Appendix One Our audit approach

1  This study looked at what the government has done to make the public sector marketplace more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs). We examined:

•  the government's reasons for using SMEs;

•  progress in increasing the government's use of SMEs;

•  progress in addressing barriers SMEs face when bidding for government contracts; and

•  the government's remaining challenges in delivering the 2020 SME target.

2  We did not audit the value for money offered by SMEs compared with other providers for individual contracts.

3  Our audit approach is summarised in Figure 9. Our evidence base is described in Appendix Two.