Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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9.4 LA Quotes 9.4.1 LAQuotes is an online annual quotation and procurement application for local authorities and suppliers to local authorities (www.laquotes.ie). It accepts quotations from suppliers in a number of sectors including plant hire and haulage, tool hire, road making materials and supplies and services. The system, which was developed in 2003 by Kerry County Council and is now being used by 30 city/ county councils and a number of town councils, has modernised the way suppliers submit annual quotations. The volume of quotations received has grown by 44% since 2008. 9.4.2 The system was originally developed by Kerry County Council in 2003, and at the request of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the application was offered to other local authorities. In 2004, in excess of 750 suppliers were registered on the system where they completed and submitted the electronic forms online. This had grown to 3,600 suppliers by 2010. 9.4.3 All local authorities were invited to join the system in 2006, which resulted in twenty four local authorities using the system soon afterwards. By 2009 there were 30 local authorities participating in the system (Clare County Council, Dublin City Council, Longford County Council and Waterford City Council are the only local authorities that currently do not use the system). It is expected that Waterford City Council will join the system in 2010. 9.4.4 Dublin City Council in 2005 carried out a comprehensive review of its own procurement processes. The review made a number of recommendations concerning procurement practices, including increased aggregation of procurement and centralisation of procurement skills, suggested that savings of €30 million could be achieved if the recommendations were fully implemented by 2010. 9.4.5 The increased use of LAQuotes by both local authorities and suppliers demonstrates strong customer confidence in the efficiency and usability of the system. Also from a local government perspective it marks a major milestone in the standardisation of processes amongst participating authorities and the collaboration of purchasing functions and resources. Moving to a standardised online process has delivered improvements in internal workflows, process management and has led to a faster and more efficient system. Traditionally, suppliers had to submit paper-based quotations to each local authority. This system means that they can now submit a quotation to all participating councils online. They can also view, edit and delete quotations as well as copy information from the previous year’s submissions. The service is free for suppliers and includes a number of online training tutorials. 9.4.6 The system has recently been modified so that supporting documentation can be received online. In an effort to reduce the volumes of paper generated, and to simplify the process for local authorities, insurance companies/ brokers, and suppliers, some of the supporting information/ 102
forms are now captured online. This has eliminated the need to collate approximately an additional 38,000 hardcopies of these forms. 9.4.7 In 2009, an online document management system was implemented where documents were streamlined and hosted centrally by Kerry County Council, which has eliminated the need for a further 9,000 hardcopies. An electronic system to validate ownership of the vehicles quoted for by suppliers on LAQuotes has also been developed, further eliminating the need for the submission and approval of the hardcopy certificates. Overall, the number of hard copy documents requested from suppliers by local authorities was reduced from just over 284,000 to approximately 36,000 and an additional 10,000 documents are collated online via electronic forms (such as the insurance questionnaire and the pre-qualification questionnaire). 9.4.8 Further developments are planned for LAQuotes in 2010. The design and development of an electronic request for a quotation (eRFQ) module is underway and will work in conjunction with the LAQuotes system to assist local authorities in conducting mini competitions which are a requirement of multiparty framework agreements. The development of an eRFQ module integrated with the LAQuotes system and using framework agreements provides a fully compliant and transparent process for recurring procurement and ensures value for money. The complete process will lead to a more efficient and effective procurement process for all participating local authorities. These improvements, geared towards making the local government procurement process more user-friendly, are important in encouraging local suppliers to bid for public contracts – while there is an underlying principle that best value must be obtained in terms of economy, equally local authorities must enable local suppliers to participate in the tendering process. 9.4.9 The development of LAQuotes has introduced greater efficiencies into the procurement process in the local government sector, resulting in ongoing savings to the sector. Based on the benefits predicted in 2002, the system has yielded savings to local authorities in the order of €250 million in the period 2006-2009. There is a recurring cost saving per annum of approximately €58 million based on current expenditure levels. The system also facilitates competitive tendering by being user-friendly and involving a wide range of potential suppliers. 9.4.10 Notwithstanding these positive outcomes, the Group identified a number of limitations of the system. The management information that the LAQuotes system produces is limited in terms of providing usable data upon which local authorities can assess whether they are securing value for money in procurement. The Group recommends that the LAQuotes system should be adapted to install metrics that would measure throughput in value terms, count the number of transactions and record the transaction size, and identify the products and services being procured. 9.4.11 The Group also noted how a number of unsuccessful tenderers tended to undercut official suppliers by offering lower prices post the publication of the 103
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Report of the Local Government Effi
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5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
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14. Recommendations 14.1 Recommenda
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associated Government Statement, ne
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more focussed than previously on mu
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ating town councils is largely repr
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• The provision of quality custom
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1.7 Compliance Requirements on Loca
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2.1 National Public Finances 2. Bud
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Figure 2.2 - Total Local Authority
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evenue were needed for the local go
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Figure 2.3 - Sources of Local Autho
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Figure 2.4 -Sources of Local Author
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Figure 2.5 - Local Authority Curren
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Payroll Expenses Table 2.4 - Breakd
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2. Reintroducing domestic water cha
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Income €m € 1,600.0 € 1,400.0
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3. Local Government Experience of E
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maintenance are provided by the cou
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well as reductions in the number of
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4. Context - Looking Forward 4.1 Na
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4.2.6 Aside from keeping costs down
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5. Organisational Efficiency Issues
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statutorily vested in certain ratin
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5.5.6 Roads are classified into nat
Page 51 and 52: the majority of town councils, a pl
Page 53 and 54: 5.7 Other Local Bodies 5.7.1 A smal
Page 55 and 56: • County council offices / area o
Page 57 and 58: Figure 6.1 - Local Authority Staff
Page 59 and 60: Figure 6.2 - Staffing per 1,000 Pop
Page 61 and 62: Figure 6.5 - Staffing Per 1,000 Pop
Page 63 and 64: Cluster Data Cluster Mayo Roscommon
Page 65 and 66: senior management staff - for examp
Page 67 and 68: ut this figure varies from 22% to 5
Page 69 and 70: eplacement with lower level staff w
Page 71 and 72: Corporate Services, HR, IT, and Fin
Page 73 and 74: to provide services in the corporat
Page 75 and 76: Recommendations: 6.11.1 In summary,
Page 77 and 78: 7.1 Local Government Audit 7. Value
Page 79 and 80: through open recruitment. Opportuni
Page 81 and 82: the Director and relevant local gov
Page 83 and 84: 7.6.3 Local authorities should cons
Page 85 and 86: 8. Shared Services 8.1 Shared Servi
Page 87 and 88: 8.2.6 Many parts of the United Stat
Page 89 and 90: 8.4 Shared ‘Back Office’ Servic
Page 91 and 92: 8.4.12 For example, recruitment to
Page 93 and 94: approach which will be used to asse
Page 95 and 96: enefits in terms of pooling resourc
Page 97 and 98: while also improving the service fo
Page 99 and 100: Implementation Group suggested in s
Page 101: 9.2.4 The Local Government e-Procur
Page 105 and 106: Table 9.1 - Non-Pay Items Procured
Page 107 and 108: 9.5.10 LAQuotes is used by the vast
Page 109 and 110: sectoral level, to promote exchange
Page 111 and 112: 10.1 Housing 10. Efficiencies in Pr
Page 113 and 114: 10.1.9 Two issues arise in this res
Page 115 and 116: that may arise in this respect as p
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Page 119 and 120: 10.2.6 To date, the emphasis of tol
Page 121 and 122: 10.2.14 The Group also noted the la
Page 123 and 124: • Allocating grants to improve th
Page 125 and 126: 10.3.11 It would also facilitate th
Page 127 and 128: consumption (see also section 9 in
Page 129 and 130: Financial Summary: Through a combin
Page 131 and 132: current levels of resourcing for pl
Page 133 and 134: educe the number of such transactio
Page 135 and 136: Financial Summary: Through a combin
Page 137 and 138: in the trend of rationalisation of
Page 139 and 140: Table 10.1 - Motor Taxation Classes
Page 141 and 142: detail in issuing licences. Motor t
Page 143 and 144: 11.1 Treasury Management 11. Other
Page 145 and 146: for the overdraft, has the potentia
Page 147 and 148: • The online Roadworks Control sy
Page 149 and 150: management, etc. Use of professiona
Page 151 and 152: • Projects to streamline existing
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12. Local Government and the Wider
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significant administrative overhead
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City Enterprise Boards with county/
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suggests that financial incentives
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13. Cost Recovery and Revenue Issue
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13.1.11 The Group considers that th
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Minister for Education and Skills t
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legislation provides that arrears o
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Recommendations: 13.5.1 In summary,
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14.1 Recommendations 14. Recommenda
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25. Financial performance indicator
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Housing 48. Housing sections within
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Planning monitoring by other public
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Local Government and the Wider Publ
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that just because these recommendat
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Appendix 1 - List of Submissions Re
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Appendix 2 - Local Government Effic
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Gross Current Income by Source and
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County Councils Housing and Buildin
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Town Councils Housing and Building
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Non-Rating Town Councils (1) Paymen
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Regional Assembly Payments Receipts
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Local Authority Current Expenditure
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Town Council Population Size (Censu
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Appendix 5 - Local Government Net B
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Former Town Commissioners 2010 Net
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Appendix 7 - Performance Indicators
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Appendix 9 - Unaccounted for Water
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Appendix 11 - Membership of County
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Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

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