Procurement Benchmarking Why would you use it? Are you concerned you're spending too much on products or services? Do you know how your school spend compares to similar schools? How does it work? This tool shows you how to benchmark successfully - this will help you check how your school's spend compares to other similar sized schools, check if you are buying from the right supplier and check if the supplier is giving you a good price.
Procurement Benchmarking Tool Helping you find real savings Key question: How can I check if I am getting good Value for Money on my contracts? Step 1 Check how your spend compares to other schools of similar size Step 2 Check if you are buying from the right place Step 3 Click the F5 button to view in slide-show format, and then click on the steps to find out more! Check if your supplier is giving you a good price
Step 1: Benchmarking against other schools Why is benchmarking my spend against other schools important? Regular benchmarking is procurement best practice. By comparing your spend on a per pupil basis with schools with similar characteristics, you can check if you are getting good value for money. What does it give me? Benchmarking your school spend by contract will tell you if you are spending above or below average compared with schools with similar characteristics. This will give you a rough idea of potential for savings if you find you are spending significantly above average, then you are probably not getting good value for money and can make cost-savings by switching suppliers, changing your contract or altering your behaviour. Of course, there may be perfectly good reasons for a school to be above or below average, but by reviewing where differences exist, and questioning the reasons for the differences, you can identify the areas where savings can be made How can I do it? What is benchmarking? Benchmarking is another word for comparing. Often when you benchmark, you use specific measures to help you in your comparison, such as cost or quality The most comprehensive way to compare your spend to similar schools is the schools financial benchmarking website. If this doesn t meet your needs, there are other ways to benchmark your spend. Click on the buttons below to find out more. Schools Financial Benchmarking website Alternative benchmarking methods Collates revenue and expenditure for all maintained schools in England through Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) Helps you check if you are getting good value for money on your contracts Useful tool for demonstrating value for money to parents, governors and auditors If the schools financial benchmarking website doesn t give you the information you need (perhaps you are looking at a specific spend category that isn t captured in the CFR data), there are other ways of benchmarking your spend against other schools Click on the button to find out more
Step 2: Am I buying from the right place? Schools need to buy a wide variety of products and services: from blue tack to photocopiers, from cleaning to payroll. There are many suppliers in the market and it is often difficult to choose how to buy and where to buy from. There are four key channels that schools can buy from: Local Authority Education consortium (also known as the Pro5, consisting of: ESPO, West Mercia Supplies, CBC, NEPO, YPO) Local / private market supplier (e.g. local cleaning company, online e.g. Amazon.co.uk) OGC (national procurement for the public sector) Which channel will provide you with the best value for money will depend on the type of product or service. For instance, an LA contract is likely to offer you the best value for money for Energy, whereas the best deals for printer cartridges can be found on the internet. The sourcing guide below gives you a quick checklist to check if you are buying the right products and services from the right channel. Sourcing guide for schools Lists all the key categories for non-staff spend and lets you know which of the four channels are likely to offer you the best value for money Can use as a sense check to see if you are buying from the right place If you are unfamiliar with a particular spend area, points you in the right direction of where best to buy from More info on the 4 key channels Which is your local education consortium? What is the OGC?
Step 3: Am I getting a good price? It is important to regularly check if you are getting a good price and the agreed level of service from your supplier. Competition is rising in many markets and the internet is further decreasing prices so what may have been a good deal five years ago is actually poor value for money today. It is especially important to test your supplier against the market when your contract comes up for renewal. Remember before rolling over a contract, check if a different supplier could offer you better value for money! Once a contract is in place, it is important to monitor the supplier s performance. This is often called supplier management or contract management. This will help you get good value for money by ensuring that you are getting the full service that you are paying for. How to benchmark your supplier Benchmarking your supplier means checking prices or getting quotes from other suppliers and comparing them to what you are paying. Based on your findings you may wish to switch suppliers, or negotiate new terms with your current supplier. Regularly doing this will give you the confidence that you are getting the best value for money. It will also keep your supplier in check! Click on the button to find out more Top tips for contract management How to ensure you are getting the full service you are paying for Click on the button to find out more
Logging into the benchmarking website Step 1: Go to https://sfb.teachernet.gov.uk/login.aspx. You will be greeted with a welcome page as below Website welcome page Step 2: Enter your username and password. These will be the same as you use for School 2 School (S2S) Step 3: Press the Log In button Top Tip If you do not know your username or password, you can request this by emailing dsg.helpdesk@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk or phoning 01325 392 626 and quoting your 3 digit LA and 4 digit school establishment number
Your school s welcome page Once you login, your school s welcome page will pop up. Here you are able to select from the options provided: View your school s CFR data. Find out exactly how much you received in funding last year and what you spent it on Select a benchmark set for you to compare your income and expenditure against View an automatically generated set of charts quickly find out how much your spend per pupil compares with a benchmark set of 20 schools Click here to view your school s CFR data Your school s welcome page Click here to go straight to an automatically generated set of charts. This option automatically creates a benchmark set of 20 schools using commonly used comparison criteria such as school phase, number on roll, urban/rural location Top Tip If you are looking for a quick and simple benchmark check, then going straight to the automatically generated charts is sufficient. If you are carrying out a more detailed benchmarking exercise, you should select you own comparators to ensure that you are comparing schools with the most similar characteristics as possible Click here to manually select your own comparators Here you can choose the types of schools you want to compare yourself against, e.g. foundation schools, nurseries, schools with a sixth form
Viewing CFR data for your school This page displays the CFR data submitted for your school along with information about the number of pupils on roll and the number of teachers employed (full time equivalent) This box provides a summary of the total income, expenditure and the difference between the two Your school s data Click here to view historical trends in your school s data over the last 5 years. This can be useful for looking at the effect of any budget changes you have implemented You may wish to change some values of the CFR data to carry out What If? scenarios e.g. what would happen if my pupil numbers fell by 50? This can be done by overwriting the data on this page, e.g. changing the number of pupils, and pressing store as custom data. Don t worry your original data will not be lost! Click Help to find out more about using custom data for comparison
Two ways to benchmark 1. The quick and simple way to benchmark Go straight to Charts and let the website automatically choose which schools are included in y our benchmark set. The website will choose a sample of 20 schools with broadly similar characteristics to you. If you choose this method, you can skip the next page of this guide and proceed straight to Viewing charts and data. 2. The longer, more detailed way to benchmark For more accurate benchmarking exercises, it is suggested that you select your own comparators, i.e. you decide which type of schools are included in your benchmark set. There are 3 ways in which to select comparator schools against which to assess your income and expenditure: Statistical Neighbours: allows you to generate a group of statistically similar schools based on school characteristics of your choice. Manual Selection: allows you to select schools based on ranges of values for each of your chosen criteria. This option gives you the greatest amount of flexibility with choosing which schools make it into your comparator group. Specific Schools: allows you to select specific schools by name and local authority within the same school phase. This enables you to compare yourself against schools that you know face similar contexts, or when you want to explore differences with schools. You should aim for a benchmark set of between 20-30 schools.
Selecting your benchmark set 1. Statistical Neighbours 3. Specific Schools You can edit the size of your sample set here Tick the criteria that you want to use in your comparison exercise 2. Manual Selection After entering each criteria, press the Check matches option on the top right of the page. You need to get your sample size below 80 schools to proceed to the next stage of the exercise You can enter in exactly the ranges you want to include in your comparison e.g. schools with 200-220 pupils. Start with your most important criteria first. This will usually be school phase, and no. of pupils To enter in more criteria, click on this button to expand the relevant rows you want to include Next step: Proceed to charts Fill out your desired criteria and press Search Once you have selected your benchmark set (and got the matches down to fewer than 80 schools), you are ready to carry out your comparison! Click on the Proceed to charts button at the top right of your page
Viewing charts and data Once the benchmark set has been selected, comparison charts can be viewed. This is the final stage in the process where you can check to see if you are below or above average compared to similar schools 1. Selecting a chart The tree view directory allows you to navigate through the available charts. Click the + icon to expand and the - icon to collapse 2. Interpreting a chart There are 3 options for how the charts are viewed: per pupil (default), per teacher, and as a percentage of total income/expenditure. Select desired option from drop-down menu The blue bar denotes where your school sits within the benchmark set Top Tip Clicking on the chart will zoom in and open the chart in a new window. Here you can identify schools by holding the cursor over the bar of any school the school name will become visible. The mean value for the benchmarking group is shown by the line across the chart. Median: mid-point of data half of schools are above this value, half below it. Upper quartile: Marks the point for which 25% of schools are above and 75% below Lower quartile: Marks the point for which 25% of schools are below and 75% above 3. Downloading data If you want to save your findings, you can select the Download chart data option at the bottom right of the screen
Alternative benchmarking methods The key question that you are trying to answer is: How does my spend on telecoms/reprographics/cleaning/any contract compare to other schools in my area? To allow for like-for-like comparison, the best way to compare costs is to use spend per pupil. To calculate spend per pupil: Spend per pupil = Annual spend Number of pupils The more schools you can benchmark your school against, the better. At the same time, remember that this type of information is subjective - there may be perfectly good reasons why your spend is above or below other schools in your area. What is important is that you review the differences and question the reasons for them. For schools which have a lower spend per pupil than you, ask the question: what are you doing differently to me? Sources of benchmarking information: Contact your Local Authority Your local authority procurement lead may have spend information for schools with similar characteristics to your school. Explain you want to check if you are getting VfM on a particular contract. Call up schools in your area Calling schools in your area is a great way to collect and share information. By doing this, you may spot opportunities to collaborate and make savings by buying a product or service together. Check with your cluster If you are part of a cluster, why not suggest a knowledge sharing meeting where you go through your key contract areas and compare spend per pupil, discuss suppliers and share best practice. Where possible, try to identify opportunities for collaboration. Use networking events Use bursar/sbm networking events to discuss your procurement and benchmark your procurement spend and practices against those of other schools.
CE01-04 E15 E23 E18 E19 E20 E13 E16 E14 E25 E12 E28 E27 E26 E22 Sourcing guide for schools Product / Service Category (Non-staff) Notes CFR Code COLLABORATE? (A) Local Authority Source From (B) Consortium (C) OGC/ OGCbs (D) Local Administrative supplies Printing, Stationery, Reprographics, Postage, Periodicals, Brochure Agency supply teaching staff Teacher cover Bought in professional services - curriculum Professional services, Consultancy for curriculum support Bought in professional services - other Building maintenance and improvement Catering supplies Cleaning & caretaking Energy Grounds maintenance and improvement ICT Learning Resources (for teaching) Learning Resources (not ICT equipment) Other occupation costs Other insurance premiums Water & sewerage Capitalised expenditure Professional services, Consultancy for noncurriculum support Fixtures, Fittings, labour Provisions. Repair, maintenance & purchase of catering equipment Equipment & Services Electricity, Gas, Solid Fuel Play areas, Grounds, Car parking ICT hardware, software, broadband Books, Furniture, Teaching materials Refuse collection, Hygiene services, Pest control, Security, Rents, Lease Premises, Vehicle, School trip Plus emptying of septic tanks Land acquisition, vehicles, construction plus fees, ICT hardware
More info on the 4 buying channels Education consortium Education consortia work in partnership with local authorities and act as an association of independent purchasing and supplies organisations, often comprising local companies. They operate on a not-for-profit basis:? MW questioned this statement he also wanted a statement about still needing to benchmark as these consortia are not always the best value. CBC (Central Buying Consortium) www.cbconline.org.uk Contact Tel: 01962 847831 Coventry, Portsmouth and Southampton. Luton and Northampton, Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Suffolk and West Sussex ESPO (Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation) www.espo.org Service Desk Tel: 0116 265 7878 Cambridgeshire, Leicester City, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Peterborough, Warwickshire NEPO (North Eastern Purchasing Organisation) www.qtegov.com Service Desk Tel: 0191 433 5949 Sunderland, Durham, Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middleborough, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Redcar & Cleveland, South Tyneside Stockton, Carlisle, South Gloucestershire, Windsor & maidenhead, Swindon WMS (West Mercia Supplies) www.westmerciasupplies.co.uk Service Desk Tel: 01743 24113 Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Worcestershire YPO (Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation) www.ypo.co.uk Service Desk Tel: 01924 824477 Barnsley, Bolton, Bradford, Calderdale, Doncaster, Kirklees, Knowsley, North Yorkshire, Rotherham, St Helen s, Wakefield, Wigan, York, Bury OGC The Office for Government Commerce (OGC) was established to help the public sector deliver best value from its spending. It has set up a procurement portal called Buying Solutions which allows any organisation in the public sector (including schools) to access all the contracts it has negotiated with suppliers. The contracts database on buying solutions provides you with a choice of over 500,000 products and services through a network of 1,000 suppliers. Register on the website to search whether any of the pre-negotiated contracts suit your needs: OGCbs (Buying Solutions) www.buyingsolutions.gov.uk Service Desk Tel: 0345 410 2222 Local/private market suppliers These are all the other suppliers in the market excluding education consortiums, LAs and the OGC. These range from local cleaning companies, private payroll providers to online stationary shops. The best way to research whether this buying channel could provide you with value for money is to use the internet. If you require a locally provided service (e.g. cleaning, catering, grounds maintenance) use the yellow pages (www.yell.com) and type in your postcode and the service you require. For all other services, simply use google for instance, if you are looking for a payroll provider, type education payroll into google. Likewise, if you are looking for printer paper, type in A4 printer paper into google, and you will be presented with a variety of online providers. Shop around where you can but remember, don t spend hours trying to save 10p on a pack of pencils! Focus on finding good deals for high value items, or products that you buy on a regular basis. Local Authority Local Authorities have a long history of providing services to schools. Many schools still opt into their LA s SLAs (Service Level Agreements) for services spanning cleaning, HR, payroll and ICT. These contracts usually run for 1 year from 1 Apr. Because LAs are able to purchase on a much bigger scale than individual schools can, they are often able to offer better value for money. However, if your needs are very specific, you may not be able to get the tailored solution that you are looking for from your LA. Furthermore, with the rise of private providers in the market for school services, you should always check whether your local authority is offering you the best value for money in terms of quality of service and cost. You can do this by benchmarking them against other suppliers on a regular basis (see next section on how do I benchmark my supplier.
How to benchmark your suppliers Collecting quotes and prices from suppliers is much easier than you think! The page summarises the various sources you can use to benchmark your suppliers. It is divided into products and services. Template for collecting quotes Use the template to help you collect quotes Products Examples: stationery, paper, toner Search engine, e.g. google Type in your product name into the search engine e.g. Epson C50 toner. Browse some websites and note down prices. Use the google shopping tool. Education Consortium Check your local education consortium s product catalogue. This can be accessed online. Schools quote www.schoolsquote.co.uk allows you to anonymously request quotes from a number of suppliers. This is particularly useful for ICT hardware quotes. OPEN Check if your LA has signed up to OPEN the e-procurement catalogue. It is similar to Amazon.co.uk, but especially tailored to schools. Services Examples: cleaning, reprographics, catering, grounds maintenance Local Authority If you are not buying from our Local Authority, call your LA procurement lead to check if they provide the service and what the annual price of the contract is. Compare this to your current cost and level of service. Yellow Pages/ www.yell.com Search for local providers: enter in your postcode online and your contract name, e.g. cleaning. Contact suppliers with your requirements, e.g. number of hours of cleaning needed per week, and collect at least 3 estimates they don t have to be very detailed at this stage. Compare to your current cost are you getting good value for money? If there is more than 10% variation in price, you should investigate further. Other schools Use your school network to find out how much other suppliers are charging. Also ask for references and recommendations. Education consortia Contact your local education consortia and enquire if they supply that product/service. OGC For larger-value contracts, check if you can access a framework contract. Register at www.buyingsolutions.gov.uk. This allows you to view prices, and send an invitation to quote to relevant suppliers.
Template for collecting quotes Generic template Current Supplier Annual cost Cost per pupil Difference in cost to current supplier Reprographics quotes Insert supplier name into top row and fill out values below: 0 Current supplier A: Annual leasing charge B: BW copy charge C: BW copies per year (estimate) # D: Total BW copying cost (B x C) E: Colour copy charge F: Colour copies per year (estimate) # G: Total Colour copying cost (E X F) Total annual cost (A + D + G) Cleaning quotes A. Number of cleaning hours per week hrs B. Cost per cleaning hour C. Number of cleaning weeks in year Annual cost (A x B x C) Cost per pupil Difference in total cost to current supplier # Top Tip Create your own blank templates here:
Top tips for supplier management The best way to monitor and manage a supplier is to keep a written record of how they are performing against your specification and agreed KPIs (key performance indicators). An example of a KPI is % of deliveries on time you may agreed to keep this at a minimum of 95% and you need to monitor whether your supplier is performing to the agreed level. A contract scorecard, such as the example below, using RAG (red, amber, green) ratings is an easy way to do this. You can change the headings to make it relevant to your school and specification. Schedule regular meetings with your supplier to provide feedback and discuss improvements and any actions. Also request feedback from your supplier how are they finding working with you? Is there anything you could do to improve your working relationship? Contract and supplier management ultimately leads to a better relationship between you and your supplier, and hopefully a product/service offering that closely matches your needs. Contract scorecard Notes Some contracts may need more management than others. High risk, high expenditure, and service contracts should be prioritised.