Briefing on Public Procurement

Public procurement is the single biggest area of British government spending, totally some £284 billion per year - a third of all public expenditure. Despite the scale of spending, a bureaucratic, paper-based and siloed system means that we know surprisingly little about how this money is spent.

It is the public that shoulders the costs of an outdated system. New primary legislation and regulations for public procurement offer a once in a generation opportunity to deliver a clear roadmap for bold and urgently needed reform.

We recommend that the UK Government:

• Implement end-to-end digital transparency for all government contracts from planning through to tender, award, spending and implementation.

• Create an independent procurement regulator that promotes data-driven solutions and ensures integrity in our processes.

• Prevent poor performers, the corrupt and the fraudulent from winning contracts though new award rules and an effective debarment and conflict of interest regime.

• Overhaul the UK’s complaints mechanism on contracts to make them more agile and effective.

• Set a high threshold for information to be deemed commercially confidential and amend the Freedom of Information Act to create a level playing field for public and private contractors.