Government opens up to SMEs

In a move that departmental minister Francis Maude described as the end of the "procurement oligopoly", it has changed procurement rules and launched a new website and product surgeries for small and medium enterprises. This reflects claims from the Conservative Party, put forward in the year before the general election, that government has given too much business to major suppliers. In the field of IT this was particularly relevant to the role of systems integrators in managing major projects. Key measures in the package "seeking to eliminate" pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQs) for all central government procurements under £100,000, and allowing companies to submit their prequalification data once for all procurements in common commodities. The Cabinet Office said this will give procurers more options and save companies the time they spend in entering data for different tenders. Business Link has launched a Contracts Finder website as a source of information on public sector contracts worth more than £10,000. Organisations will be able to specify which contracts interest them and details will be emailed free of charge. The SME product surgeries are being set up to allow small companies to pitch products and services direct to a panel of senior public sector procurement and operational officials. They will be led by Stephen Allott, who has been appointed as the new crown commercial representative (CCR) for SMEs. He has worked in a number of technology SMEs and will be responsible for building a strategic dialogue between the government and smaller suppliers. The CCR network, of which the body for SMEs will be a part, is due to become operational on 1 April. Other measures include an interchange programme for people from business to be seconded into government procurement teams; an extended Supplier Feedback Service for representatives from business to tell government where there are still issues; and "mystery shoppers" and SME panels, allowing people to tell government if they see a contract they do not understand. Maude said: "Today's changes will help create a system which is transparent and allows small businesses and voluntary sector organisations to compete more fairly for Government contracts – helping to drive economic growth at national and regional level, while delivering better deals for the taxpayer." The Cabinet Office has also published the finding of its Lean Review into procurement processes, which it said shows "the government is doing all it can to reduce waste, tackle bureaucracy and lower the costs of doing business with the government". It is now planning a number of pilot projects, to be in place by the end of March, to test new processes for doing business. These are intended to form the basis of a new "lean" approach for government departments, to be mandated from January 2012. Prime minister David Cameron, said: "It will provide billions of pounds worth of new business opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises, charities and social enterprises. "We need to make the system more open to new providers, more competitive between suppliers and more transparent for the taxpayer. This is vital as we get to grip with our deficit – helping us tackle waste, control public spending and boost enterprise and growth. "It will also help modernise our public services, opening them up to the forces of competition and innovation and give our great charities and social enterprises the opportunity to deliver services too." This article is published by Guardian Professional.