Government to speed up ICT procurement by 40 per cent

The average cost of procurement in the UK is currently £46,000, compared with about £19,000 in France

Francis Maude has today launched a raft of measures that will improve the way government, the biggest single buyer of ICT services in the UK, does business with suppliers.

Key measures announced today will see a 40 per cent increase in the speed of procurement. They will also make the procurement process more transparent by publishing £50bn of potential business online, and improve collaboration with business at a much earlier stage in the procurement process.

This increase in speed will also reduce the cost of procurement, which is currently about £46,000, compared with about £19,000 in France.

The announcement was made by Francis Maude at an event held in London today, dubbed The Crown and Suppliers - A new way of working.

The measures follow research conducted for the government's growth review, which due to be published on 29 November. It details how a lack of certainty about government buying decisions has prevented suppliers from "investing, tooling up and preparing to compete effectively with others in the market for public sector business," according to a statement.

The government will release details of £50bn of potential business online from tomorrow.

It will also forecast potential contracts worth more than £5m, and approximately 150 opportunities will be made available.

By next April, government departments will have published rolling medium-term pipelines for its construction and infrastructure projects including those in ICT.

The Cabinet Office has said it will work with departments to ensure SMEs can access the value of procurement, by encouraging or challenging prime contractors to do more, or breaking up large contracts.

It will also be 40 per cent faster to do business with government. All but the most complex procurement processes will be completed within 120 days from January 2012; the procurement process currently takes an average of 200 days.

Government to speed up ICT procurement by 40 per cent

The average cost of procurement in the UK is currently £46,000, compared with about £19,000 in France

The government has said it will reduce the time it takes to procure services by engaging earlier and more openly with business and the wider supply chain. This will provide the certainty and visibility of the forward pipeline to unlock investment.

Following EU directives has been one reason that the government procurement process has been so lengthy, and the government will negotiate in the EU for a radical simplification of the law. Francis Maude will travel to Brussels on Monday evening to argue the government's case.

In addition, civil servants responsible for running major procurements will be trained in the government's new approach.

"We need to make things better for business in the UK – the current system isn't working. UK-based suppliers are finding themselves excluded, opportunities for growth are being missed due to the public sector's timidity and carrying out a procurement in the UK costs more than twice as much as in France. This is wrong from every point of view," said Maude.

"While other countries develop long-term relationships with business, this country appears to have taken a rather less successful formal and legalistic approach, failing to think beyond the immediate contract and adequately support our businesses."