The Treasury is to slim down the remit of the Office of
Government Commerce, taking away its responsibility for the wider
public sector and making it concentrate on central government IT
and online performance.
John Healey, financial secretary to the Treasury, has announced
the slimming down of OGC’s remit following the publication of the
Transforming Government Procurement document.
Healey said, "We must remain uncompromising in our pursuit of
value for money for the taxpayer. The Government intends that, in
the next Comprehensive Spending Review round, procurement will
drive the delivery of public services in a way that matches the
global pace of change."
He said, "Innovative procurement methods and responsive
solutions set alongside the public sector's capability and skills
are key to ensuring the UK can speed up the delivery of world class
public services and meet the global challenges we face."
Measures to be introduced in delivering this government vision
include reforming the Government procurement service and raising
its status within government departments and increasing the skills
of procurement professionals.
The remit of the Major Projects Review Group will also be
widened to ensure complex procurement projects are subject to
effective scrutiny at key stages, such as approval of the business
case.
To help with these changes, the Office of Government Commerce
will be given powers to set out the procurement standards
departments need to meet, monitor departments performance against
them, require inter-departmental collaboration where appropriate,
and to support the Major Projects Review Group.
To ensure that it is properly equipped to exercise these powers,
Healey said the OGC will be given a clearer focus to drive better
value for money in central government procurement, on major complex
acquisition programmes and projects, and on estates management. It
will become “a smaller, higher calibre organisation”, said
Healey.
John Oughton, chief executive of the OGC, said, "Today's
announcement represents both an opportunity and a challenge for us.
This is the first major re-shaping of the procurement agenda since
the OGC was established. The procurement agenda is central to the
government's purpose. I am confident that the new OGC will be
better placed to support the delivery of the transformation."
Transforming Government Procurement document is
available here:
http://www.hmtreasury.gov.uk/documents/enterprise_and_productivity/public_services_productivity/ent_services_procurement.cfm
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