This week the government’s “Green Paper: Transforming public procurement” consultation came to a close. In this context, the NLA Expert Panel on Technical Competency discussed issues around public procurement and the need to transform procurement culture in the construction industry.

 

Overall panellists welcome the proposed changes to speed up and simplify public procurement processes and commend the intentions of embedding public good and placing value for money at the centre, while unlocking opportunities for small businesses. Concerns were raised, however, on the lack of specificity regarding the definition of social value (“best social value for money”) and the criteria for evaluating social, economic and environmental aspects when selecting suppliers and awarding contracts. 

 

In this regard, when it comes to defining what “Most Advantageous Tender (MAT)” means, in particular in the context of the built environment industry, the panel proposes to focus on design quality, sustainability and technical competency. The panel suggests taking a similar approach to the Construction Playbook and initiatives such as the CIH’s Value Toolkit.  

 

The proposal for the central digital platform would have advantages in relation to supplier registration, data transparency and monitoring, however, the panel was uncertain regarding the feasibility of creating the IT infrastructure and the resources required to effectively run such a system. 

 

A single, uniform framework could indeed streamline public procurement, but the panel is concerned about unintended consequences of this approach. For instance, slashing regulations and opening up public procurement to SME’s is positive, but would the new system disincentivise smaller businesses due to the burden of data publication requirements and suppress innovation? More detail is needed on what will be removed to ensure flexibility in the system, whilst maintaining a single uniform framework.

 

While a central digital platform could provide more trust in the procurement process, the proposed inclusion of “crisis” as a new ground on which limited tendering can be used, could actually lead to less transparency and lack of trust in the system. Further definition and development is needed to understand the criteria of “crisis” and to assess how this would work. 

 

There are six key principles proposed which will be enshrined into law and these are seen as an instrument to drive through government policy. After reviewing the Green Paper, and in the midst of the environmental crisis, panellists felt a big issue missing was sustainability. Therefore, the group proposes including a seventh principle – separate to the principle of “Public Good” – dedicated to the requirement for social, economic and environmental sustainability. There is an opportunity to send a clear message that these issues are of singular importance to the spending of public funds, and to enable procurement teams to evaluate suppliers accordingly.

 

For those familiar with the vagaries of OJEU processes, there will be much that will be well-known and welcome within the Green Paper. However, there is an opportunity to go further. Public bodies are in a unique position to lead the way; not simply a change in legislation but for a long-overdue change in procurement culture in the built environment industry.