenges for senior staff. The discussion will also look at how the removal of Industry Accreditation cards (Grandfather Rights) from as many as 60,000 construction workers may have a significant knock-on effect on the development of new homes, with the construction industry needing to recruit an estimated 225,000 additional workers by 2027.  Register your place now and make sure that you’re part of the discussion around potential solutions to the recruitment and retention challenge - https://lnkd.in/dni65M3D Not an AMIP member yet? Visit https://lnkd.in/dq5yM42W or email amip@echelonip.co.uk to find out more about the benefits of membership. #recruitment #retention #competence #skills #ukhousing

Will you be attending the fourth and final session in our free Procurement Act training programme, ‘Frameworks and Dynamic markets’, delivered by Echelon Group CEO Mathew Baxter and Procurement Law trainer Kieran McGaughey?    The final session, which will take place on Friday 1 November between 10am-12pm, will examine the intricacies of open and closed frameworks, dynamic markets, and share practical advice on how to use these frameworks correctly under the current regime.  Make sure you take advantage of this exclusive training programme, which is open to ALL professionals across the sector.  You can attend on the day via the link on the EIP website: https://lnkd.in/es4kUDuT #ukhousing #socialhousing #training #procurementact 

Procurement Law Trainer and Consultant Solicitor Kieran McGaughey covered contract management and modification in the third session in our Procurement Act Training series, attended by more than 200 people. "Why does contract management matter?" Kieran set the scene for the session by exploring the importance of contract management and the new legal requirements under the Procurement Act.   He drew on the recent case of a council that external auditors said failed to comply with procurement law by continuously extending contracts. “What would be said about your authority in one of these reports?” said Kieran – “If you would be nervous or anxious about that, now is the time to do something”. He explained that a lack of procurement and contract data, as highlighted in a separate Best Value report on another council, is likely to become a bigger issue under the new Procurement Act.    Changes to how procurement is defined is a significant change under the Act – it now expressly includes contract management. Other key changes impacting contracts include new KPI setting obligations for most contracts above £5m, changes to the rules on when contracts can be modified, new obligations around publishing contracts, and more, which Kieran explored in-depth throughout the session.    “Is there dirty laundry ahead?” asked Kieran, as he explained the new rating system for supplier performance against KPIs, which has been likened to an Ofsted inspection, and presents risk to both suppliers and authorities. He stressed that performance should be managed from the outset to manage risk and shared his top tips for setting KPIs, before exploring the rest of the most significant changes affecting contracts under the new regime.     Kieran then tested the group's knowledge with several fictional worked examples. He asked the group which contract performance notices they thought needed to be published based on the examples to consolidate their learning.    He went on to explain contract modifications under the Act. This included permitted modifications under schedule 8, the relaxed rules around modifying light touch contracts, publishing new contract change notices, and more, with more interactive polls and quizzes to test attendees.    We finished the session with a lively Q&A. Attendees put their questions to Kieran, which ranged from queries on guidance on redacting contracts that need to be published to the exceptions around KPIs. Thank you to everyone who attended the session.    Session four, Frameworks and Dynamic Markets, will take place this Friday (1 November) between 10am-12pm. You can join on the day below:    https://lnkd.in/es4kUDuT     #procurementact #procurement #training  

Check out the official pics from the Echelon Conference, which are now available to view on the EIP website. Can you spot yourself? #EchelonConf2024 #ukhousing

What are open and closed frameworks and how are they used?  The fourth and final session in our free Procurement Act training programme, ‘Frameworks and Dynamic markets’, will take place on Friday 1 November between 10am-12pm and will explore the differences between the two and how they’re used, and will also offer an in-depth explanation of dynamic markets.  In the session, delivered by Echelon Group CEO Mathew Baxter and Procurement Law trainer Kieran McGaughey, Kieran will also share his insights on what practical mistakes he sees the most when using frameworks under the current regime, and what lessons can be learned.     You can join on the day via the link on the EIP website: https://lnkd.in/es4kUDuT #ukhousing #socialhousing #training #procurementact 

Have you attended our FREE procurement act training programme with Kieran McGaughey yet? Here’s what our attendees have had to say about the sessions so far...  There are just two sessions left in this programme, which is open to all professionals across the sector. Session 3, taking place on Friday 25 October between 10am-12pm, will explore contract management and modification including practical tips on contract management, contract termination notices, KPI’s, and more. You can join on the day via the link on the EIP website    https://lnkd.in/eimYq4NM    #procurementact #training #ukhousing #freetraining #procurement 

Are you struggling to get to grips with the new Procurement Act? Don’t miss your chance to attend the third session in our new Procurement Act training programme, ‘Contract Management and Modification’, which is free to attend and open to ALL professionals from across the sector.  The next session, which will be held on Friday 25 October between 10am-12pm, will explore practical tips on contract management, KPI’s, contract performance notices and more.  You can join the meeting on the day via the link on the EIP website:  https://lnkd.in/eimYq4NM #ukhousing #socialhousing #training #procurementact 

The Echelon Conference 2024 photo gallery is now live on the EIP website, capturing the highlights of the event. Over 300 people attended the conference which was held at the Emirates Stadium on 10th October, and there was over 350 people at the post-conference gala dinner. It was an amazing day of discussion and debate, and not even an unscheduled fire alarm could put our speakers off their stride. A great time was had by all at the dinner, hosted by comedian Dave Bibby, where we raised a HUGE £43,480 for Herts Young Homeless. Check out the gallery and see if you can spot yourself or your colleagues - https://lnkd.in/duia7Ye4 #EchelonConf2024 #ukhousing

Procurement Law Trainer and Consultant Solicitor Kieran McGaughey covered evaluation and debrief in part two of our four-part training programme on the Procurement Act, attended by over 260 people. Evaluation is a very important area to get right, said Kieran. It’s a crucial part of the current regime, and it's likely to remain that way. It is also the most commonly challenged area of the procurement process. He outlined some noteworthy legal cases involving evaluation including Woods vs Milton Keynes (2015) and Bromcom Computers Plc vs United Learning Trust (2022). The case involving United Learning Trust “sets a red flag for anybody who uses average scores,” said Kieran. While averaging scores is not necessarily impermissible of itself, the issue lies where there's no discussion and reasons to support why someone was given a 4.2, rather than a 4 or 5 for example. Kieran said that he wouldn't encourage the averaging of scores: “I think it's much better if you can try and get people's heads together, have a strong moderator and have that debate to try and end up with a score of either four or five. Rather than, just dividing it and ending up with 4.5 or whatever it may be.” While there are no hard and fast rules on the required number of evaluators, three is often a good starting point, he said. It gives a range of viewpoints, an odd number can assist with the majority view when there’s a deadlock and on a practical level it is much easier to organise three diaries, than a larger number. Evaluators should be subject matter experts, he said, and the quality of evaluators is much more important than the quantity, while moderators should have sufficient legal knowledge and be confident and assertive. He urged attendees to be aware of conflicts of interest, potential conflicts of interest, and perceived conflicts of interest and pointed them towards guidance on conflicts assessments under the Procurement Act. Kieran gave his top five tips on drafting evaluation questions, which include being clear on what is important to you and not cramming multiple topics into one question. He talked about the importance of getting the right scoring matrix and the proposed changes to the debrief process, which will see standstill letters replaced with assessment summaries. The procurement officer’s role is to be a sieve, not a postbox, he said - to intervene, interrupt and set people straight where necessary, rather than just passing on messages and blindly following requests. Session three, focused on Contract Management and Modification, will take place on Friday 25 October, from 10am – 12pm. Find out how to join at https://lnkd.in/eimYq4NM #procurement #procurementact #ukhousing