Procurement For Housing Agency Labour Agreement

A radical overhaul of the social housing staffing sector will come into force in January limiting the number of recruitment agencies permitted to supply staff..

The unique Agency Labour agreement, developed by Procurement for Housing (PfH), is new deal is designed to create a strategic approach to labour purchasing and put housing providers more in control and save them money on commission rates and finders fees to Recruitment Agencies..

An EU compliant framework agreement has been drawn up and seven local and national suppliers have been appointed, providing UK wide coverage. Suppliers include Better Healthcare, Beresford Blake Thomas, Blue Arrow/ Blue Arrow Care, Eden Brown, Enterprise, Hays and Reed Healthcare.

It is thought that Housing organisations using the Agreement can make between 30-40% savings on commission rates, save up to 100% on finder's fees and temp-perm costs as well as benefiting from discounts for extended employment.

It is thought that a significant 80% will be saved on any VAT costs where VAT mitigation is applied. PfH Members will pay fixed agency commission rates with separate charges for specialist suppliers, for example housing services, office services and health/ social care providers.

Julie Craig, Director of PfH said: "This is a very exciting agreement for our Members as labour procurement accounts for a huge spend in the housing sector. We're aiming to put housing organisations back in control of purchasing agency staff by managing suppliers on their behalf, creating clarity within a complex area of spend through transparent invoicing and regulating commission rates to generate significant cost savings."