1. On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office and the Crown Commercial Service on progress with buying common goods and services centrally.1
2. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is a government agency and trading fund established on 1 April 2014 to replace the Government Procurement Service. It delivers services such as advice on complex procurement, commercial capability development, the creation and management of procurement frameworks and buying services for central government and public sector organisations. In 2015-16 CCS bought around £2.5 billion of goods and services for central government departments and some £12.8 billion was spent by departments and the wider public sector to purchase goods and services using CCS framework contracts.2
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1 C&AG's report, Crown Commercial Service, Session 2016-17, HC 786, 10 January 2017