By Richard Johnstone | 26 April 2012
The Cabinet Office has published details of £70bn worth of proposed government contracts, as part of its plans to be more open with suppliers.
The information is broken down into 13 different sectors, including construction, transport, property, medical devices and police equipment. It also covers some local government deals, mainly for highway maintenance. All the contracts are due to be signed in the next five years and some, such as for flood risk management, will last for decades.
Publishing information on the contracts will allow Whitehall and industry to work together to spot any gaps, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said.
He added: ‘Never before has a government been so open about its long-term business needs.
‘Publishing data on what we plan to buy – whether it’s tunnels or computers – means we can identify skills gaps sooner and give industry a heads up so UK businesses are in a better position to compete.’
The Cabinet Office hopes that providing more information will avoid the so-called ‘famine and feast’ procurement problem, where a lack of central data on projects across the country can lead to delays between deals. Such a start-stop work programme causes problems for supply chains, which could be avoided.
Today’s announcement is the latest step in reforms that the government says will ‘revolutionise’ what it buys from the private sector.
Other changes include a government-wide five-point procurement pledge which, as well as giving greater certainty over future demand, aims to operate an ‘open door policy’ for business, and provide a more streamlined procurement.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said the plan opened up ‘billions of pounds worth of potential opportunities for UK business’.
He added: ‘Frankly, we’ve been too short-term in how we’ve done procurement in the past. Our key competitors in Europe already see procurement as an integral part of a proper industrial strategy and it’s time we did the same.’
Also today, the Local Government Association launched a consultation on its own procurement pledge to provide better value for public money.
The Cabinet Office has published details of £70bn worth of proposed government contracts, as part of its plans to be more open with suppliers.
The information is broken down into 13 different sectors, including construction, transport, property, medical devices and police equipment. It also covers some local government deals, mainly for highway maintenance. All the contracts are due to be signed in the next five years and some, such as for flood risk management, will last for decades.
Publishing information on the contracts will allow Whitehall and industry to work together to spot any gaps, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said.
He added: ‘Never before has a government been so open about its long-term business needs.
‘Publishing data on what we plan to buy – whether it’s tunnels or computers – means we can identify skills gaps sooner and give industry a heads up so UK businesses are in a better position to compete.’
The Cabinet Office hopes that providing more information will avoid the so-called ‘famine and feast’ procurement problem, where a lack of central data on projects across the country can lead to delays between deals. Such a start-stop work programme causes problems for supply chains, which could be avoided.
Today’s announcement is the latest step in reforms that the government says will ‘revolutionise’ what it buys from the private sector.
Other changes include a government-wide five-point procurement pledge which, as well as giving greater certainty over future demand, aims to operate an ‘open door policy’ for business, and provide a more streamlined procurement.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said the plan opened up ‘billions of pounds worth of potential opportunities for UK business’.
He added: ‘Frankly, we’ve been too short-term in how we’ve done procurement in the past. Our key competitors in Europe already see procurement as an integral part of a proper industrial strategy and it’s time we did the same.’
Also today, the Local Government Association launched a consultation on its own procurement pledge to provide better value for public money.
