8.10 It remains an overall Government priority to improve general procurement skills across the public sector. A lasting step-change in the quality of public services in the UK can only be achieved if Government and the public sector have the skill sets necessary to ensure that public investment projects deliver value for money improvements in frontline public service facilities. Addressing this need to upgrade procurement skills is a part of the OGC's 'Successful Delivery Skills' programme, a framework of assessment against an agreed benchmark and training in public sector delivery skills.
8.11 The OGC's latest figures from its Gateway process across the public sector's procurement programme, up to April 2003, indicate a number of systemic weaknesses. These included a weakness in identifying the adequate skills and business resources for investment projects. The Successful Delivery Skills programme aims to address this by providing a benchmark level for each of the common programme and project management roles against which the potential project team members can be assessed before the start of the project. This drive to improve the procurement skills of the public sector can, in the context of PFI, ensure that the right value for money options are identified, and that the process is effectively managed to ensure smooth and cost-effective delivery investment in public services.
8.12 OGC has supported Centres of Excellence in departments that bring together the essential functions needed to support the successful delivery of programmes and projects, the aim of which is to ensure there is:
• coherent upward reporting to the management board on its key programmes and projects to support effective decision making;
• timely sharing of information and lessons learned through outward relationships with departments and beyond; and
• inward support to help delivery programmes and projects with the right expertise when they need it.
8.13 Further improvements in this area need to focus on both the quality of public sector procurement skills and on the way in which they are utilised. Public sector managers need to:
• be skilled enough to assess procurement options over the long term;
• effectively identify the value for money option, not simply opt for the least-cost option, including taking full account of the quality of design in bids;
• negotiate effectively with the private sector;
• apply skills with sufficient confidence to ensure that appraisal is a real test of procurement, and not an exercise in fulfilling set criteria without regard to a wider view of which option is in the public interest; and
• carry out the evaluation and management of investment delivery in a way that ensures that the public sector is accountable for both the public money which it spends and the public services which it provides.
A key challenge for managers is understanding the contribution high quality design can make to raising the standards of service in line with public expectations, and to greater cost effectiveness in service delivery and asset maintenance over time. Box 8.1 explains the Goverment's approach.
Box 8.1 Design and PFI - the CABE report Good design in public buildings is a priority of the Government, and evaluation of bids in PFI should place the proper weight on the design quality of options presented. Procuring authorities need to extract the benefits in design and whole life costing which PFI potentially offers by making sure they select bids on an a comprehensive assessment of their quality, including the merits of their design. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment 'CABE' was established to promote high standards in the design of public buildings. It aims to help public bodies towards improved performance as a client, so that public buildings are known for their design quality. Sound, creative design is an essential ingredient in delivering value for money; and through the working life of a building, design excellence can make service delivery more efficient, and enhance the working environment for all those that use public buildings. To ensure the public sector receives a high quality of design from public procurement in PFI projects, the OGC published 'Improving the Standards of Design in the Procurement of Public Buildings' in conjunction with CABE in October 2002. The report highlighted the importance of ensuring the public procurement process produced buildings that facilitated the delivery of high quality services and which provided optimal value to the tax payer. The report set out 11 recommendations to ensure the implementation of good design in PFI. An example of how some of the CABE recommendations are being applied in practice is the DfES plans for exemplar school design, described in further detail in paragraph 8.40. Recent evidence from the NAO indicates that the standard of design in PFI is highly rated. Its survey of departments and project managers reported three quarters of both Departments and projects teams rated the design quality of their PFI projects as good or very good, and none as less than adequate. To date, PFI buildings have been twice nominated for the Prime Minister's award: the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the Cumberland Infirmary. |