Council IT managers have welcomed the launch of the Government's
national e-procurement initiative for local authorities.
Bob Griffith, national secretary of local government IT managers
group Socitm, said, "Any more information on e-procurement is
useful. It reinforces the efforts that are currently being made by
councils to meet the e-government targets."
The Delivering E-Procurement initiative was launched earlier this
month in an effort to speed up the introduction of e-procurement in
local government. Councils are currently working towards a 2005
deadline for making services available electronically.
The project, which is part of Whitehall's ongoing Local Government
Online strategy, will provide e-procurement support and guidance to
the 388 English local authorities. A structured framework will be
used to help plan implementation and identify key elements of the
e-procurement process.
The initiative, which involves central government and a range of
local authorities, is being project-managed by IT best practice
organisation Buy IT.
UK councils spend £25bn a year on goods and services, buying up to
38 million items from 800,000 suppliers. E-procurement is expected
to be vital in helping councils meet the 2005 deadline.