31 August 2021 
Ashley Shelbrooke, HEPA and Project Specialist
Welcome to the August 2021 HEPA Digest: packed full of updates from Modern Slavery to Procurement Reform, Cyber, Learning & Development… and more…
The HEPA Responsible Procurement Group Modern Slavery & Human Rights sub-group have produced a comprehensive guide listing resources related to modern slavery & human rights, including UK and international legislation, relevant international organisations, and guidance on modern slavery statements. You can download the resources here.
Following on from the very interesting eMarketplace thread on the HEPA discussion board, in conjunction with UKUPC we have released a systems survey to help to improve communications, best practise and involvement in user groups within the sector. The survey is open until 1 October, and can be accessed here.
Simon Tse, CEO of CCS, has written an interesting piece for Public Finance setting out his views on what the upcoming procurement reforms will mean for public procurement. You can read Simon’s thoughts here, including his insight on the National Procurement Policy Statement.
The Cabinet Office recently ran information sessions covering the National Procurement Policy Statement. In case you couldn’t make the sessions, a recording has been made available which you can access here.
We recently ran a fascinating session with Lloyds Bank and the University of Hertfordshire exploring the organisational impact of cyber attacks in higher education. In case you missed it, you can catch up on that session and watch recording here.
UKUPC has arranged a cyber security webinar covering what to do in the event of an attack and preventative measures that can be taken; the session will be of particular interest to those in procurement roles. The webinar takes place on 14 September at 09:15 and registration is open here.
Several members have been experiencing issues when seeking to obtain or renew cyber insurance. To help members, UMAL have produced an excellent market update which you can download here. The update details the background to the situation and lists the most common causes of issues in a very handy checklist of systems, processes and approaches that could be considered “highly recommended”.
The government has agreed to extend by one year the requirement for UK businesses to start using the new UK safety marking on products. The UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking is a new UK product marking that is used for goods being placed on the market in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). It covers most goods which previously required the CE marking, known as ‘new approach’ goods. The original UKCA implementation deadline was 1 January 2022, but this deadline has now been extended to 1 January 2023. This extension allays concerns from manufacturers about their ability to meet the original deadline and the impact on imported components.
The Building Safety Levy relates to England only and is due to be introduced in 2022. It will apply to new high-rise residential buildings, care homes, and hospitals which are 18 metres or more in height, or at least seven storeys (“higher-risk buildings”). It will also apply to conversions, such as office to residential conversion. This consultation document can be found here. It closes on 15 October 2021. Andrea will be collating a response on behalf of BUFDG, HEPA and AUDE – find out all the details and have your say here.
HEPA and BUFDG are partnering with ARMA, AUDE, CHEIA, HESPA, SCONUL, UCISA and UHR (our equivalent for professionals across the Research, Estates, Internal Audit, Strategic Planning, Libraries, IT and HR) to offer online Action Learning Sets to Senior Leaders. You can find out all about Action Learning sets here, including a summary of the benefits and how to register your interest.
Specialist lawyers in public procurement Claire Gamage and Jenny Beresford-Jones of Mills & Reeve are holding a webinar on Wednesday 15 September at 10:00 where they will answer five questions in twenty five minutes! The topical questions are:
You can find out more and book your place here.
Eversheds Sutherland are holding a session on 28 September which is aimed at non legally trained contract managers who are responsible for contract negotiation or those who are legally trained but need a refresher on the contracting process. The webinar will explore the legal essentials for contract formation and the meaning of some common clauses found in contracts. You, your team, or colleagues from across your institution can book their free place here.
Central Business School and LUPC have made their recent webinar covering using financial statements to assess supplier financial stability available to re-watch and catch-up on. You can view the recording here.
