Implementing the new model of mandatory joint buying - creating CCS

1.17 In its original business plan, the Cabinet Office set out its aim to transfer procurement responsibilities from departments to CCS to achieve the significant benefits it thought were available. It therefore developed an ambitious plan to transfer procurement responsibilities from eight departments to CCS in its first year of operation and a further three departments in 2015-16. By April 2017, the Cabinet Office expected CCS would procure common goods and services on behalf of all government departments.

1.18 Key steps in implementing this plan included:

a  creating a joint project team for each department consisting of staff from CCS and the department;

b  analysing the activities of teams that were buying common goods and services;

c  identifying the people who were buying common goods and services;

d  prioritising the areas of common goods and services for transition to CCS: departments and CCS referred to these areas as transition 'waves', which would be transferred according to schedules agreed between CCS and departments; and

e  preparing a mini business case for each department that set out baseline activity, costs and benefits.

1.19  The transition was managed in accordance with all of these steps, except that mini business cases for each department were not prepared.

CCS was expected to change the way common goods and services are bought

Departments would transfer spend to CCS's management, and reduce their use of government frameworks. The wider public sector would increase its use of government frameworks

Original CCS Business plan's projected central government spend on common goods and services (£m)

Original CCS business plan's projected wider public sector spend through frameworks (£m)

Notes

1  Actual spend managed by CCS for departments is reported in Figure 8 on page 28.

2  Actual spend by wider public sector through CCS frameworks was £6.3 billion in 2013-14 and £6 billion in 2015-16.