I have been pondering what my New Year’s resolution would be if I were a public sector procurement official or politician responsible for procurement.
Procurement will play an increasingly important role in the delivery of public services and the management (or should I say reduction?) of public expenditure. Therefore it is essential that public procurement officials are on top of their game.
If I were a practising member of this ‘profession’, my ten-point resolution would be simple but focused on securing value for the taxpayer and service users.
My resolution:
- ensure that procurement is recognised as a key professional role within the public sector; and ensure that politicians, senior officials and commissioning (which of course is not the same as procurement) teams recognise this role and the profession’s contribution
- insist that the procurement specialists contribute to every stage of the development of all policy
- align procurement policy and practice with the wider public policy agenda and organisational objectives
- build and/or ensure access to commercial competency and capacity in all procurement teams
- ensure that all public sector procurement is focused on securing social value, not simply the lowest price – Chris White’s Social Value Act should always be at the forefront of the profession’s thinking and action
- adopt and practise ethical supplier and supply chain policies to include requirements to pay the ‘living wage’, adopt good work practices, practise ethical and remuneration policies, etc
- resist most robustly pressures to use procurement for the wrong reasons, such as to drive down price and expenditure beyond realistic limits; and be ready to oppose attempts to procure a public service when this would be inappropriate or harmful to wider policy goals
- foster innovation and experimentation by suppliers
- engage with suppliers and potential suppliers to ensure knowledge of the market’s capacity and appetite; what is operationally possible and commercially viable; and where necessary, create incentives to attract new entrants
- review and revise procurement processes and requirements to make them accessible both to new entrants and to existing micro, small and medium size firms, social enterprises, co-operatives and the voluntary and community sector
I hope that the adoption of these or similar behaviours across the public sector can enhance the profession’s vital contribution to the public realm and move the profession well away from an overly rigid compliance and procedures base to that of a creative contributor. A narrow-minded and lowest-cost driven mentality will never deliver ‘real’ best value for public services and the public – who, after all, are meant to be the ultimate beneficiaries.