Procurement Forum
Introduction
Procurement is one of the biggest challenges in delivering local EVI. Research conducted by Cenex in 2022 concluded that LAs experience a lot of difficulties throughout procurement. Setting terms and conditions, knowing what to procure and agreeing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) were the top challenges highlighted.
Objectives
The Procurement Forum was founded to tackle these challenges. It aims to review and release guidance backed by LAs, the procurement industry and CPOs to facilitate the deployment of charging solutions on good commercial terms. This is grounded in the OZEV goal to ensure local authorities have the appropriate support to make the most of the available public grants, ensure value for money and successful long-term delivery of EVI.
The Procurement Forum’s objective is therefore to leverage existing procurement knowledge to standardise terms for EV chargepoints procurement to facilitate high-quality contracts which make the most of the available public funds.
Stakeholders
The Forum is made of representatives from the organisation in the image.
The Forum acts as an advisory and review board for the deliverables, which are created by the Working Group, including Department for Transport, Competition and Markets Authority, PA Consulting, Crown Commercial Services, Green Finance Institute, Scottish Futures Trust and Cenex.
Guidance
The following are the current key outputs from the Procurement Forum:
There are several routes to market available for Local Authorities (LA) to procure or commission Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (EVI) for their local areas. The Concession arrangement is a popular choice for LEVI and LAs have requested guidance on appropriate routes to market for this arrangement, including clarity on using dynamic purchasing systems (DPS).
The procurement regulations which govern public procurement and concession contracts are changing. The Procurement Act 2023 goes live on 28th October 2024. Further guidance has been prepared to inform LAs about the relevant changes to process and the routes which are available under the new regulations.
The following additional guidance is available:
Overview of the Procurement Act 2023 and Concession Contracts
Pivoting to Direct Procurement for Regulated Concession Contracts
Checklist to follow for the open procedure under Procurement Act 2023.