2.17 Establishing the 2004 Spending Review efficiency programme on a sound footing and ensuring its delivery has been one of the OGC's major achievements over the past two years. But going forward there needs to be a closer link between efficiency and financial controls. The OGC's success means that the Government can now mainstream efficiency as part of routine departmental financial management. As a result, responsibility for efficiency will transfer from the OGC to the Treasury later this year.
2.18 This means that in future the OGC will have a clear focus on its mission to transform public procurement. It will focus on procurement in central government, where its levers to effect change are greatest. But the OGC will continue to make its services available to the wider public sector where this can be done without detriment to its core work on central government.
2.19 In line with this sharper focus, the OGC will be a much smaller, higher-calibre organisation, able to lead and command the respect of the government procurement community.
2.20 As its executive agency, OGCb.s will align itself closely with the OGC and the Government procurement reform strategy. OGCb.s' successes to date demonstrate its future potential, and its new Chief Executive will produce a new strategy demonstrating clearly how this will be realised. Its experience in establishing government-wide procurement contracts means that it is well placed to become the Government's principal deliverer in its single approach to sourcing, but it will need further to transform itself to demonstrate that it offers the best option. Deals like OGCb.s' mobile phone framework and the DWP fleet vehicles contract must be more commonplace, with their usage more widespread and the subsequent savings more substantial. To meet this challenge, OGCb.s will further strengthen its own capacity in category and contract management, and supplier and customer relations, passing the resulting benefits back to its customers through a more efficient and effective service driven by procurement best practice.