Understanding demand – needs and current spend

What do we mean by understanding demand, needs and current spend? 

The ability to gather demand data in relation to council and / or service needs, using a combination of past spend analysis and data insights to predict likely future needs. 

Knowledge 

• Knowledge of procurement and contract law.  
• Knowledge of category management. 
• Knowledge of spend analysis at a council, contract, supplier, and category level.  
• Understanding of best practice commissioning, sourcing and procurement processes and tools. 

Skills 

Able to:  

• Gather demand data: Eliciting insights from a range of sources, including strategy and service planning documents, requirements planning and demand forecasting. 
• Analyse existing cost and spend: Understanding current spend patterns and associated costs. 
• Collaborate and communicate: With colleagues to triangulate demand and cost data, to understand and validate needs and to consider options to meet them.  
• Think critically: Applying critical thinking to understand opportunities for smarter commissioning and / or delivery including opportunities for aggregation, rationalisation or delivering services in a more cost-effective way.
• Develop procurement strategy and plans:  Setting out the objectives and actions which will be taken to drive strategic outcomes.  
• Manage risk: Identity, assess and manage risks associated with procurement and commissioning, ensuring related mitigations are in place and within the council’s risk appetite. 

A related procurement and commissioning maturity index has been created to enable councils to understand their current maturity and to set, and work towards, a target state. This can be downloaded below.