Contract Management Pioneer Programme Working Group.

Briefly describe the initiative/ project/service; please include your aims and objectives 

The team nominated is the working group for The Contract Management Pioneer Programme (CMPP) who through their collaborative approach is driving major improvement in contract management within local government. The working group consists of MHCLG, CCS, LGA, the Cabinet Office, Government Commercial Function and Local Partnerships all using their collective expertise to foster transformation. A range of reports shows that good contract management can make a considerable difference, including research by World Commerce and Contracting citing average savings 9% per annum. The working group’s collaboration effectively integrates central and local expertise providing a programme of support to address the critical need to enhance contract management skills. 

Each delivery partner brings valuable resources such as funding, guidance, delivery systems, and training to support the programme’s goals. Notably, Local Partnerships acts as a bridge between central and local government, developing practical strategies and launching creative and widely accessible toolkits to support contract management practices.

Key aims and objectives: 

• Connectors: Establish a direct interface with councils, fostering communication and collaboration to ensure tailored support and responsiveness to local needs. 
• Project Management: Deliver a robust “wrap-around” programme, providing structured support and oversight to help councils implement improvements effectively. 
• Skills and Training: Equip participants with essential contract management skills through comprehensive in-flight training sessions, tailored to address practical challenges. 
• Networking: Promote knowledge-sharing and peer learning by fostering collaboration among the 75 councils involved, leveraging their collective experience and insights. 
• Transition Plans: Develop individualised improvement roadmaps for each council to drive their specific transformation goals in contract management. 
• Transformation: Provide intensive support aimed at driving significant improvements, sharing best practices, and ensuring meaningful, measurable outcomes. 
• Toolkits: Offer innovative resources, including the CMPP toolkit and Business Process Mapping (BPM), to serve as legacy support for councils beyond the programme’s duration. 
• Data and Analytics: Use data to understand needs, track progress, and assess the status of learners to ensure the programme’s effectiveness. 
• Insights: Leverage data and experiential learning to provide actionable recommendations that enhance contract management practices across councils. 

These objectives collectively aim to strengthen contract management capacity, drive meaningful transformation, and ensure that participating councils are well-equipped to sustain and build on the improvements achieved through the CMPP. 

What are the key achievements? 

• 75 participating councils sharing knowledge and experience 
• 408 learners benefiting from intensive training in contract management 
• Work with 19 pilot councils to inform and test additional resources 
• Councils having a transitional plan to drive individual improvement 
• Benchmarking activities to establish localised capability gaps, providing recommendations on next steps 
• Toolkits for contract management and business process mapping of the commissioning lifecycle as legacy support even when the programme finishes. 

Additionally, the programme has facilitated a series of webinars and networking sessions that leverage central government resources, including key information on the Procurement Act 2023. 

Councils have benefited from bespoke transformation support where Local Partnerships will deploy experts to enable councils to improve their standard in contract management. 

Early feedback shows that 50% have already improved contract management as a direct result of the programme; and with a growing waiting list of councils wanting to participate in programme illustrates how the programme embodies effective collaboration to drive procurement and contract management success. 

North Yorkshire Council ‘Working with Local partnerships has been wonderful and has provided us with assurance on the direction of travel. …. We live and breathe the transitional plan’ 

Slough Borough Council ‘The plan gave us a great indication of what we needed to focus on, with the training itself being useful, the modules themselves are really good for instance the negotiation module I am currently implementing on one of my procurements!’ 

How Innovative is your initiative? 

Innovating Contract Management through the CMPP: A Collaborative Partner Approach 

The Contract Management Pioneer Programme (CMPP) represents a groundbreaking initiative in improving contract management specifically for local government, marking the first time such a comprehensive approach has been taken – created, tested, and implemented in collaboration with multiple key stakeholders. By integrating expertise from central and local government bodies—including MHCLG, CCS, LGA, the Cabinet Office, GCF, and Local Partnerships—the programme is driving transformative change in contract management practices. 

Collaborative First: Creating practical tools 

At the centre of this innovative programme is the creation of a toolkit. Designed collaboratively and rigorously tested with its end users (local authorities), this resource offers practical, accessible support for improving contract management across the commissioning lifecycle. Local Partnerships has played a key role as the bridge between central and local governments, ensuring that the toolkit reflects the realities and challenges faced by councils while aligning with central government standards. 

This toolkit serves as a legacy resource, providing ongoing guidance for local authorities to improve contract management practices even beyond the lifespan of the CMPP. The tools created over: 

• Templates for self-assessment at three different level
• A sample contract management framework 
• Training slides as an intro to contract management 
• Contract management tiering 
• RAID-A template 
• Relationship with suppliers 
• Assessing alternative delivery models 
• Improving contract management capability 
• The value of contract management 

As one of the tools already released was the Capability Survey – this was a particular issue that many councils raised in terms of having the right skills set and being able to recruit into procurement and contract management. Through the CMPP programme we worked with the London Borough of Harrow to test and design a survey to be benchmarked against other councils. This has now been realised to all of the 75 councils to complete to provide a profile of their particular needs and then benchmark that (anonymously) with other councils. 

More tools are being released in February 2025 and currently in production with local authorities. For current tools visit here: CMPP – Contract Management Pioneer Programme – Local Partnerships 

Similarly the programme has resulted in the creations of the BMP toolkit. BPM stands for business process mapping with the approach utilised to follow the steps and stages of the commissioning lifecycle of procurement and contract management. As part of the work through CMPP ten local authorities have tested how this can be adapted to contract management to drive efficiencies and address bottlenecks. In response to this action research the toolkit has been updated and freely available for anyone to use, designed in a way that local authorities, particularly, can run their own process mapping. Please see link here: BPM Toolkit. 

Response from PSPS (Public Sector Partnership Services) who represent 3 local authorities in Lincolnshire who received facilitated process mapping in November 2024 “The team at PSPS found the process mapping sessions for both procurement & contract management invaluable. Natalia and Davina ran the sessions incredibly well. We have found a number of ways to improve upon our processes, whilst also backing up in others the processes we are already undertaking. I would recommend this 2-day session to anyone who is keen to look at the ways in which they are working, how efficiencies could be sought, and where there is room for potential improvements”. 

More than just a training programme 

The CMPP goes beyond conventional training by providing comprehensive, wrap-around support to drive real transformation. At its core, the programme leverages the expertise of Local Partnerships to deliver hands-on, tailored assistance to each participating council. 

This approach ensures the programme transcends theoretical learning, embedding practical solutions into local authority contract management practices. Through close collaboration with councils, the CMPP identifies and addresses critical gaps within their contract management journeys, equipping them with actionable strategies and tools to foster sustainable improvement. 

By integrating targeted support with robust training, CMPP empowers councils to achieve meaningful progress, setting a new benchmark for contract management excellence across local government. 

What are the key learning points? 

The centre of the whole programme is to share learning. This premise is to elevate how contract management is run by individual council and in the local authority sector more generally. Whilst the training on the CMPP programme and the networking supports the signed up councils, the tools are freely available. 

A key learning is partnership is key – as we use the different skill sets and resources from the partnerships. Whilst this is particularly pertinent to the working group, that partnership approach includes the local authorities included in the programme. A challenge has been the resources for councils to become involved given the pressure of operational requirements and the need to implement the Procurement Act. However, the success and reputation has also led to a waiting list to joint CMPP which we aid to address in the new year. 

The below highlights the valuable insights gained through CMPP which address the multifaceted challenges of contract management across the local government. These significant lessons have informed and shaped the programme as we progress and other future initiatives. The robust methodology used offers a replicable framework for others seeking to enhance not just contract management but other local government services. 

• Growing focus on contract management (to achieve both financial and community outcomes) 
• Procurement Act raising the profile of contact management with senior leadership 
• Contract management is invariably devolved to services rather than undertaken at a corporate level which creates issues of consistency
• A centralised approach doesn’t work as service needs are so diverse – therefore a cross-organisation approach is essential with strong leadership 
• A widespread perception that contract management isn’t a profession 
• Some markets are dominated by a few providers making it difficult to secure best VFM 
• Skills sets are changing – specifically when taking advantage of Transforming Public Procurement 
• Prevalence of interim arrangements and recruitment challenges, at all levels 
• Distressed councils have multitude of issues, demands and challenges