Procurement hub sees £1.8m of transactions

The National Policing Improvement Agency’s (NPIA) ‘Amazon-style’ online procurement system, which enables police forces in England and Wales to buy specified goods and services online, has reached a significant milestone with WA Products (UK) becoming the 100th supplier to provide a catalogue on the National Police Procurement Hub (NPPH).

The NPPH is an electronic marketplace that provides the police service with the ability to select and purchase a range of approved goods and services online, such as IT, body armour and vehicles, from 500 suppliers.

It is set to save the police service £69 million over the next six years by streamlining the procurement process and removing the need for printing and paper. The system enables purchasing without having to use paper orders and invoices to buy approved items such as IT, body armour, vehicles and a whole range of other goods and services.

To date, £1.8 million pounds worth of transactions have been completed through the hub, 1,500 orders have been placed and 146 invoices have been returned.

Eleven forces are currently using the NPPH – Lincolnshire, West Mercia, Thames Valley, Greater Manchester, Kent, Durham, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Dyfed Powys, Gwent and South Wales. The Metropolitan Police Service is expected to go live before the start of the Olympic Games and a further 32 forces are working towards being connected by the end of the autumn. All forces are expected to be using the NPPH by spring 2013.

In addition to the projected £69 million cash saving, other benefits include:

•high-quality, real-time management information enabling analysis of spend across the wider police service;

•reduces the reliance on manual, paper based processing, minimises human error and protects against procurement fraud;

•according to a National Audit Office report on the benefits of e-procurement, forces will see at least a £13 to £41 saving per transaction; and

•greater visibility and control over what is being spent, ensuring that forces are buying goods and services consistently and at the best possible price.

Ian Currie, head of commercial at the NPIA, said: “The police service is committed to deliver significant savings from better procurement. Therefore, it is absolutely vital that those charged with buying goods and services have fast and direct access to this electronic market place.

“The hub complements existing procurement processes across the police service so forces do not need to invest in replacing current systems. It enhances existing processes and provides a simple online shopping system to access best value products and services.”

David Horne, the project’s senior responsible owner and former chair of the Association of Chief Police Officers’ (ACPO) Procurement Portfolio, added: “In these financially challenging times it is essential that we take every opportunity to maintain services while reducing costs.

We are therefore delighted that the hub has been so well received by forces and suppliers. The hub is a big step forward for the police service which is helping forces deliver yet more savings and provide better support for the service’s operational requirements.”

WA Products (UK) supplies scenes of crime forensic kit and consumables equipment to the police service.

Managing director Mike Hopson said: “We are very positive about the future of the hub and see it as a major step forward in procurement across the police service.”

The NPPH project forms part of the Information Systems Improvement Strategy (ISIS) programme and has been delivered in partnership with ProcServe, specialists in electronic procurement products.