Since 2005 NIP has offered, as an online service, a Contract Management solution called the Contracts Register Service (CRS). It is aimed primarily at Local Government and is currently being used by (amongst others) 32 local authorities within London, the London Contract and Supplies Group (LCSG) and the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The CRS allows authorities to easily record details of their contracts, which can then be shared with other nearby authorities to facilitate collaborative working and used as an internal management tool. The CRS has been designed to support the ongoing development of the Shared Services Agenda, which it does in many ways, including:

• Tracking and managing the ownership, terms and lifecycle of key contracts
• Delivering accurate and up-to-date information on current and future contract information
• Supporting the planning and coordination of future contract activity, including alignment
• Searching and reporting on contracts by category, supplier, value, date etc, including the local government procurement classification (ProClass)
• Identifying framework and other shared contracts which can be accessed by other authorities
• Allowing information such as OJEU notices, contract terms, specifications and other supporting documentation to be downloaded
• Providing alert facilities to enable the contract owner to specify how many months ahead of the contract expiry date an email is sent out, alerting both the contract owner and the department

NIP is currently working with users of the CRS to develop and deliver complementary solutions, both to expand the scope of information available to aid collaboration and to deepen ongoing contract management facilities. For example, we are currently piloting in London the ability to compare contract information with invoice data taken directly from an authority's financial systems, allowing on and off contract spend to be seen by department, supplier, category and so on.

If you'd like to learn more then visit the CRS website (www.contractsregister.com) or contact us at sales@contractsregister.com