A.38 Many respondents considered that there was a need to improve public sector procurement skills. The most common reform suggestion raised to address the perceived skills deficit was the proposal for greater centralisation and improved professionalism of public sector procurement. Other proposals included improved guidance on the pre-procurement phase and improved training for public sector procurers.
A.39 Many responses suggested reform proposals that sought to streamline PFI procurement. A number of the responses suggested that the public sector should seek to provide greater clarity in its requirement prior to issuing the project's OJEU notice. Other responses put forward various models that supported greater contractor involvement earlier in the project and working to a brief that was less prescriptive but specified the outputs required. A number of respondents also urged government to take a more pragmatic approach to the level of detail and quantity of information required in bid submissions.
A.40 Many responses suggested greater standardisation of contractual documents could help to streamline the procurement process. Some responses suggested the use of competitive dialogue in PFI procurements had been a cause of delay and that the use of the negotiated or restricted procedure should be considered. Some responses called for the change protocol to be reviewed and simplified.
A.41 A number of responses suggested that government should set clear timetables for the procurement process and ensure projects adhere to these. Connected to this was the suggestion to introduce bid bonds or incentive mechanisms for procuring authorities. Others suggested the number of bidders should be reduced earlier in the process and that the competition could be shortened. Others considered that the approval process was a cause of procurement delay. A number of responses also requested that good intelligence on the future pipeline and transparency over the approval process was provided.
A.42 Many responses also considered that there is a need to improve public sector contract management skills. The measures proposed to address this issue included improved guidance for the contract management phase and greater training for public sector contract managers. It was also considered that investment in ongoing contract management could be a condition of claw-back grant funding. Some responses suggested that more continuity and communication between the procurement team and the contract management team would also lead to improvements.