The creation of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) was announced in July 1999, following a review of procurement in central government by Peter Gershon.22 The OGC was established in April 2000, replacing the policy arm of the Treasury Taskforce. Its stated aim is to modernise procurement throughout government. OGC also represents the UK on procurement matters in Europe, at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and in other international fora.
OGC reports to the Chief Secretary of the Treasury. It has a supervisory board chaired by the Chief Secretary, and made up of Permanent Secretaries, including the Chief Executive of OGC, the Head of the National Audit Office (NAO), and senior external representatives. The OGC Chief Executive has an advisory group (CEAG) comprised of representatives from a wide range of Government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) whom, in the course of their duties, undertake a full range of civil government commercial activities.23 Within OGC, the Private Finance Unit (PFU) is responsible for developing and promoting PFI policy for public bodies. It works with customers, industry and utilises the services of Partnerships UK to identify and disseminate advice on best practice.
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21 More information about the OGC can be found on their web site: www.ogc.gov.uk
22 HM Treasury, Chief Executive-Office of Government Commerce, News release 15/00, 11 February 2000
23 A full list of members of the supervisory board and the CEAG of the OGC, as at 23 October 2001,appears in Appendix 3 o0f this Paper.