Overview

How important is public procurement to organisations in the public sector for the purpose of the procurement rules, such as academies, colleges and universities? Many contracting authorities incur more expenditure each year on externally provided works, services and supplies than they do on their own workforce, but focus typically remains upon the quality of direct service provision (and perhaps rightly so). But in these testing economic times, public procurement offers those contracting authorities who take it seriously a way to find savings without hitting the front line. It should be a real force for good.

But nothing comes without risks and the more observant might have noticed an ever increasing workload for the Courts in resolving procurement disputes. The prudent authority will have marked this trend and looked to its processes and procedures to satisfy itself whether they remain fit for purpose or whether the authority carries an unacceptable risk of challenge.

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