It is a priority of the Government to ensure that it has the right skills and support mechanisms in place for the public sector to deliver on the reform and renewal of public services. The Government recognises the need to improve procurement skills and ensure that procuring authorities have the capacity and support to pursue both conventional procurement and PFI effectively. By improving in its role as public sector client, the Government helps: • enable authorities to focus more effectively on securing overall value for money, taking in whole-of-life costs, allowing scope for innovative design and using discretion and good judgment in evaluating procurement options; • increase the speed with which investment is delivered to the public by reducing time spent in procurement; • reduce the cost to the public sector of procuring PFI projects, improving their value for money; and • by being a better client, encourage the private sector to bid for PFI projects, strengthening competition and innovation in PFI. Future steps to improve the capacity of the public sector client in PFI will help address the remaining concerns of the private sector over the costs of bidding for PFI projects and the potential for delay in the PFI procurement process. |