Building the Procurement Profession in Government

The Government Procurement Service (GPS), with Nigel Smith as Head of Profession, leads a programme of activity to raise capability, increase capacity and raise the profile of the procurement profession across government.

The GPS Strategy "Building the Procurement Profession in Government", sets out a programme of activity for delivering a consistent approach to attracting, rewarding, retaining and developing procurement professionals across central Government.  The strategy aims to increase the capability of central Government procurement professionals, ensuring that they have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to manage procurement activities which facilitate the delivery of Government policy and public services.  The strategy also seeks to attract and retain the right calibre of procurement professionals to manage the Government's future procurement activities. 

All central Government departments were consulted during the development of the strategy, which was endorsed by the Permanent Secretaries Management Group (PSMG) in January 2009. Therefore, OGC has the approval of Permanent Secretaries to work with and support departments in the development of implementation plans and the delivery of the strategy.

There are ten recommendations, of which eight address non-pay aspects such as skills development, guidance for career progression and continuous professional development (CPD). The strategy also addresses issues such the balance between permanent and interim staff, and between external and internal recruitment. The two pay-related recommendations are subject to more work and departments have been asked to complete an affordability assessment by autumn 2009.
 
Departments are now working with GPS to undertake gap analyses to support development of implementation plans which should be complete by the end of September 2009.  Implementation of the non-pay recommendations is scheduled for completion by the end of March 2010.  This work is being overseen by a Special Interest Group.  Click here to find out about the membership and terms of reference for this group.

A copy of the GPS strategy is available here (PDF, 2.5MB).

The strategy is informed by the GPS Annual Survey, which began in 2008, and ensures that we are seeking solutions to the most relevant challenges facing the profession today. A new survey will be undertaken each year to measure the success of the implementation of the strategy and make sure that the focus of activities reflects the needs of the procurement profession.

Click here to find out more about the GPS Annual Survey.

If you have any questions relating to the strategy please see the FAQ's (PDF, 55KB) or contact the OGC Service Desk on 0845 000 4999 or ServiceDesk@ogc.gsi.gov.uk.