Sarah Green column
Jan 30 2007 By Sarah Green, The Journal
Transforming public procurement is a key aim of CBI North-East. In a region with a high public sector spend, well used procurement budgets can have significant impact on building capacity in the private and third sector as well as supporting the delivery of social objectives including tackling worklessness and diversity.
Good procurement encourages choice and competition in public services which encourages efficiency and innovation, meaning that the taxpayer gets better value.
Public procurement is big business: the Government spends £150bn a year in the UK. But do we make strategic use of this money and get optimal outputs from it? How easily are firms able to access this market?
To date, much of the focus on public procurement has been on the need to inject greater efficiency and ensure value for money.
To deliver quality in public services and improve outcomes with fewer resources will require public sector commissioners to place an ever-greater focus on ensuring they deliver value for money when procuring goods, facilities and services. There is scope for further efficiency savings through implementing better procurement practices.
We welcomed the Office of Government Commerce Report Transforming Government Procurement, which is a major triumph for the campaigning work of the CBI on competitive neutrality and procurement.
As the report itself notes: "The CBI has produced three reports covering various aspects of public procurement...
"These reports make a wide range of recommendations about how to improve public procurement to deliver better public services at good value for many from an efficient process.
"The Government agrees with much of the analysis and the recommendations in these reports, many of which are incorporated and have helped shape the detailed plans set out in this document."
Among these recommendations are plans for: rigorous external scrutiny for complex projects; an outcome-based and whole-life value approach to procurement; raising procurement capacity within departments; introducing a clear procurement framework setting cross-departmental standards for procurement; and an informal complaints procedure for suppliers to report concerns about the failure of departments to follow standard procedures.
Proof of the pudding will, as always, be in the eating, and we are looking forward to contributing what we can to ensure the reforms prove to be a success. In the meantime, this is direct evidence that our lobbying is not going unnoticed and that we can and do make a difference.
