Public sector purchasing overhauled

All the contracts have been awarded for one of the public sector’s reshaped technology purchasing catalogues.

Catalist is the streamlined list of framework deals brokered by Treasury agency OGC buying.solutions (OGCbs).

It replaces a confusing array of predecessors, including Gcat, Scat, GTM and GTC.

Catalogues are designed to reduce the time and cost of procurements by pre-evaluating potential suppliers. OGCbs has 200 framework contracts with 600 suppliers, covering half a million products and services, a significant proportion of them technology-related.

In 2004/5 £2bn, or 10 per cent, of all public sector commodity buying was done through OGCbs catalogues. The aim is for that to rise to £3bn in 2005/6 and to £5bn by 2008.

Catalist is both a re-branding exercise to clear up the confusion of multiple overlapping lists and a re-structuring programme to ensure that UK public sector tendering conforms to European Union (EU) procurement law. It consists of 11 categories, each broken down into lots of about eight listed suppliers.

Rstructuring is also an opportunity to update the deals, says Stephen Heard, OGCbs director of customer relations.

‘The new system is in line with EU rules. It also refreshes the propositions offered to take advantage of changes in the market,’ he said.

The development of Catalist has not been without controversy, despite consultation between OGCbs and the industry. Supplier body Intellect has warned that revised categories with shorter lists could make it even harder for smaller suppliers to bid for government business.

And some vendors remain critical. ‘The industry is disillusioned and disappointed,’ said an industry source.

But OGCbs says it is a misconception that fewer suppliers will be included on the restructured lists. And there are some less well-known names on the IT goods and services list, including vendors such as Dabs.com, CCS Media and WStore.

Ovum analyst Tola Sargeant says there was no alternative but to change the old system.

‘OGCbs’ hands are tied by European regulations,’ she said.

The relevant EU directive which came into force on 31 January stipulates that users of framework deals must include all listed suppliers capable of delivering the requirement.

One of the old Scat catalogue categories listed 50 suppliers under one heading.

‘Having a big group undermines the aim of the catalogues to make things easier and quicker,’ said Sargeant.

Use of OGCbs frameworks is not mandatory, so usage numbers will be revealing.

‘Ultimately if the contracts are difficult to use or the pricing is wrong then they won’t get used,’ said Sargeant.

Catalist...in 30 seconds

How will the public sector catalogue affect purchasing?

• Catalist is the restructured catalogue of public sector framework deals brokered by Treasury agency OGC buying.solutions.
• The IT goods and servicescontracts have all been awarded and the list will open for business in May.
• The IT consulting category is also due for launch in May.
• Specialist contractors and environmental consulting sections are up and running.

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Threat to small suppliers

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