I was fascinated by the recent article on ukauthority.com regarding perceived failings in National Procurement strategy.
The piece states:
Most local authorities are failing to identify any savings from following the National Procurement Strategy, of which e-procurement and e-tendering is one of the key features, according to newly published research.
Through a freedom of information request blur group found that out of 246 councils 186 have failed to identify procurement savings from reviews/improvements relating to the strategy.
In business we’ve all seen projects fail (even if we’re passionate about them) but given that Government procurement spending is circa £38 Billion it begs the question why the strategy isn’t delivering benefits to voters.
Plaudits have to be paid for implementing regulars like category management and performance management to drive savings but given that Government is under such scrutiny to reduce public expenditure this is one project we wouldn’t want to see perish on the vine.
More needs to be done to empower local councils with training and awareness, to ensure new tools are providing value. We need to build on the strong commitment especially with larger “top tier” councils to drive improvements and better value for money.
