The UKA Live Podcast
The latest insights and views about the public sector’s use of AI, digital, data and technology for the public good from www.UKAuthorITy.com
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Episodes
6 days ago
6 days ago
IPEC’s ‘Cohort’ programme helps local authorities use the tools available under the Procurement Act 2023 to find, pilot, and scale innovative solutions to the problems they face.
Westminster City Council participated in the last Cohort. The city has a problem with air pollution, not just that from traffic, but also the significant emissions from commercial cooking in the multitude of restaurants in the city.
UKA Live Podcast invited Rikesh Shah, IPEC Head, and Laura Brightwell Peters, Smart City Project Lead at Westminster City Council to tell us how IPEC helped the council to procure, pilot and, importantly, then scale an innovative solution to its problem.
How difficult is it in the public sector to buy an innovative solution to a problem – when you aren’t sure what that solution looks like?
How did IPEC’s Cohort programme support Westminster in its quest to find an innovative solution to its air quality problem?
What is the Competitive Flexible Procedure? And how does it enable a more open and experimental approach to procurement.
How easy was the process? Would Westminster recommend the Cohort experience to other councils?
Applications for the 2025/26 IPEC Cohort are still open. Visit https://www.ipec.org.uk/ipec-cohort/ for more information.
Further info:
Westminsters’ innovation procurement: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/news/westminster-council-launches-scheme-cut-cooking-emissions-restaurants-improve-air-quality
Pre market engagement guide: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/a-practical-guide-to-pre-market-engagement/
Procuring innovation playbook: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/procuring-innovation-playbook/
Sentiment Analysis: 2025 questionnaire: https://ortuser.co.uk/ipec-survey
Sentiment Analysis: 2024 findings: https://www.ipec.org.uk/news/sentiment-analysis2/
6 days ago
6 days ago
IPEC’s ‘Cohort’ programme helps local authorities use the tools available under the Procurement Act 2023 to find, pilot, and scale innovative solutions to the problems they face.
Westminster City Council participated in the last Cohort. The city has a problem with air pollution, not just that from traffic, but also the significant emissions from commercial cooking in the multitude of restaurants in the city.
UKA Live Podcast invited Rikesh Shah, IPEC Head, and Laura Brightwell Peters, Smart City Project Lead at Westminster City Council to tell us how IPEC helped the council to procure, pilot and, importantly, then scale an innovative solution to its problem.
How difficult is it in the public sector to buy an innovative solution to a problem – when you aren’t sure what that solution looks like?
How did IPEC’s Cohort programme support Westminster in its quest to find an innovative solution to its air quality problem?
What is the Competitive Flexible Procedure? And how does it enable a more open and experimental approach to procurement.
How easy was the process? Would Westminster recommend the Cohort experience to other councils?
Applications for the 2025/26 IPEC Cohort are still open. Visit https://www.ipec.org.uk/ipec-cohort/ for more information.
Further info:
Westminsters’ innovation procurement: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/news/westminster-council-launches-scheme-cut-cooking-emissions-restaurants-improve-air-quality
Pre market engagement guide: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/a-practical-guide-to-pre-market-engagement/
Procuring innovation playbook: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/procuring-innovation-playbook/
Sentiment Analysis: 2025 questionnaire: https://ortuser.co.uk/ipec-survey
Sentiment Analysis: 2024 findings: https://www.ipec.org.uk/news/sentiment-analysis2/
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
How do we gain access to innovative suppliers, take their expertise on board and start to inform our procurement decisions?
The Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC) worked with procurement specialists Gardiner & Theobald LLP to create a pragmatic, practical guide to ‘pre-market engagement’ for the public sector.
“I think one of the big takeaways, which I hope that the guide, as well as the Procurement Act will do, is try to ensure that the buyers market themselves as best as they possibly can to the supply market, in such a manner whereby they are seen as the informed client,” says Marut Gohil, Senior Associate - Procurement and Supply Chain, Gardiner & Theobald LLP.
“Pre-market engagement is the foundation of the commercial life cycle. We need to ensure that suppliers are bought in to this whole process right at the beginning, and, that they want to work with the client.”
The UKA Live Podcast asked IPEC head, Rikesh Shah, and Gardiner & Theobold’s Marut Gohil, how the guide can help make the public sector - and local government in particular - the informed client: the customer of choice.
What is the problem with using current / traditional approaches when procuring innovation?
What opportunities does the Procurement Act bring?
What is preliminary Market Engagement – and what does ‘good’ look like?
How do public sector organisations become the informed client… of choice
Coming up next:
Westminster’s journey with IPEC – The council joined last year’s Cohort to explore how they could harness procurement to procure and deliver an innovative solution to help improve air quality from the numerous commercial cooking operations in its area.
Further info:
Pre market engagement guide: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/a-practical-guide-to-pre-market-engagement/
Procuring innovation playbook: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/procuring-innovation-playbook/
Sentiment Analysis: 2025 questionnaire: https://ortuser.co.uk/ipec-survey
Sentiment Analysis: 2024 findings: https://www.ipec.org.uk/news/sentiment-analysis2/
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
How do we gain access to innovative suppliers, take their expertise on board and start to inform our procurement decisions?
The Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC) worked with procurement specialists Gardiner & Theobald LLP to create a pragmatic, practical guide to ‘pre-market engagement’ for the public sector.
“I think one of the big takeaways, which I hope that the guide, as well as the Procurement Act will do, is try to ensure that the buyers market themselves as best as they possibly can to the supply market, in such a manner whereby they are seen as the informed client,” says Marut Gohil, Senior Associate - Procurement and Supply Chain, Gardiner & Theobald LLP.
“Pre-market engagement is the foundation of the commercial life cycle. We need to ensure that suppliers are bought in to this whole process right at the beginning, and, that they want to work with the client.”
The UKA Live Podcast asked IPEC head, Rikesh Shah, and Gardiner & Theobold’s Marut Gohil, how the guide can help make the public sector - and local government in particular - the informed client: the customer of choice.
What is the problem with using current / traditional approaches when procuring innovation?
What opportunities does the Procurement Act bring?
What is preliminary Market Engagement – and what does ‘good’ look like?
How do public sector organisations become the informed client… of choice
Coming up next:
Westminster’s journey with IPEC – The council joined last year’s Cohort to explore how they could harness procurement to procure and deliver an innovative solution to help improve air quality from the numerous commercial cooking operations in its area.
Further info:
Pre market engagement guide: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/a-practical-guide-to-pre-market-engagement/
Procuring innovation playbook: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/procuring-innovation-playbook/
Sentiment Analysis: 2025 questionnaire: https://ortuser.co.uk/ipec-survey
Sentiment Analysis: 2024 findings: https://www.ipec.org.uk/news/sentiment-analysis2/
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Tuesday May 13, 2025
The Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre worked with law firm Mills & Reeve LLP to create the Procuring innovation playbook – busting myths, providing guidance and outlining the opportunities that arise from the Procurement Act 2023.
Opening up valuable public sector contracts to SMEs in order to harness innovation, agility and specialist solutions is a long-standing goal in public procurement. But traditional processes and frameworks can seem insurmountable to those selling valuable innovation in how the sector delivers services to citizens.
The Procurement Act newly in force, however, brings opportunities for both public sector, the large suppliers and those important SMEs. Are there any myths we can knock down and advice we can give to both sides of the procurement process to help drive innovation and transformation under the Act?
The UKA Live Podcast invited Rikesh Shah, Head of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre, Jenny Beresford-Jones, Senior Legal Advisor, for Mills & Reeve LLP and Shailee Howard, Partner at Mills & Reeve LLP to tell us about their new Procuring innovation playbook.
What are the main public procurement myths than can stop us from harnessing innovation?
How do we switch to an innovation mindset when undertaking public sector procurement? Should we focus on desired outcomes rather than products?
How important is engagement – both internally with colleagues in different professions and externally with the market?
How can we simplify the complexity - and burden - of public procurement for innovative SMEs and start-ups?
Are there different procurement routes that can be incorporated into the overall programme? And what role does the Central Digital Platform play?
Coming up next: a deep dive into two key resources to help you unlock innovation in public procurement:
A Practical Guide to Pre-Market Engagement - created by IPEC with procurement specialists Gardiner & Theobald
Westminster’s journey with IPEC – The council joined last year’s Cohort to explore how they could harness procurement to procure and deliver an innovative solution to help improve air quality from the numerous commercial cooking operations in its area.
Further info:
Procuring innovation playbook: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/procuring-innovation-playbook/
Sentiment Analysis 2025 questionnaire: https://ortuser.co.uk/ipec-survey
Sentiment Analysis 2024 findings: https://www.ipec.org.uk/news/sentiment-analysis2/
Pre market engagement guide: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/a-practical-guide-to-pre-market-engagement/
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Tuesday May 13, 2025
The Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre worked with law firm Mills & Reeve LLP to create the Procuring innovation playbook – busting myths, providing guidance and outlining the opportunities that arise from the Procurement Act 2023.
Opening up valuable public sector contracts to SMEs in order to harness innovation, agility and specialist solutions is a long-standing goal in public procurement. But traditional processes and frameworks can seem insurmountable to those selling valuable innovation in how the sector delivers services to citizens.
The Procurement Act newly in force, however, brings opportunities for both public sector, the large suppliers and those important SMEs. Are there any myths we can knock down and advice we can give to both sides of the procurement process to help drive innovation and transformation under the Act?
The UKA Live Podcast invited Rikesh Shah, Head of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre, Jenny Beresford-Jones, Senior Legal Advisor, for Mills & Reeve LLP and Shailee Howard, Partner at Mills & Reeve LLP to tell us about their new Procuring innovation playbook.
What are the main public procurement myths than can stop us from harnessing innovation?
How do we switch to an innovation mindset when undertaking public sector procurement? Should we focus on desired outcomes rather than products?
How important is engagement – both internally with colleagues in different professions and externally with the market?
How can we simplify the complexity - and burden - of public procurement for innovative SMEs and start-ups?
Are there different procurement routes that can be incorporated into the overall programme? And what role does the Central Digital Platform play?
Coming up next: a deep dive into two key resources to help you unlock innovation in public procurement:
A Practical Guide to Pre-Market Engagement - created by IPEC with procurement specialists Gardiner & Theobald
Westminster’s journey with IPEC – The council joined last year’s Cohort to explore how they could harness procurement to procure and deliver an innovative solution to help improve air quality from the numerous commercial cooking operations in its area.
Further info:
Procuring innovation playbook: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/procuring-innovation-playbook/
Sentiment Analysis 2025 questionnaire: https://ortuser.co.uk/ipec-survey
Sentiment Analysis 2024 findings: https://www.ipec.org.uk/news/sentiment-analysis2/
Pre market engagement guide: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/a-practical-guide-to-pre-market-engagement/
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Rikesh Shah, head of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre – IPEC, part of the Connected Catapult, talks to the UKA Live podcast about how the now in force Procurement Act 2023 opens up opportunities to use procurement to drive innovation.
The UK public sector spends over £380bn annually on goods and services, but as public sector budgets are increasingly strained and demand for services increases there is never enough. Innovation in the solutions to public sector problems is key – the sector needs to become more innovative in how it buys, and focus on the outcomes needed rather than replacing ‘like for like’.
IPEC was created to explore how procurement can be harnessed to drive innovation and value for money.
I asked Rikesh Shah, the centre’s head, how this can be done:
What do we mean by innovation? And why is innovation often delivered through use of digital, data and technology?
Why do we need to get better at buying innovative solutions to public sector problems?
Why has procuring innovation been traditionally hard to do in the public sector? What are the main barriers?
What opportunities does the Procurement Act bring?
How can IPEC help local authorities and other public sector organisations to get better at procuring innovation?
Coming up next: a deep dive into two key resources to help you unlock innovation in public procurement:
Procuring Innovation Playbook - created by IPEC with lawyers Mills & Reeve
A Practical Guide to Pre-Market Engagement - created by IPEC with procurement specialists Gardiner & Theobald
Westminster’s journey with IPEC – The council joined last year’s Cohort to explore how they could harness procurement to procure and deliver an innovative solution to help improve air quality from the numerous commercial cooking operations in its area.
Further info:
Sentiment Analysis 2025 questionnaire: https://ortuser.co.uk/ipec-survey
Sentiment Analysis 2024 findings: https://www.ipec.org.uk/news/sentiment-analysis2/
Procuring innovation playbook: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/procuring-innovation-playbook/
Pre market engagement guide: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/a-practical-guide-to-pre-market-engagement/
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Rikesh Shah, head of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre – IPEC, part of the Connected Catapult, talks to the UKA Live podcast about how the now in force Procurement Act 2023 opens up opportunities to use procurement to drive innovation.
The UK public sector spends over £380bn annually on goods and services, but as public sector budgets are increasingly strained and demand for services increases there is never enough. Innovation in the solutions to public sector problems is key – the sector needs to become more innovative in how it buys, and focus on the outcomes needed rather than replacing ‘like for like’.
IPEC was created to explore how procurement can be harnessed to drive innovation and value for money.
I asked Rikesh Shah, the centre’s head, how this can be done:
What do we mean by innovation? And why is innovation often delivered through use of digital, data and technology?
Why do we need to get better at buying innovative solutions to public sector problems?
Why has procuring innovation been traditionally hard to do in the public sector? What are the main barriers?
What opportunities does the Procurement Act bring?
How can IPEC help local authorities and other public sector organisations to get better at procuring innovation?
Coming up next: a deep dive into two key resources to help you unlock innovation in public procurement:
Procuring Innovation Playbook - created by IPEC with lawyers Mills & Reeve
A Practical Guide to Pre-Market Engagement - created by IPEC with procurement specialists Gardiner & Theobald
Westminster’s journey with IPEC – The council joined last year’s Cohort to explore how they could harness procurement to procure and deliver an innovative solution to help improve air quality from the numerous commercial cooking operations in its area.
Further info:
Sentiment Analysis 2025 questionnaire: https://ortuser.co.uk/ipec-survey
Sentiment Analysis 2024 findings: https://www.ipec.org.uk/news/sentiment-analysis2/
Procuring innovation playbook: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/procuring-innovation-playbook/
Pre market engagement guide: https://www.ipec.org.uk/resource/a-practical-guide-to-pre-market-engagement/
Monday Mar 03, 2025
Monday Mar 03, 2025
Doing planning differently, pt 3 - A sense of community
Every large-scale programme sets itself the goal of building a community but many fall by the wayside. MHCLG’s Open Digital Planning, however, has delivered a thriving community ‘engine’ driving engagement, two way communication and a common sense of purpose.
Matt Wood-Hill, ODP service owner and Tom Lowndes, programme manager, from Open Digital Planning at MHCLG; and Sarah Norman, senior delivery manager, at delivery partner, TPXimpact, join this episode of the UKA Live podcast to tell us how this was built and the key factors in its success.
Did you set out to create an ODP community?
Why did you need large scale, interactive communication?
Why do you need community managers?
What technologies are you using to underpin it?
How impactful has this been?
What advice would you give others setting out to do the same?
Further info:
Learn more about Open Digital Planning: https://opendigitalplanning.org/
Follow developments on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/open-digital-planning
Contact the ODP team: digitalplanningteam@communities.gov.uk
Learn more about TPXimpact’s expertise in transforming place and infrastructure: https://www.tpximpact.com/place-and-infrastructure
Follow developments on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tpximpact/
Monday Mar 03, 2025
Monday Mar 03, 2025
Doing planning differently, pt 3 - What has made MHCLG’s Open Digital Planning initiative so successful? And can that be replicated?
Every large-scale programme sets itself the goal of building a community but many fall by the wayside. MHCLG’s Open Digital Planning, however, has delivered a thriving community ‘engine’ driving engagement, two way communication and a common sense of purpose.
Matt Wood-Hill, ODP service owner and Tom Lowndes, programme manager, from Open Digital Planning at MHCLG; and Sarah Norman, senior delivery manager, at delivery partner, TPXimpact, join this episode of the UKA Live podcast to tell us how this was built and the key factors in its success.
Did you set out to create an ODP community?
Why did you need large scale, interactive communication?
Why do you need community managers?
What technologies are you using to underpin it?
How impactful has this been?
What advice would you give others setting out to do the same?
Further info:
Learn more about Open Digital Planning: https://opendigitalplanning.org/
Follow developments on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/open-digital-planning
Contact the ODP team: digitalplanningteam@communities.gov.uk
Learn more about TPXimpact’s expertise in transforming place and infrastructure: https://www.tpximpact.com/place-and-infrastructure
Follow developments on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tpximpact/