2.4 At the heart of any procurement are the people involved in carrying it out. To get goods and services that are consistently fit for purpose and value for money is challenging and requires people with specialist skills whether in the public or private sector. The Government needs to attract, develop and retain people in the Government Procurement Service (GPS) who:
• understand that procurement is directly linked with successful government and the delivery of services to the public;
• understand that good procurement is not just about driving down contract costs. The competitive process is a key driver of value for money, but does impose costs for buyers and suppliers. Developing longer-term relationships can allow suppliers better to meet buyers' requirements as they become more familiar with them; and
• do not retreat to the lowest price solution simply because it appears at first sight to be the most easily defensible. Government needs people who properly understand, and can apply, the principles of value for money on a whole-life costing basis.
2.5 These are not messages that should start and end with the GPS, but should also be taken to heart by senior managers throughout government. The Government will transform the GPS by:
• appointing the Chief Executive of the OGC as head of the service, to raise its status, in line with the approach taken in the Government Economic Service and Government Statistical Service;
• relaunching the service as the professional procurement body within government, extending from new entrants to the profession to the most senior procurement posts in government;
• identifying, as part of the new procurement capability reviews, those departments that should appoint procurement or commercial directors at board level or appropriately qualified non-executives;
• strengthening the links between the head of the service and the commercial directors and heads of procurement in departments, including involvement in their appointment and performance appraisal as appropriate;
• tailoring the professional services and membership of the GPS to align more closely with the requirements of those it serves;
• supporting those undertaking complex procurements by ensuring that the GPS is flexible enough to concentrate resource where it is best deployed, and by facilitating secondments within the public sector and between the public and private sectors;
• introducing new and flexible entry points into procurement roles in government, including a graduate entry scheme to be used across government, piloting a procurement option within the fast stream and developing a mid career procurement development scheme;
• raising the standards and status of procurement across government; and
• embedding common standards and skill sets across government procurers through a programme of training and development, to enable professionals who properly understand the principles of value for money on a whole-life costing basis to engage with the market in a sophisticated manner.
2.6 Work to develop the GPS and raise departmental procurement capability will be taken forward in close partnership with departments, alongside professional project management skills driven by the existing Professional Skills for Government programme. Integration between the disciplines of procurement and programme and project management typifies high performing organisations in the private sector.