Standard

Commercial Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework Onboarding Guidance V2.3 (HTML)

Updated 11 March 2024

The GCF Strategy aligned with the the National Procurement Policy Statement; both are measured using the Commercial Standards

• In June 2021 the Cabinet Office published a National Procurement Policy Statement  (NPPS), introducing a new requirement for all in scope* public bodies to assess themselves against publically available procurement standards.
• We use the Functional Standard GovS 008: Commercial to set and assure standards consistently across the public sector.
• This comparison is done using the Commercial Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework (CCIAF), co-designed with NHS England & Improvement and the Local Government sector. CCIAF assesses each organisation’s practices against 8 theme areas, which include those set out in the NPPS. CCIAF is also aligned with the GCF Strategy.
• The assessment provides each organisation with a commercial maturity rating (Good, Better and Best).

CCIAF theme areas

1. Functional strategy, planning & governance
2. Capability and resourcing
3. Define: Pre-procurement
4. Procure: Procurement and contracting
5. Manage: Contract management
6. Managing categories & supplier relationships
7. Commercial systems and information
8. Policy

NPPS

• NPPS priority: Skills & Capability
• NPPS priority: Commercial & Procurement Delivery
• NPPS priority: Social Value

Aiming for “best”

• Increased capability, capacity and uplifting the Commercial Profession
• Identification of realistic and achievable improvement areas, and sharing learning
• Enhanced peer review offer to share best practice, and compare cross public sector performance to inform targeted investment decision making
• Offering an online CCIAF platform to our Continuous Improvement community    Delivery of best in class Masterclasses
• Position CCIAF as a preferred standard assessment framework for use by Central Government organisations and the wider public sector

Background Commercial Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework

As part of the work supporting government officials working in commercial roles, the GCF manages a set of Commercial Standards.

• The Standards define how all Government departments should operate commercially to ensure strong commercial behaviours and getting value for taxpayers money. Setting and assuring standards is one of the six common functional activities delivered by all Government Functions to support departments and civil servants right across Government to be professional, capable and efficient.
• The Strategy, Standards and Assurance team within the GCF have recently updated the Commercial Standards to incorporate input from NHS, Local Government Association and Central Government Organisations. This means the Standards can now be used by any interested colleagues across the public sector.
• The Government Functional Standard for Commercial (GovS 008) which outlines tangible expectations to drive consistency throughout commercial activities. This supports commercial colleagues across the public sector to ensure contracts and relationships with suppliers deliver value for money.
• The Commercial Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework (CCIAF)(PDF, 508 KB) supplements the standard to drive continuous improvement in commercial practices across the public sector.

Commercial Self-Assessment Framework – the journey so far

Central Government

• 2016: First Commercial Operating Standards for Government (GCOS) launched, 15 organisations assessed their adherence to the Standards and developed improvement plans
• 2018: second round of self-assessments completed showing an uplift in commercial capability
• 2019: V2 of the Standards (GCOS) and self-assessment launched
• 2021: Engagement with the NHS to review and align with one set of standards

NHS

• 2012: First published NHS Commercial & Procurement Standards
• 2016: Standards were reviewed and refreshed to drive adherence and accreditation
• 2020: Review of the NHS Commercial & Procurement Standards
• 2021: Engagement with Government Central Function to review and align with one set of standards

1. 2021: Version 1 CCIAF and GovS008 - The assessment framework completed converging NHS Standards with Government standards and wider public sector considerations
2. 2022: Version 2.1 CCIAF and GovS008 - Completed common standard across NHS, Central government,WPS and Local Government. Oct 22 New Online Platform Launched

Your CCIAF Journey - Central Government, ALB’s, LAs & Wider Public Sector

Months

1. Month 0: Self-Assessment
2. Month 6-12: Continuous Improvement Plans
3. Month 12: Re-Baseline Assessment
4. Month 18-24: Continuous Improvement
5. Month 24: Self-Assessment

Stages

1. Self-Assessment
2. CI Plan 1
3. CI Plan 2
4. Re-baseline Assessment
5. CI Plan 3
6. CI Plan 4
7. Self-Assessment
8. CI Plan 5
9. CI Plan 6
10. Re-baseline Assessment

The map above shows the journey your organisation will complete as you progress through the self-assessment process and your commercial improvement journey (CI Plans).

Note: CI Plans are optional for NHS, Local Authorities and Wider Public Sector.

Your CCIAF Journey - NHS

Months

1. Month 0: Self-Assessment
2. Month 6-12: Continuous Improvement Plans
3. Month 12: Re-Baseline Assessment
4. Month 18-24: Continuous Improvement
5. Month 24: Re-baseline Assessment
6. Month 30-36: Continuous Improvement
7. Month 36: Self-Assessment

Stages

1. Self-Assessment
2. CI Plan 1 Optional
3. CI Plan 2 Optional
4. Re-baseline Assessment
5. CI Plan 3 Optional
6. CI Plan 4 Optional
7. Self-Assessment
8. CI Plan 5 Optional
9. CI Plan 6 Optional
10. Self-Assessment
11. CI plan 7 Optional
12. CO Plan 8 Optional
13. Re-baseline Assessment

The map above shows the expected journey your organisation will complete as you progress through the self-assessment process and your commercial improvement journey (CI Plans).

Note: CI Plans are optional for NHS, Local Authorities and Wider Public Sector.

Assessment criteria

Contracting authorities will self-assess against 27 practice areas on a defined four level maturity scale (‘Developing’, ‘Good’, ‘Better’ and ‘Best’ ^{[footnote 1]})

1. Commercial strategy, planning and governance

• 1.1 Overall commercial strategy and plan
• 1.2 Commercial Pipeline and planning
• 1.3 Commercial governance and management framework
• 1.4 Commercial leadership and senior ownership

2. Commercial capability and resourcing

• 2.1 Improving commercial capability
• 2.2 Commercial resourcing and operating model
• 2.3 Contract management competency

3. Commercial lifecycle define: pre-procurement

• 3.1 Shaping and defining the business need
• 3.2 Supply market analysis and early market engagement
• 3.3 Developing and analysing commercial options

4. Commercial lifecycle procure: procurement and contracting

• 4.1 Applying effective contract terms
• 4.2 Procurement / commercial activity, bid evaluation and supplier selection
• 4.3 Appropriate risk allocation between parties

5. Commercial lifecycle manage: contract management

• 5.1 Contract mobilisation and transition
• 5.2 Managing delivery and performance
• 5.3 Managing contract risk
• 5.4 Supply Chain, inventory management/stock controls (NHS only)
• 5.5 Supply chain, logistics (NHS only)

6. Managing categories, markets, supplier relationships and working with partners

• 6.1 Delivering category and market strategies
• 6.2 Supplier relationship management and collaborative working in partnership

7. Commercial systems, reporting and information

• 7.1 Using commercial systems and tools
• 7.2 Reporting and utilising commercial intelligence and insights
• 7.3 data systems and performance management, GS1 and Patient level costing (7.3 for NHS only)

8. Policy

• 8.1 Policy awareness and implementation
• 8.2 Social Value
• 8.3 Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
• 8.4 Sustainability and Net Zero

Scoring Methodology

The scoring methodology works in the same way for each practice area. Differentiated weightings are applied to criteria within the maturity levels with greater emphasis on criteria within the ‘good’ column, as these represent the minimum commercial expectations of an organisation. It is not always necessary to fully meet all criteria within the ‘good’ column to achieve a ‘good’ or ‘better’ rating for that practice area.

However, where ‘good’ criteria are not fully met, it is strongly recommended that targeted improvement projects are established. For more information, please contact your sector specific commercial standards administration team.

The self-assessment tool aggregates the values entered for each criterion to give an overall percentage score and corresponding maturity rating for that practice area. Percentage bandings for each maturity rating are shown in the table below.

Maturity Rating	Applicable percentage ranges within the maximum available score
In Development	< 40%
Good	> 40% and < 70%
Better	> 70% and < 90%
Best	> 90%

Steps to completing the self-assessment

4 weeks[footnote 4 weeks^{[footnote 2]}

Phase 1.0: Pre-Monilisation

• Allow access to the online tool
• Weekly drop in session for Cohort
• Mobilise team, identify key challenge areas.
• Establish an approach to complete the self-assessment within Cohort.

7 Weeks

Phase 1.1: Data Gathering/ Self-Assessment- Online Tool

• Understand data sources in the online scoring tool
• Obtain evidence - interviews, document review to support completion of assessment
• Complete assessment data in the new online tool ahead of peer review

Phase 1.2: Peer Review

• Cohort members will be randomly matched to undertake peer reviews
• Self-Assessment peer review and update self-assessment following peer review
• The peer review process continues to evolve on the online tool

1 Week

Phase 1.3: Governance

• Completion of self-assessment including internal sign-off before submission to Cabinet Office
• Central Government dept: Internal approval board sign off
• ALBs: Parent dept sign off
• Wider Public Sector:
• NHS: NHS E&I and Commercial CI Steering Board sign-off
• LGs: Internal sign off and engagement with DLUHC

Ongoing

Phase 2: Continuous Improvement Plans

• Phase 2.1
• Phase 2.2
• Phase 2.3
• Phase 2.4
• Phase 2.5

The cycle represents typical components of the new self-assessment process. Whilst contracting authorities may adopt a different approach to managing the assessment cycle all in scope contracting authorities are expected to submit a self-assessment. Phase 2 is mandatory for Central Government and their ALBs and is encouraged for the NHS and Wider Public Sector.

Accessing the Platform

• For organisations accessing the platform for the first time visit the CCIAF homepage and click on “Register”
• Once registered a confirmation page will appear and you’ll receive a “verify your email” email
• If you don’t receive a verification email, email us at cciafsupport@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
• NHS Organisations that form part of the NHS England Commercial Function, the Head of the Commercial or Procurement function can email [email protected] to be assigned a Cohort.

Using the Self-Assessment Online Scoring Tool

• The Assessment Tool is designed to capture the results of the self-assessment and generate reporting for organisations and across Government
• The assessment tool
• The tool includes a detailed user guide to support your self-assessment journey.

Using the self-assessment tool Key elements

• Easy to use drop-downs
• Easy to upload support documentation and narrative
• Auto-calculated cells show ratings and scores
• Easy to navigate menu

Pre-Mobilisation, Selecting an approach to conducting the self-assessment

• Centrally led assessments tend to be steered by the Senior Leadership Team, providing a ‘top down’ evaluation of performance
• Facilitated assessments generally involve an impartial third party to complete an assessment on behalf of the organisation, based on engagements and information gathering
• Consultative assessments take a ‘bottom up’ approach and include wider engagement across the team. Typically a separate lead will be appointed for different aspects of the themes
• Approaches to the self-assessment may include elements of Centrally led, Facilitated and Consultative

Contracting authorities may adopt different approaches to completing the self-assessment.

Contracting authorities are encouraged to use methods that best meet their needs.

Larger or more complex contracting authorities are encouraged to complete multiple assessments and should agree with sector representatives.

Where appropriate Parent organisations are responsible for consolidating and providing the overall assessment.

Assessment Cover Sheet - Spend under Assessment

• The requirement is that all 3rd party spend is included in the cover sheet of the self-assessment submission.
• At the outset, considerations should be made for any exclusions to the assessment. Through these considerations, the third party spend under the current assessment should be ascertained.
• Exclusions of third party spend or non-addressable spend will need to be defined prior to undertaking the self-assessment, justified and validated by sector appropriate governance procedures, and with demonstration that the appropriate governance procedures are in place.

Pre-Mobilisation, Forming a team

• Communicate the purpose and objectives of the self-assessment to the relevant audience.
• Appoint leads to occupy the roles of approver (e.g. senior responsible officer) and coordinator (e.g. project manager) including peer reviewer. Please note that self-assessments require an organisation’s internal approval before submission.
• The structure, shape and capability of the team should be tailored to the approach for self-assessment.
• Consider cross-functional input and where diverse contributors will add value to the approach to self-assessment.

Phase 1.1, Assessing against the assessment criteria

Understand and evaluate against the practice area

Each practice area is made up of a number of statements which are criteria of maturity for that area of practice.

• Understand the criteria in the context of your commercial activity
• Applicability – consider if this is a assessment criteria that you can reasonably evaluate for your organisation
• Evaluate the extent to which your organisation meets the criteria

Identify evidence to support your assessment

You should identify evidence to support your assessment against each practice area. This evidence will be accessed by the peer reviewer.

• Capture a clear narrative describing how the criteria is met and the applicable evidence to support.
• Do not submit supporting documents or files as part of the self-assessment. These are to be stored in a central folder which can be later reviewed by the peer reviewer and the central standards administration team.

Select an attainment level

• Not, or seldom met: organisation finds no or isolated evidence of attainment
• Partially met: organisation finds significant but inconsistent evidence of attainment
• Substantially or fully met: organisation finds the substantial majority of commercial delivery fulfils statement

Phase 1.2, Completing peer reviews

Purpose

• Organisations will be notified of their respective peer reviewers within 2-3 weeks after the CCIAF cycle commences (subject to organisations completing all details on their cover sheet).
• The peer reviewers’ role will be to ensure consistency of interpretation of the assessment criteria and themes.
• Peer reviews should be completed by an organisation matched by the GCF Team.
• Once the first moderation has been completed, contracting authorities are expected to update the self-assessment to reflect the peer review.

Principles

• Scrutinise process & evidence
• Welcome challenge
• Share feedback
• Diversity & inclusion
• Share knowledge & information
• Transparency
• Impartiality and objectivity

The peer review (PDF, 533 KB) process is an opportunity to foster relationships between different GCF teams and to share learning and experience. The type of relationship fostered between the peer reviewer and contracting authority is not prescriptive and decided on between the individual parties involved.

Approaches to peer reviews

• Single peer reviews are undertaken with a single person from an external organisation, this may be appropriate for smaller/low-complexity contracting authorities. This can be carried out either in-person or virtually
• Group peer reviews are undertaken by groups/teams within an external organisation. Self-assessments are moderated by more than 1 person, this may be appropriate for large/high-complexity contracting authorities
• Contracting Authorities are encouraged to adopt an approach to peer-reviews in the most appropriate way for their organisation and may adopt a variety of different methods outlined above.

Peer reviews are the most effective with comparable contracting authorities based on budget, geography or commercial activity.

Peer review may be undertaken by any other contracting authority in the Cohort. This will be randomly assigned by the central team using the above criteria as a guide to matching.

Phase 1.3, Submitting the self-assessment

• All self-assessments should be submitted using the online tool provided
• Contracting authorities should ensure their assessment has received the necessary internal approvals and governance prior to submission.
• The data will be analysed by a central team and a Playback Report will be generated and returned to the contracting authority in approximately 4-6 weeks which includes benchmarking data.
• The data can then be used to support continuous improvement across contracting authorities.

Phase 2: Continuous Improvement Planning Process

Mandatory for Central Government Organisations and encouraged for NHS and Wider Public Sector

CI Community - Masterclasses Roundtables Collaboration Support

Phase 2.1: Identify

• All Contracting Authorities: Identify Improvement areas linked to self-assessment
• NHS: voluntary CI Plan submissions through NHS E/I
• WPS: Voluntary CI Plan submissions into Cabinet
• Office via internal governance arrangements

Phase 2.2: Establish

• Define the approach
• Develop and implement an improvement plan based on your organisation’s results
• Establish deliverables and milestones
• Form Partnerships and collaborate with other organisation in Cohort

Phase 2.3: Internal Governance & Submission

• Central Government organisations are expected to produce improvement plans within six months of submitting the self-assessment and report progress periodically
• The Wider Public Sector, ALBs and LGs are encouraged to produce improvement plans and timelines for submission will be agreed locally
• CI Plans submitted to Cabinet Office for review and approval.
• Contracting authorities who demonstrate best-practice are invited to hold Masterclasses

Phase 2.4: Measure, Track & Monitor Progress

• It is expected that Continuous Improvement plans will be a living document and continuously referred to and reviewed
• Six monthly submission to CO are required using the template provided and RAG rated accordingly
• 1:1 meetings are available with Cabinet office upon organisations request
• Collaborative opportunities should be exploited to maximise learning and upskilling

Phase 2.5: Re-baseline^{[footnote 3]}

• Annual review of progress against Improvement Plans with Cabinet Office
• Re-baselining of self-assessment to reflect progress against improvement plans
• Revised Continuous Improvement Plans to be submitted to Cabinet Office

Benefits of Continuous Improvement Plans

• Capturing current status and driving continuous improvement.

• CI Community
• Sharing lessons learned
• Accessing best practice
• Peer reviewing commercial practices
• Best practice and innovations are captured and shared with other public sector commercial organisations
• Completing periodic assessments of current practices and re-baselining the scores on your recommended commercial improvement plan.

Rebaselining

• A Re-baseline Assessment (RBL) is a mini Self-Assessment (SA)
• Where SA1 is carried out at month 0 and SA2 is carried out at month 24, RBL is carried out at month 12; the midpoint between SAs. note: for NHS organisations SA2 is carried out in month 36 with RBL carried out on month 12 and month 24.
• It is an opportunity for organisations to update their previous SA criteria attainment levels to reflect any advancements in their Continuous Improvement (CI) efforts; without the need to wait until the next full SA
• The Standards and Continuous Improvement Team will provide you with a new Playback Report after you complete your RBL
• The purpose is to allow Organisations to see their latest Maturity Ratings; enabling your organisation to make an informed decision as to where your next CI efforts should be focussed
• RBL is carried out on the Online Scoring Tool; whereupon your last SA will be cloned and you will then be able to make updates to individual attainment levels, update any documents as well as any supporting commentary
• RBL is not Peer Reviewed and therefore the results should be seen as “provisional” and “for information only”

Commercial Standards Masterclasses

• The Masterclass Programme is run by the Standards and Continuous Improvement Team and aims to improve commercial capability across Central Government and Wider Public Sector
• As part of the Continuous Improvement Cycle, areas of best practice are identified and organisations are invited to host a Masterclass
• Live virtual presentations and discussions are hosted by commercial experts to share best practice, lessons learned and innovation across the commercial function
• These sessions are open to all of Government, NHS and Wider Public Sector commercial professionals. Please contact commercialstandards@cabinetoffice.gov.uk for more information.

Cabinet Office Continuous Improvement Roundtables

The roundtable, led by Commercial Standards with support from subject matter experts (SME’s), is an informal open forum to confidentiality share issues and concerns and collectively seek advice, experience and direction. Whilst you won’t receive a definitive recommendation you will receive valuable insight shared from subject matter experts and departments who have faced the same issues.

• Sessions are ran monthly
• Two weeks prior to the session all departments will have the opportunity to submit a ‘problem  statement’ to be considered for the roundtable
• To submit a problem statement, please email: commercialstandards@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
• Based on most popular themes two problem statements will be selected and distributed to the group one week prior to the session.

Sessions will have the following format but may be subject to change:

• Intro from SME 10mins
• Problem Statement 1:

Submitting department outlines their issue 12.5mins Input invited from SME and contributing departments 25mins

• Problem Statement 2:

Submitting department outlines their issue 12.5mins Input invited from SME and contributing departments 25mins

• Round up and close 5mins

Key Contacts and Next Steps

• NHS - [email protected]
• GCF Cabinet Office -  commercialstandards@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
• Government Commercial College - https://www.govcommercialcollege.co.uk/
• Central government organisations should submit improvement plans within 6 months of completing and submitting the assessment framework and submissions should be made using the CCIAF tool.
• Local Authorities and Wider public sector organisations are encouraged to submit the CI plans in line with the planning cycle.

Annex 1: Characteristics of Good, Better & Best

Good:

A cross-government commercial and governance management framework is defined and established. Organisations have a clear commercial strategy and plan. Goods, works and services are procured using legally compliant, fair and transparent processes, guarding against corruption and fraud. Activities are aligned with commercial policy and organisational objectives, are in conformance with the commercial functional standard. Organisations have a commercial pipeline and capability to drive consistency in the planning and management of buying goods, works and services. Contracts and relationships with suppliers realise value for money and result in the delivery of high quality public services.

Note: ‘good’ includes the requirements (‘shall’ statements) from the functional standard and the most important advisory elements.

Better:

Governance of commercial activities are an integrated part of the organisation’s overall governance. The governance and management framework includes the development and monitoring of commercial policies. The commercial strategy maximises synergy and efficiency between different organisations.

Lessons learnt and best practices are captured, shared and reviewed with stakeholders at the start and end of each activity. Continuous improvement is embedded in the organisation’s practices through updates to its continuous improvement plans, learning and development opportunities.

Best:

The governance and direction of delivering commercial activities is fully integrated with the governance and direction of the organisation. Commercial strategies incorporate short and long term targets in line with leading industry practice. Commercial policy outcomes are embedded throughout the commercial life-cycle and outcomes reports are available on demand. Technology is used to make commercial reporting and analytics accessible to inform organisational strategy and policy decisions. Learning from experience and organisational improvement is demonstrated through continuous improvement being embedded and evidenced within the organisation.

1. Refer to Annex 1 ↩

2. Four weeks mobilisation offered to organisations undertaking CCIAF for the first time. ↩

3. NHS re-baseline takes place every three years ↩