The Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) is a group of 14 local authorities in the East Midlands which have formed a collaborative partnership to assist the local authorities to procure a temporary staffing solution.
The authorities sought to minimise the effort and time involved in the procurement of temporary staff, whilst also maximising the potential service delivery options and cost savings by aggregating demand and introducing some common processes.
The service
In the first year of the vendor neutral temporary staffing contract through Comensura, 8 local authorities have ordered over 200,000 hours of work, thus saving the authorities an average 6% of their temporary staffing spend. As of January 2008, the contract has delivered cashable savings of £175k based on £3m of orders. The contract has also delivered significant improvements to the recruitment process for the participating authorities.
The benefits
- Cost savings - cashable and non cashable
- Improvements to the recruitment process, including improved efficiency
- Improved compliance with legislative and policy requirements
- Improved accuracy in the provision of management information.
Testimonial
"The agency staff contract has reduced our administrative burden, put control of our agency staff back where it should be - with management - and delivered cost savings and excellent management information. I would recommend this service to other local authorities."
Mick Goodwin, Contracts Officer,
Lincolnshire County Council