| Box 1.1: Summary The Government has improved its procurement capability in recent years, in particular with the establishment of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and OGCbuying.solutions in 2000, and a programme of Gateway reviews to foster better project management and delivery. The nature and complexity of public sector procurement is at least comparable to that in the private sector, and must be given at least similar priority as a result. The challenge is to meet the public's demands for increasingly high quality public services at good value for money and in a sustainable way. To do this the Government needs to harness the benefits that businesses can offer through their commercial expertise and ability to innovate, through a procurement function, including property asset management, that is increasingly adaptable, flexible and knowledgeable about the commercial world. To bring about the step-change required: • a higher calibre OGC will deliver the improved standards, focused on driving better value for money from procurement on a whole-life costing basis. The Chief Executive will become the professional head of the Government Procurement Service (GPS); • the Government will focus its top talent on its most complex and critical procurement projects, with a GPS that is flexible and able to focus resources where they can best be deployed; • recognising its importance to public service delivery and value for money, departments will strengthen their procurement capability with greater direction and support from the top; • departments will collaborate more in the purchase of goods and services common across more than one department, to get better value for money; and • a new Major Projects Review Group will ensure that the most important and complex projects are subject to effective scrutiny at the key stages. To drive this transformation the OGC will have strong powers to: • set out the procurement standards departments need to meet; • monitor departments' performance against them, and ensure remedial action is taken where necessary; • make sure that people with the right skills are in the right jobs with the right incentives; • demand departmental collaboration when buying common goods and services; and • work closely with the Major Projects Review Group to ensure that the most complex projects are subject to high standards of scrutiny and support when the business case is approved, and before proceeding to tender and contract signature. So that it is properly equipped to exercise those powers and oversee the changes needed across government, the OGC will: • focus on transforming procurement in central government; • be a smaller, higher calibre organisation; and • work closely with departments and suppliers to improve capacity and effectiveness. |