IDentislot CIC procurement, partnership & community opportunities

IDentislot CIC, What's a CIC?

CIC is an abbreviation for Community Interest Company; it's a new type of company, designed for social enterprises that want to use their profits and assets for the public good. CICs have a statutory "Asset Lock" to prevent the assets and profits being distributed, except as permitted by legislation. This ensures the assets and profits are retained within the CIC for community purposes.

Why buy from a CIC & Social Enterprise Sector?

The National Procurement Strategy for Local Government sets out a range of strategic objectives and milestones for better local government procurement. The vision in the National Strategy is that by 2006 all local authorities will have adopted 'world call' practices in procurement, not least by:

• Realising economic, social and environmental benefits for their communities through procurement activities;
• Operating a mixed economy of suppliers, including small firms, social enterprises, minority businesses and voluntary and community sector groups; and
• Stimulating markets and using buying power to drive innovation.

Meeting more than one objective

Public bodies are increasingly required to achieve additional social and environmental benefits ('community benefits') through their procurement function to further their corporate objectives. The Audit Commission’s 2002 report Competitive procurement states that:

'…it is important …to take account of outcomes that are genuinely of strategic importance to the authority, so as to ensure that the outcomes sought from procurement are fully consistent with the authority’s broader aims and objectives. These may include environmental and social concerns, so long as these are not handled in a way that discriminates against potential suppliers or are invested with disproportionate importance.'
The national Strategy, which requires public bodies to link their overall community goals (for example those set out in the Community Strategy), explicitly highlights the need to link procurement to local social, environmental and economic impact. It encourages local authorities to:
'…submit optional, priced proposals for the delivery of specified community benefits which are relevant to the contract and add value to the Community Strategy.'
There is also scope for going even further by integrating 'additional benefits' into the core contract specification itself.

What's the next step?

• A good starting point is to find out about social enterprise, does someone else in your organisation have responsibility for social enterprise, for example in the Regeneration or Economic Development teams?
• Work with social enterprise support organisations and networks, to raise awareness of the opportunities for suppliers and encourage social enterprises to bid for contracts;
• Arrange regular 'meet the buyer' days, as they are good way to engage with social enterprises that are operating.
• Ensure that social enterprises are aware of upcoming opportunities and encouraged to bid for advertised tenders.
• Organise 'supplier meetings' where potential prime contractors and sub-contractors can get together. It is even possible to encourage prime contractors to work with social enterprises to achieve additional social and environmental benefits through their supply chains. Alternatively, consortia bids are another way in which small businesses can tackle large procurements.

IDENTISLOT
BOGUS CALLER COMMUNITY FUND

Background

Doorstep crime amongst many other crimes of today is a sad reflection on the reality of living in a modern day materialistic world. Doorstep crime is without doubt one of the most despicable and socially unacceptable crimes of our time. The criminals actively involved in doorstep crime activities show no regard what so ever for their victims who in the main are older and vulnerable adults.

Cost of the crime

The cost of this crime is almost incalculable, because there are so many factors to consider:

• Physical cost of items stolen
• Cost of a victims trauma, health and well-being
• Psychological Cost to the Family
• Cost in the Police time and both reactive and proactive
• Cost to the Local Authority
• Cost to the agencies supporting a victim
• Cost of reactive works to secure a victims home
• Cost to peoples lives, feeling safe, being safe in your own home

Standardisation

What's happening around the Country
There are many organisations working hard to help reduce the opportunities for these criminals and to help support victims, most of these organisations are embarking on local initiatives all providing advice and some door security devices (ie door chain / limiter, mirror and door sticker).

Problem
All of the projects being delivered across the country still require the recipients to OPEN THEIR DOOR to strangers when carrying out their assessment process.
Immediately, as the door is opened even the smallest opportunity for the stranger to gain entry is given to the caller, which means that the occupier/ recipient of the community safety initiative is vulnerable to a crime being committed against them. This is particularly a problem for repeat victims who are nervous of any stranger following a doorstep crime, and in some cases are even to frightened to answer their door, living in fear of the crime and not feeling safe in their own home.

It is believed that more than 250,000 people every year (Age Concern Survey of Britain 2003) fall victim to bad experiences of a stranger on the doorstep, including doorstep crimes.

Long-term solution
If any solution is going to be successful in the future, then control and the confidence to deal with strangers at the door has to be given to each individual home occupier.

There needs to be a wholesale change in doorstep behaviour, both from a home occupiers point and from a commercial companies point. It is vital that in the future home occupiers have the ability to realise that they need to enforce good doorstep practice and not to allow strange callers the opportunity of gaining access without a bonifide appointment first being arranged.
If this happens then bogus callers and rogue traders as we know them will not be able to carry out their crimes, (due to a better prepared and confident home occupiers) and aggressive sales people from legitimate companies will find it much harder to sell without first having the courtesy to make an appointment. (If the door remains closed the occupier has the time and reassurance to send a stranger away and never open their door)

Only by being in control and confident, can a home occupier successfully turn unsolicited callers away with out any fear of repercussion. To enable the home occupier to successfully assess any strangers at the door, the door must remain closed until the home occupier has completed the necessary precautionary checks.

IDentislot has many proven benefits and allows the home occupier to keep the door locked throughout the assessment process, ensuring that the home occupier is fully in control and has the confidence to safely assess the caller.

Deterrent
Every door fitted with an IDentislot immediately provides a psychological barrier to the stranger, the IDentislot helps to deter callers by:

• Providing a visual deterrent
• Slowing down the process of gaining access
• Providing a physical barrier against unsolicited callers
• Giving confidence and control to the home occupier
• Allowing the home occupier to receive, assess and return a callers ID Card without ever opening the door
• Providing a real opportunity to standardise doorstep good practise across the board, domestically and commercially

Community Fund

What will the fund be used for?

The community fund will be used to reduce the opportunity for doorstep crime, and to reduce the fear of bogus caller crime amongst our communities by:

• Widening the use of IDentislot across the Country
• Educating the communities against bogus callers and bad doorstep activities
• Standardising good doorstep practice
• Helping victims of bogus caller crime
• Educating commercial companies about the need to change door step selling / home service provision practices
• Supporting Public Agencies in the fight against doorstep crime
• Supporting local initiatives and encouraging the use of IDentislot
• Encouraging local enterprise and employment
• Carrying out innovative awareness campaigns Nationally, Regionally and Locally