News

Angela Eagle hails the age of the modernised procurement professional

Released on 12/02/2009

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Angela Eagle MP, today called upon public procurement professionals to buy smarter in the current economic climate in the delivery of value for money solutions on the purchase of goods and services.

During the last Comprehensive Spending Period, over £9 billion of efficiency savings were attributed to the adoption of good procurement.  This discipline is now seen as a vital component in public sector organisations' financial assurance.
 
Speaking at the GovNet procurement conference in London, Angela Eagle highlighted the opportunities for buying professionals to adopt a range of collaborative procurements and increase the management of contracts in delivering best value for money for the taxpayer. 

They include : 

• joint procurements between departments;      
• better shared use of existing contracts to drive down the unit cost of energy bills;
• a reduction in variation of desktop computer support costs;
• use of innovative approaches to effective procurement; and
• more active intervention in monitoring and managing contracts.                           

Angela Eagle said:

"Taxpayers always have a right to know that their money is being well spent and is delivering results.  But, given the major global challenges the economy is facing, we need more than ever to keep up the momentum on achieving better value for money.

"Once it was enough just to deliver value from our procurement.  But today our ambitions are greater.  We have a clearer understanding of the power of our public spending to achieve our wider goals, whether they be social, economic or environmental."

The OGC's has in place an extensive programme of support and guidance available for the wider public sector including:

• A dedicated Service Desk helpline to provide support and advice; 
• The OGC website, which includes advice and guidance on procurement; 
• An online Contracts Database listing existing deals and procurement solutions;
• A Government Procurement Service charged with raising capability and increasing capacity and the profile of the profession within Government;
• Co-ordination of a mature collaborative procurement category programme.

For more information about how the OGC can support value for money in public procurement visit www.ogc.gov.uk or contact the OGC Service Desk on 0845 000 4999.  You can find this speech in full here.

Notes to Editor

About the Government Procurement Service
The public sector is increasingly expected to deliver efficient, value for money procurement. With this has come greater recognition of the benefits that a well trained and developed  professional procurement team can deliver. This is the challenge, outlined in the HM Treasury Transforming Government Procurement report, that the Government Procurement Service (GPS) Reform Programme is designed to deliver.

The challenges the GPS Reform programme are tackling:

• Raising the profile of procurement  and extending its influence to Departmental Board level;  
• Attracting new talent by establishing new entry routes e.g. the Government Procurement Graduate Scheme; 
• Raising existing capability by supporting Departments to identify critical skills gaps and working collaboratively to plug the gaps; 
• Creating an identity for the profession and strengthening its community of 4000 procurement professionals.

The vision for the reformed GPS is to create a sustainable balance of appropriately skilled and suitably managed procurement professionals, to match the growing scale and complexity of the Government's delivery agenda.

The GPS will provide a framework to enable procurement professionals develop the capability needed to deliver better public services and greater savings from public procurement. The reformed GPS will, in partnership with Departments,   establish a comprehensive package of support to the government procurement profession and central government organisations seeking to enhance their procurement capability.

During 2007 and 2008 the GPS has introduced:

• Professional standards for government procurement professionals; 
• Learning & Development including the Online Skills Development Directory; 
• Greater coherence in job descriptions and career paths; 
• New flexible routes into government procurement, through the Government Procurement Graduate Scheme;  
• Early work on a 'Total Reward' strategy and a talent management programme.

In 2009, GPS will:

• Launch the GPS Total Reward Strategy: "Building the Procurement Profession in Government" (non pay related);  
• Develop a cross Departmental Talent Management programme; 
• Establish career paths and standard role profiles;
• Build an active and engaged government procurement community, with access to events, networking opportunities and means of maintaining contact with colleagues across departments.

About OGC

The OGC is an independent office of HM Treasury, established to help Government deliver best value from its spending.  The OGC works with central Government departments and other public sector organisations to ensure the achievement of six key goals:

• Delivery of value for money from third party spend;     
• Delivery of projects to time, quality and cost, realising benefits;     
• Getting the best from the Government's £30bn estate;    
• Improving the sustainability of the Government estate and operations, including reducing carbon emissions by 12.5% by 2010-11, through stronger performance management and guidance;    
• Helping achieve delivery of further Government policy goals, including innovation, equality, and support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs);     
• And driving forward the improvement of central Government capability in procurement, project and programme management, and estates management through the development of people skills, processes and tools.

OGC provides policy standards and guidance on best practice in procurement, projects and estate management, and monitors and challenges departments' performance against these standards, grounded in an evidence base of information and assurance.  It promotes and fosters collaborative procurement across the public sector to deliver better value for money and better public services; and it provides innovative ways to develop Government's commercial and procurement capability, including leadership of the Government Procurement Service.

Media contact:
Michael Dunning, Media Relations Manager, OGC
T: 020 7271 1318
M: 07771 815245
E: michael.dunning@ogc.gsi.gov.uk

Contact details:
OGC Service Desk
Tel: 0845 000 4999
E-mail: ServiceDesk@ogc.gsi.gov.uk