Framework agreements for absolute beginners

By John Cunningham Senior Category Manager in Construction & Estates NHS Shared Business Services

Framework agreements. They’re not the sort thing that gets your friends chatting in the pub, are they? In fact, if I mention framework agreements (which I try not to do in the pub) I generally get either an utterly blank look or a vaguely puzzled one. “Something to do with…..buying stuff?”

I nod and smile, but – geek that I am – what I’d actually like to do is tell them the story below, to explain why framework agreements are a big deal, and something everyone should know about because they can save a lot of time and money.

So, if you’re a complete framework newbie, grab a cuppa and have a read. This is painless, I promise.

Imagine, if you will, that you’ve started a new job in a local authority’s estates team. Your boss has asked you to manage a major refurbishment project, and, keen to impress, you want to make sure everything is done quickly, efficiently and compliantly.

As you’re an estates professional, you already have an idea of which companies are likely to do a decent job. But calling your mate Bob and telling him to crack on would be a very career-limiting move. That’s because all public procurement (local government, central government, the NHS etc) is governed by strict legislation designed to ensure it’s fair, transparent and represents value for money.

Until recently, that legislation was mainly the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Last year, however, Parliament passed a new procurement act, The Procurement Act 2023, which will come into effect from October 2024.

That doesn’t mean that procurements which took place under the previous regime are suddenly null and void – they’re not. So for a while, we’re looking at a particularly complex landscape, where different contracts across the public sector are governed by different pieces of legislation.
What does this mean for you, as a wet-behind-the-ears estates manager?

It means that now is a really good time to tap into procurement expertise, via the use of a framework agreement. (“Hurrah!” I hear you say, as we get to the point of this article.)

Put simply, a framework agreement is a list of suppliers who have already demonstrated and acceptable level of capability, experience, competence and value. They’ve done this via an open, competitive tendering process managed by an organisation known as a framework agreement host.

There are framework agreements for just about everything – construction, staffing, IT, facilities, legal advice, food, translation – you name it, there’s a framework agreement for it somewhere.

Using a framework agreement means that the framework host has already done much of the legwork – they’ve checked the supplier’s capability, capacity and financial stability; they’ve followed up references and whether there’s any outstanding legal action, for example. It frees you to be able to concentrate on the things that really matter to you – in this case, getting your refurb project sorted at the time, quality and price you want.

Using a framework agreement often also gives you the option of either running a further competition (often referred to as a mini-competition) or making a direct award.

A further competition means you go out to the suppliers on the framework agreement who deliver the product or service you’re after and ask them to bid for your specific project. You’re in control – you set the requirements and the deadlines, and evaluate the outcomes, before picking who best suits your needs.

And direct award? As it sounds – it happens when it’s in your best interests to award the contract to one supplier without competition. Be aware that this should only be done in certain circumstances, so speak with the framework agreement host first.

Of course, framework agreements aren’t just good news for buyers. They’re good for suppliers too. Not only does it mean that a supplier is likely to get more public sector contracts; it also means that bidding for each one of them (via a direct award, or even a further comp) is cheaper – there’s no need to complete the reams of paperwork associated with an open tender. That generates savings that can be passed through to the customer. At NHS SBS, depending on what you’re buying, a framework agreement is usually between 10% and 15% cheaper than procuring through an open tender.

If you’re a supplier and you’re reading this, you may think you can put your feet up once you’ve got onto a framework agreement. Sadly, no. Just being on a framework agreement doesn’t guarantee you any orders, so it’s a good idea to tell your customers – prospective and existing – that they can buy whatever you’re selling via a framework agreement, and the benefits of doing so.

To view the entire range of framework agreements hosted by NHS SBS, click here. If you have any questions, I – or one of my colleagues – would be very happy to answer them. There’s a list of real people with real telephone numbers here. And in the interests of transparency – all our framework agreements are completely free of charge for buyers; we charge suppliers a small fee only if they make a sale.

So, there we have it – framework agreements for absolute beginners. Still not exactly a pub conversation, but if you happen to bump into me at my local, you’ll at least have some idea of what I’m talking about!

If you want to find out more about Framework Agreements, or how to become a Framework Agreement supplier to the NHS, please contact NHS SBS on sbs.hello@nhs.net