In the run up to what promises to be one of the most closely fought elections, we take a look at how the two main parties factor procurement into proposed spending cuts, tackling the UK deficit and their election policies.
Conservative Manifesto: Procurement to drive innovation
The Conservative manifesto has declared that the way in which purchasing is managed and conducted will be the key to promoting enterprise and innovation. Some of the details include:
· A pledge to allocate 25% of government procurement contracts to SME’s by reducing administrative costs relating to bids.
· All government tender documents over £10,000 will be published on the Supply2gGov website
· Large ICT contracts will be segmented into smaller contract components providing opportunities for SME’s
· Visibility of government contracts and projects over £25,000 for purchasing of all goods and services
· Visibility of all project details that are awarded £25,000 or more of EU funds
· Reform of the MOD’s procurement processes to reduce running costs by 25%
Labour Manifesto: Procurement to prioritise local people
The UK Labour party has pledged priority to local people from future public procurement, as part of their move to tackle immigration issues. They will also be focusing on government spending and overhauling department structures; some of the details include:
· Reducing back-office and property running costs
· Abolishing unnecessary quangos
· Reducing costs on consultancy, marketing and lower priority spend areas
· Reforming defence spending by reducing civilian staff , cutting costs at headquarter offices and reducing consultancy and travel costs
· Improving efficiency throughout police service procurement
In either case there’s no surprise that procurement and spending feature very strongly in this year’s general election issues.
We’ll be looking at the Liberal Democrat manifesto in upcoming blogs as we approach Election Day on May 6th.
