G9 Regional co-operation on e-procurement between local councils. Head of Finance Wider market for successful suppliers. For businesses, reduced costs of sale where councils adopt common procurement processes. For citizens, reduced council tax or improved levels of service where councils save money. Aggregation of demand should reduce prices and increase negotiating power. Sharing of costs of e-procurement initiatives. Access to wider pool of suppliers. Sharing of knowledge and expertise. More efficient use of time and finance. Larger or more advanced authorities able to help smaller councils or late starters. Helps meet the requirements of the Efficiency Review.

To fulfil this requirement, councils will need to identify any existing e-procurement initiatives involving the councils in their region and ensure that they are represented in the discussions.

They will need to participate in the activities of the new regional centres of procurement excellence as these develop.

In developing their approaches to e-procurement, they will need to have produced a business case that identifies the advantages and challenges of implementing e-procurement solutions in partnership with other authorities in the region.

This requirement applies to all councils. It will be particularly important for smaller councils or authorities at the early stages of investigating e-procurement to consider regional initiatives and build on the work of existing e government partnerships. Procurement policy Identify existing e-procurement initiatives Participate with regional centres of procurement excellence Produce business case for developing e-procurement in partnership

The national project on Working with Business (www.workingwithbusiness.org.uk).

National e-Procurement Project http://www.nepp.org.uk

A B C D E F G H J K L M