Creation of CCS

1.9  In 2010 we reviewed the government's progress in improving the way it buys common goods and services. We found that, while the government had made some improvements, there was still significant potential to obtain better value from buying common goods and services.2 In 2013 we found that the government had made progress and had centralised a greater proportion of spending on common goods and service. However, it had yet to achieve full value for money from its reforms. In particular, we highlighted problems such as ineffective governance structures, unrealistic targets, incomplete data and weaknesses in the management of central contracts.3

1.10 In 2013 the Cabinet Committee on Efficiency and Reform, with the support of the Civil Service Board, decided that the government was paying more than it should for many basic commodities and that it regularly failed to achieve value for money from its purchase of common goods and services. The Committee thought that the previous approach, which allowed departments to choose when to use the buying frameworks created by the Government Procurement Service, meant that prices and quality of goods and services across departments were inconsistent. To address this, the Cabinet Office created CCS in April 2014. The new organisation took over the activities of the former Government Procurement Service, and included four roles from other parts of the Cabinet Office:

•  developing procurement policies for the UK public sector;

•  advising and supporting departments on complex procurements;

•  managing the government's strategically important suppliers; and

•  developing and strengthening commercial capability across government departments.

1.11  As well as creating these new roles, the Cabinet Office introduced an important change: it made it mandatory for departments to use CCS to buy common goods and services. Although government departments had previously bought common goods and services centrally, it was the first time that it was mandatory to do so (Figure 4 overleaf).

The government has bought common goods and services centrally since 1991

In April 2014 the government created CCS, building on the Government Procurement Service. It was mandatory for all central government departments to use CCS

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2  National Audit Office and Audit Commission, A review of collaborative procurement, May 2010.

3  Comptroller and Auditor General, Improving government procurement, Session 2012-13, HC 996, National Audit Office, February 2013.