Working with Housing Associations

Outline

Building Relationships• Background• Existing Barriers• Opportunities

Procurement• Fundamentals• Advertising Contracts • Responding to Tenders• Do’s and don’ts when bidding for business• Social Value

The history of housing associations is rooted in supporting the most vulnerable in society. As their reach has expanded, the challenge has been to stay connected to the communities they serve.

Social enterprise and entrepreneurship offers a route for housing associations to strengthen the relationship with these communities.

Building Relationships - Background

• Social enterprises are often small and HA departments, such as procurement or finance, do not come into contact with them.

• It can be difficult for smaller social enterprises to get access to housing association supply chains and procurement processes

• The different departments within housing associations need a greater understanding of the possibilities presented by social enterprise

• Social enterprises lack networks to access housing associations, but also the confidence to see them as a potential business partner

Building Relationships – Existing Barriers

Housing associations need to be proactive in their approach to social enterprises: • Internally housing associations need champions to

promote social enterprise • Partnership programmes can raise the aspirations and

capabilities of the social entrepreneurs, enabling them to develop a track record and create local success stories

• Supply chains can be opened up through procurement

Building Relationships – Opportunities

Social enterprises must also be proactive:• They need to understand what housing associations’

interests are • They must be able to explain how their work fits into a

housing association’s aims • They need to build business capacity to deliver to housing

associations

Building Relationships – Opportunities

Procurement Environment in the Public Sector• European Directives• Financial Regulations• Open and transparent• Equal Treatment• Tenders and Quotations• Published Evaluation criteria

Procurement – Fundamentals

Methods of advertising contract opportunities• European Websites OJEU/TED• National websites: Mytenders, Contracts Finder• Local Authority websites: CHEST, Chorley Council• Housing Association websites: Contour Homes http://

www.contourhomes.co.uk/working-with-us/• Newspaper and Trade Magazines

Procurement – Advertising Contracts

Standard documents and forms you can expect to come across• Request for Quotation (RFQ)• Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)• Invitation to Tender (ITT)• Approved Supplier Forms• eTender systems

Procurement – Responding to Tenders

When bidding for business… • do read the question / specification / brief • do answer the question• do ask questions if unsure• do answer all questions• don’t exceed the number of words (if stated)• don’t send marketing info unless asked• don’t forget the deadline and the submission process

Procurement – Do’s and Don’ts

Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012Under the Public Services (Social Value) Act, for the first time, all public bodies in England and Wales are required to consider how the services they commission and procure might improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area.

Procurement – Social Value

‘If £1 is spent on the delivery of services, can that same £1 be used, to also produce a wider benefit to the community?’Social Enterprise UK