24 November 2020 
Ashley Shelbrooke, HEPA and Project Specialist
Welcome to the second part of the HEPA Digest in November. Grab a cuppa, as this is quite a bumper edition!
The PVS will open in early December this year for institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and as in previous years we are delighted to be able to run a webinar taking delegates through the PVS and Benefits Methodology for 19/20. The webinar will take place on 3 December at 10AM and will be hosted by Larissa Morrish, Head of Procurement, Lancaster University. You can book your place and register here. If you have any specific questions then please do let me know in advance so we can ensure they are covered in the session. As always, please do share the link with anybody in your team who will have responsibility for working on the PVS this year*. More details including the opening of the PVS and deadlines for submission will be announced in the coming weeks!
* if you did not receive my email notifying you of this webinar on 23 November then this means you are not currently set up to access the PVS - please do let me know if you need access and I will enable it immediately
A huge thanks to all our delegates who joined us for the brilliant time to talk with Social Enterprise UK, and, of course, huge thanks also to Peter Holbrook, CEO, Nichola McAvoy, Account Manager, David Parks of the Skill Mill and HEPA Deputy Chair Veronica Daly.
Check out the map and directory of Social Enterprises. We are going to run a series of “meet the Social Enterprise” sessions in the coming months. Do you work with a Social Enterprise? Please do get in touch with Veronica and I if so – we would love to share their story with members.
The Cabinet Office have published Procurement Policy Note 08/20 detailing the introduction of the Find A Tender service. The PPN itself is accompanied by a series of frequently asked questions and a flowchart. As highlighted in last week’s article, the Find A Tender website will be at https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk.
Mark Williamson, a partner at law firm Clyde & Co specialising in tech, data and outsourcing, will present a 30-minute session on the recent Schrems II case, which invalidated the US Privacy Shield and placed a greater onus on individual organisations when transferring personal data outside of the EEA. The session will provide you with a summary of the Schrems II case and its importance, its impact on the higher education sector and practical steps the higher education sector needs to take to take account of the case. No prior knowledge of the case is necessary in order to attend – all will be explained on 14 December at 10AM! Book your place here, which is, as ever, free to all HEPA members.
We are delighted to welcome Daniel O’Connor of Warpit for a time to talk looking at how you can find, give away, or loan office furniture, equipment and other resources within your institution. Read how the University of St. Andrews and University College London have used Warpit to deliver financial savings and sustainability benefits. You may have also heard Warpit mentioned by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation team during their session at the LUPC and SUPC Responsible Procurement event? Find out more on 10 December at 2PM…book your free place here!
Hear from Prof. Sue Arrowsmith on the latest updates in the public procurement regulations with Achilles on 9 December at 11AM – this promises to be a fascinating session, so do register for your place here.
Many thanks to everyone who has already completed the Contract Management Survey with Lifecycle and the Period Product Procurement Survey with Hey Girls and Freshsight. There is still time to complete both, so please get your responses in now; your answers will be invaluable to both sets of research.
Brexit is fast approaching and there are a number of articles that will be of interest to you and your team, a selection are below, but please do keep checking the news section of the website as updates are coming in on a daily basis at the moment:
Finally, we are running a Christmas Competition for member to let us know what you would really like to see on the BUFDG and/or HEPA website – click the link to give your feedback now!
