Government aims to open up public procurement

Tue 26 Jan 2010

The government has launched a free online public procurement course to help smaller firms bid for public sector contracts.

According to small business minister Lord Davies, lots of smaller enterprises already sell their goods and services to the public sector.

However, the government wants to ensure that more companies do so by opening up public sector procurement to a wider range of suppliers.

The Winning the Contract course is available on the learndirect website and includes information on areas such as submitting a bid and how to identify potential business opportunities.

Lord Davies said broadening public sector procurement in this way will create new opportunities for small businesses across the UK, which in turn will benefit the economy.

Treasury secretary Liam Byrne added that the government wants smaller firms to "harness the spending power of government" in order to expand and create new jobs.

Richard Tinham, a partner at Winckworth Sherwood, commented: "I think the feeling generally in the public sector is that size matters, and bigger usually means better.

"Hopefully this initiative will make clear once and for all that smaller, more focused organisations can be equally effective in delivering to specification.

"In fact, in many cases the clarity of thought and specialism of smaller enterprises can lead to a better end product for all concerned."

This comes shortly after the Office of Government Commerce pledged to ensure that the government's procurement spending helps to support small businesses and encourage training, youth employment and apprenticeships.