1.6 Good procurement means getting value for money - that is, buying a product that is fit for purpose, taking account of the whole-life cost. A good procurement process should also be delivered efficiently, to limit the time and expense for the parties involved. Successful procurement is good for the public, good for the taxpayer, and good for businesses supplying government.
1.7 While there is no single method that will guarantee the delivery of those objectives for all procurements, the following general principles set out the key steps to successful procurement in most cases. A procuring authority should:
• be clear on the objectives of the procurement from the outset;
• be aware of external factors that will impact on the procurement such as the policy environment or planning issues;
• communicate those objectives to potential suppliers at an early stage, to gauge the market's ability to deliver and explore a range of possible solutions;
• consider using an output or outcome based specification, to give suppliers - who naturally know more about their business than potential buyers - more scope to provide innovative solutions to solve the underlying problem the procurement is designed to deal with, rather than deciding what the precise solution should be at the outset;
• follow a competitive, efficient, fair and transparent procurement process, and communicate to potential suppliers at the outset what that process will be. This will give suppliers greater certainty about the costs and benefits to them of submitting a bid, which should encourage effective competition. As all suppliers have the same knowledge going into the process, and will be assessed in the same way, the successful bidder can be chosen purely on its ability to provide the best solution;
• be clear about affordability - the resources available to spend on the particular good or service. The procurer has to select on the basis of whole-life value for money, but in setting budgets for individual projects departments also need to make decisions about relative policy priorities and needs. If more is spent on one project than originally allocated, that will mean less is available for other priorities. Conversely, if savings are achieved, then these can be redeployed into frontline services; and
• establish effective contract management processes and resources in good time to drive excellent supplier performance throughout the contract.