In times of disaster, help can be hard to find. Just ask the people of Lismore, who in 2022 faced unprecedented flooding that left homes destroyed, businesses in ruins, and communities cut off. One of the biggest challenges? Getting the right people and resources on the ground, fast.
Luke Kenny, CEO of Local Government Procurement (LGP), understands this all too well.
“Procurement was never more popular than during the COVID pandemic. Procurement was a rockstar then, sourcing face masks, rapid-testing kits, PPE… Now, we’re leveraging what we did then and applying it to times of disaster.”
Today, LGP is leading the charge with a new Disaster Response Solution (DRS), ensuring that local councils in New South Wales have access to the goods and services they need to prepare and respond when a catastrophe strikes.
A Game-Changer for Councils in Crisis
The new LGP DRS is poised to revolutionise how councils source essential services in an unfolding natural disaster by giving them access to up to 15,000 pre-approved suppliers without delay.
Through a memorandum of understanding, LGP has partnered with Forge Solutions, which serves as the first point of contact for DRS councils during a disaster. Council staff no longer need to navigate complex and time-consuming emergency sourcing activity. Instead, they simply call one dedicated number, triggering the Forge Solutions team to light up the DRS, rapidly coordinating local and LGP providers, and additional resources as needed.
According to Kenny, the DRS is designed around a supplier sourcing hierarchy. Each participating council configures its DRS model to best suit local risks and recovery needs.
Below is an example:
- First Line of Engagement – Council Preferred Local suppliers: DRS instructed to first engage and confirm availability of nominated local providers.
- Second Line of Engagement – LGP Approved Panel Suppliers: DRS briefs agreed suppliers from agreed LGP panel contracts.
- Third Line of Engagement – Forge Solutions Sub-Contractor Network: The DRS taps into a contingent sub-contractor network manages by Forge Solutions to supplement the first two lines of engagement.
Importantly, in establishing the configured DRS model for a council, LGP work to provide fixed pricing upon engagement. This new solution protects councils from customer exploitation and ‘surge pricing’ by contractors taking advantage of distressed customers who have no other option but pay inflated prices. This was identified as a critical factor during the major floods in 2022.
“If councils don’t know who to call or trust, we have suppliers ready. They might be out of region, and somewhere else in NSW, but we can make sure they are pre-engaged and have them lined up and ready to go. We bring supplier contingency to the table and price certainty.”
Cutting Red Tape, Speeding Up Recovery
Time is critical in disaster recovery, and traditional procurement processes can be a major roadblock. Without an established contract, councils can spend months securing the necessary services. LGP’s DRS eliminates this delay.
“With an LGP contract, councils don’t need to go to tender to engage contractors. The tender process can hold up community safety and recovery efforts by months. Under our new DRS model, a council could see crucial supplies and essential services arriving in 12–48 hours, as opposed to 4–5 months if they have to go to tender.”
The cost? Depending on the council configuration, the initial set up of the DRS model, ongoing maintenance, and a dedicated partnership with Forge Solutions might only cost $1,000 per month, ensuring on call operational teams are available when needed.
“Additional fees apply when a disaster occurs, but they are capped, and we expect they can be recouped through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) when enacted for a declared event.”
Data-Driven Preparedness
To ensure the most at-risk councils are prioritised, LGP has used artificial intelligence to scan the community strategic plans of all 128 local councils in NSW. By analysing keywords related to disaster vulnerability, LGP has identified a set of priority councils it believes could be in urgent need of supply chain configuration and disaster response planning. It is these councils LGP will talk to first.
Collaboration and Transparency in Procurement
Kenny believes that procurement can be more than a bunch of ‘process police’ creating 500-page tenders. “This ‘disaster procurement’ strategy is a great opportunity to demonstrate how procurement as a function can sit on the frontline, speed up community support and deliver innovative new value to NSW councils.
“By creating a transparent and cooperative procurement model, LGP is ensuring that when the next natural disaster hits, councils won’t be scrambling to find solutions -they’ll already have one in place.”
For further information please contact Luke Kenny: lkenny@lgp.org.au
Article: Liz Ginis, Director Communications & Marketing, RDA Sydney
Images courtesy: Forge Solutions
