<a href="https://www.mkfm.com/news/local-news/milton-keynes-mum-is-raising-money-for-syrian-refugees-by-living-off-their-food-rations-for-a-week/" target="_blank">Milton Keynes mum is raising money for Syrian refugees by living off their food rations for a week</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<font color="#6f6f6f">MKFM</font>

Milton Keynes mum is raising money for Syrian refugees by living off their food rations for a week - MKFM

IOE - UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

Director at EVR CONSULTING LIMITED

EVR CONSULTING LIMITED

Chief Executive Officer

Project Lead representing the Department for Education and the Education Funding Agency in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service for the EU wide procurement of the new ICT Service in Education Framework replacing the old Becta/DfE ICT Services Framework.

Department for Education

Project Lead

Programme Advisor to the Emirate-wide Mohammed Bin Rashid Smart Learning Program.  Rhian's role was to bring international best-practice procurement methods to this 400 publicly funded school programme. Rhian also devised and led the Service Quality Group, responsible for implementing and monitoring the performance of the managed service provider.  This work included implementing SLAs and KPI, establishing meaningful helpdesk reporting processes, and ensuring continued improvements in the quality of services provided to the programme and its schools.

Prime Minister's Office - UAE

Program Advisor

Supporting the Mohammed Bin Rashid Smart Learning Program develop its procurement strategy and processes for hardware, software, infrastructure and networking for all public schools in the UAE.  The work also includes leading on service quality and managing supply chain partners.

Education Impact

Associate Fellow

White Rock offers tailored procurement, operational and delivery support to building contractors which complements the contractor’s own skills and resources.  We work with clients that range from large international companies to regional SMEs. 

Our team’s unique mix of expertise comes from years of working on major programmes and projects for both the public and private sectors. Between us, we have led procurements on behalf of central and local government with a total value of over £10bn.
 
Rhian’s role within the organisation is to lead on the ICT elements of bids, operations and delivery on behalf of our construction partners for individual schools, batched school procurements and frameworks.

White Rock Services Limited

Director

EVR provides ICT and procurement consultancy services to a range of clients.  Our experience includes:

Working with construction companies to provide the following services:
• Leading on the ICT elements of framework or individual bids, operations and delivery for individual schools builds, batched school procurements/builds and frameworks
• Providing multi-party advice and guidance to design and construction teams
• Liaising with schools in pre-construction to deliver the ITT and CPs in-line with the DfE Output Specification 
• Co-ordinating with FF&E, M&E and the DfE during the construction phase for effective delivery of school buildings
• Net Zero Carbon advice and guidance
• ICT solution design and equipment provision for SRPs or any scheme requiring ICT


Working with ICT suppliers to:
• Assist those wishing to gain a better understanding DfE processes and practices
• Providing advice and guidance to those who bid on the CCS/DfE ICT frameworks on the style and content of bid responses
• Providing advice and guidance to suppliers re: their processes and practices when bidding on DfE funded schemes

Other:
• Providing strategic advice and guidance to MATs on their use of ICT 
 •Auditing schools to ensure all elements of ICT solution and support staff are providing best value for money
• Supporting Governments and their agencies in procurement strategies, processes and workforce streamlining 
• Providing guidance on international best-practice processes and procedures for successful, large scale procurements
• Developing the introduction of contractual terms & conditions and the use of SLAs all within the context of existing national legislative frameworks

Provided expert technical, procurement, educational and strategic advice to all aspects of Capital programmes
Managed the negotiation of key and complex issues with a range of stakeholders from education, commercial, technical & legal backgrounds
Wrote the ICT/M&E elements Functional Output Specification (Design Brief) documents for the Main Contractors’ Framework and the Regional Framework 
Reviewed & redeveloped the procurement process to reflect current best practice for use by all Free Schools, UTCs and Studio Schools nationally
Created standardised approaches to the support provided by the EFA for capital funded projects
Streamlined procedures and workloads within the ICT team 
Assisted in the creation of a funding allocation model currently applied to all capital projects
Conceived, designed & delivered all aspects of the multimillion pound capital funded procurement programme for Free Schools, UTCs and Studio Schools 
Conceived and led workshops to educate evaluation panels
UTC Lead achievements included the standardisation of financial planning advice to schools, and re-writing the feasibility and final business case requirements
Designed and delivered an end-to-end process from defining requirements to contact negotiatio and contract close
Redesigned the working practices of the ICT advisory team and managed staff accordingly 
Implemented QA practices throughout the team to enhance the procurement process
Provided training and guidance to colleagues in order to establish a level and consistency regarding process and programme delivery
Delivered tangible programme benefits including improved performance and quality standards
Provided high quality advice and guidance during the planning, development, implementation and early operational phases of capital and revenue funded projects
Designed the ICT elements of the new national Design & Build and Regional D&B frameworks

ICT Advisor

Work includes:
Oldham BSF programme 
Led client side delivery, working on behalf of the local authority with an emphasis on schools liaison during the competitive dialogue process; wrote the LA Secondary ICT Strategy and Output Specification; represented all Oldham BSF schools in IPD1/2 stages of competitive dialogue; led an ICT steering group and proving advice and guidance to the Oldham Secondary Heads group.

South Wolverhampton & Bilston Academy and the North East Wolverhampton Academy 
Wrote and supported the implementation of the strategic development plan for the Academies; led the strategic integration of the Academies into the wider BSF programme; undertook complex contract negotiations with the Local Authority on behalf of the Academies.

University of Chester Academies Trust
Led the delivery of educational ICT consultancy to UCAT and led the procurement of a Trust wide partner for ICT.  Tasks involved advising Trust Board members on best practice in procurement, achieving value for money, contract negotiation and contract management.

Sir Robert Woodard Academy, Littlehampton Academy & Astor of Hever Academy for the Woodard Academies Group
Led the Strategic Integration of ICT into both Academies and built consensus for an educationally focused ICT ‘harmonisation’ and procurement strategy across all Woodard Trust Academies.  Lead consultant on the procurement of a Trust wide ICT partner.

Hammersmith and Fulham BSF Programme 
Lead consultant for the development of their BSF Outline Business Case and adviser to the Local Authority during their PITT, ITT, IPD1 and IPD2 stages of their BSF procurement. Work included consensus building with all H&F schools in the BSF programme.

Novatia

Principal Consultant

	Provided technical, curriculum and procurement advice and guidance during the planning, development, implementation and early operational phases of all Capital Building projects within local government office regions; ensured that Becta’s standards, guidance and tools were embedded into Capital Building programmes and contributed to the achievement of national targets. 
	Ensured appropriate spending of funds, in line with public sector procurement requirements and provided budgetary and staffing advice to schools. 
	Wrote key guidance documentation for appropriate stakeholder groups on all Capital Build programmes. 
	Ensured co-ordinated, high quality support to enable the successful delivery of major government programmes such as Building Schools for the Future, Academies, One School Pathfinders and the Primary Capital Programme. 
	Reviewed, provided feedback and signed off documentation for funding agreements, Outline Business Cases and Final Business Cases on behalf of the DfE.  Included ICT Visions, PfS BSF ICT Output Specification as well as Functional and Technical specifications. 
	Knowledge and understanding of national policies, and initiatives in education, the e-strategy and the role of ICT in transforming schools, keeping up to date with developments, legislation, EU procurement procedures and best practice in Education.

Rhian Evans