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The CBI commented on the Government’s procurement reform programme, one-year-on since its launch, and on the publication of an £84 billion procurement pipeline of opportunities.

Matthew Fell, CBI Director for Competitive Markets, said:

“The Government’s procurement strategy is heading in the right direction and we welcome the publication of new pipelines which give businesses advance notice so they can prepare to bid for contracts.

“Increasing the transparency of procurement opportunities will encourage more diverse and innovative solutions, and deliver better value for the taxpayer.

“However, so far the Government has only published pipelines for a small proportion of the £230 billion goods and services purchased annually from the private sector. It needs to accelerate and broaden this programme to link with its industrial strategy and support future growth.

“A recent CBI survey of businesses gave the Government procurement reform agenda 8/10 for policy reform and 7/10 for pipelines but only 5/10 for overall implementation. The Government urgently needs to increase the level of commercial skills in the public sector to deal with the increasing complexity of contracts.”

The CBI’s procurement reform report can be found here.

 Notes to Editors:

The CBI is the UK's leading business organisation, speaking for some 240,000 businesses that together employ around a third of the private sector workforce. With offices across the UK as well as representation in Brussels, Washington, Beijing and Delhi, the CBI communicates the British business voice around the world.