By Ewart Wooldridge The higher education sector, which is made up of all UK universities and colleges of further education, is faced with a major agenda for change. The agenda is fuelled by a combination of rapid growth, capital programmes, funding challenges and the potential for new partnerships or alliances. The author sets out the early priorities of the recently established Leadership Foundation and outlines the flagship projects that will move the agenda forward.
An electronic procurement system has been launched to serve thirty two NHS Trusts in the North East of England. The system will allow the Trusts, who spend move than 500 million pounds annually, to make up to 75,000 automated purchases each year. The new system links up to the Trust’s existing financial systems. Currently twenty two suppliers are taking part in the development.By adopting a collaborative approach and working across organisational boundaries all members of the group were able to share development costs and pool expertise.
A drive to improve delivery of the Supporting People programme has been launched by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Supporting People is a flexible way of providing a range of support to vulnerable people covering services to prevent them from losing their homes as well as floating support schemes. Council housing departments are lead commissioners and they work with health, social and probation services.The capacity building initiative challenges current practices in a quest for improvement and seeks to boost knowledge and skills and influence behaviour by learning from success and failure. The middle management programme aims to prepare staff for more senior positions and the Peer Clearing House gives councils access to current best practice in local government.