3.8 It is no longer clear whether CCS has a clear mandate that requires all departments to use it for direct buying. Its suspension of the transition plans means that it no longer has a clear timetable or expectation that further departments will transfer staff or buying functions to CCS.
3.9 In 2013 we concluded that government was not maximising the potential for purchasing through central procurement partly because there was no enforcement of the central mandate to use the Government Procurement Service. We also concluded that the success of the reforms cannot depend on whether government departments choose to cooperate. We have not seen government departments choose to use other shared services without a clear mandate to do so.
3.10 Without a clear mandate requiring departments to use CCS, there is a strong risk that departments will not increase their use of central buying and that government will fall well short of its ambitions for savings in common goods and services.
3.11 CCS's senior management told us that they believe that once CCS has demonstrated that it has improved service quality and is buying at competitive prices, departments will want CCS to buy on their behalf. However, CCS believes that once greater credibility has been established, a continued mandate will still be important. The experience of the past two years shows that a mandate is required along with the genuine buy-in of customers, supported by demonstrable improvements in service quality.