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Commissioning – time to find a new word and/or new behaviours
By John Tizard, an independent strategic advisor and commentator on public policy and public services Commissioning versus Procurement The public sector is obsessed with jargon, and one particular term which is over-used and abused is ‘commissioning’. I have rarely encountered any two organisations which share a common definition, but most commonly, and incorrectly, it is [...]
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Construction spend not wide enough in Scotland
The news that nearly 200 Scottish construction companies have gone bust in the past year, 49 of which were in the first three months of 2012, is sobering to say the least. There has been 29% more liquidations than in the previous 12-month period and about 40% more Scottish firms went bust in the first [...]
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Trade union application for judicial review rejected
By Ruth McNaught, Solicitor at Harper Macleod LLP In the case of R v NHS Shared Business Services Ltd and another, trade union Unison sought to challenge the decision of ten primary care trusts (“PCTs”) to enter into contracts with NHS Shared Business Services Ltd (“SBS”) for the provision of family health services. Previously, the [...]
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Clarification of tender responses
By Ruth McNaught, Solicitor at Harper Macleod LLP In our blog ‘Abnormally low bids’ (14 December 2011), we considered how a contracting authority should deal with bids that appear to be abnormally low. This issue has been further examined in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on a preliminary reference from a Slovak court [...]
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ICT contracts – all you need to know
By Terry Street, Principal Consultant and Procurement and Outsourcing Product Manager, Socitm Consulting From time to time I am asked: “What should I be looking for in an ICT contract?” The answer to this question can take as long as you have time to listen, but generally the person asking wants the answer to cut [...]
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Taking collaborative procurement into the next phase
By Rachael Simpson, GO News Writer Local government procurement is a market worth £35 billion a year and in times of austerity every penny of that needs to be spent wisely. The degree to which any local body is successful in that financial guardianship depends on making good procurement decisions. Local authorities face capricious challenges; [...]
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Buy cheap today and regret tomorrow
By John Tizard, an independent strategic advisor and commentator on public policy and public services How often do we hear the complaint that public services contracted from the business or third sectors don’t pass muster and that the quality is not what was expected or hoped for? It’s ironic really, given that so often the [...]
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Will the money train always head south?
In his Budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced the Government’s support for Network Rail to invest a further £130 million in the Northern Hub rail scheme, subject to value for money. The announcement was welcomed and rightly so as the project will allow for much-needed improvements to transport links between Manchester, Sheffield, Rochdale, Halifax, Bradford, Bolton, [...]
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Public service contracting must be ethical
By John Tizard, an independent strategic advisor and commentator on public policy and public services News reports and events over the last few weeks have raised some major questions about the nature of public service accountability and the ethics of suppliers; as well as the competency and expectations of public sector procurers. And yet, the [...]
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Are iPads for councils a good investment?
Local authorities have come under fire for ‘wasting money’ on new gadgets at a time when budgets are being slashed across the board. New iPads usually retail at between £400 and £700, so when a council announces its intention splash out on such an expensive piece of technology many react with outrage. But is taking [...]
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(4.00 out of 5)