Eleven recruitment agencies have been appointed to supply temps to local authorities under a newly-let Managed Services for Temporary Agency Resources procurement framework in a bid to cut costs and reduce the time spent on tendering.
The national framework agreement is operational now, but the first wave of early adopters is not expected to go live until this September. Under the terms of the managed services arrangement, providers will undertake recruitment, payroll and invoicing activities on behalf of their customers as well as provide them with real-time management information for workforce planning purposes.
Services are purchased at the corporate level, with the aim of aggregating expenditure and building relationships with suppliers in order to ensure they have a clearer insight into organisational priorities, which means they should provide better value for money.
The framework agreement has been divided into three ‘lots’ covering corporate hiring only, education recruitment only and a combination of the two, although each lot has also been broken down into two further sub-categories – supply chain and resource pool management.
Manpower and Reed were the only two suppliers to win all six lots, but other beneficiaries include Adecco, Blue Arrow and Comensura.
Mark Cahill, Manpower UK’s managing director, said: “At such a challenging time for local government, the entire sector will be under more pressure than ever before to deliver savings while maintaining quality of service. The new system for working with providers of contingent workforce solutions offers local authorities an opportunity to look afresh at new solutions to employment issues.”
The MSTAR framework was commissioned by the Local Government Professional Services Group and support by the Efficiency Reform Group and the Department for Education. It was designed in consultation with 30 local authorities and the education sector and has been structured to enable customers to move between suppliers on individual contracts and encourage competitive bids.
