The Government’s Consultation on Public Procurement: Growing British Industry, jobs and skills closed on Friday 5 September. 

The consultation covers a wide range of questions concerning proposed policy and related legislative changes, including:

• initiatives to increase opportunities for SMEs and entities in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors (VCSEs) to better engage with, bid for and win public sector contracts;
• a suggested ‘public interest’ test for public bodies to decide whether to procure or to insource; 
• KPIs for jobs and skills and their inclusion in the procurement process; 
• imposing a standardised approach to social value in procurement, selected from a streamlined list;
• allowing social value from a contract to be delivered within the location where the supplier is based, rather than the location served by the contracting authority or where the contract will be delivered; and 
• contemplating expanding upon the approach for ‘user choice’ services. 

The consultation is therefore far broader than solely jobs and skills. At AC, we have a long history of advocating for maximising economic, social and environmental impact through public contracts, so it was important to us that we responded to this consultation in some detail. 

While we agree with some of the proposals to some degree (the ability to exclude bidders that do not adhere to prompt payment of their supply chain, for example, could be valuable, if couched in stronger terms than those proposed) - we are concerned that some of the proposals may risk unintended consequences, potentially making it harder to achieve the Government’s stated aims – which is to ‘kickstart economic growth – to drive growth, rebuild Britain, support good jobs, unlock investment, and improve living standards across the country’.  

Many of the proposals, by focusing on a ‘streamlined’ approach to social value as a procurement function, may risk narrowing innovation and ambition, potentially leading to a more compliance-focused rather than outcomes-focused approach to social value (including jobs and skills) rather than encouraging public sector commissioners to be ambitious and incorporate social, economic and environmental factors into every stage of the commissioning and contracting cycle. 

We are happy to share our consultation response – and welcome a continued conversation about social value, jobs and skills, and good practice in commissioning, procurement and contract management. With the Cabinet reshuffle last week, it is not clear where this consultation sits in the Government’s priorities, and who will be leading on it going forward, but we wait with interest to see what the Government ultimately proposes. 

In the meantime, we will continue to advocate for a whole-life cycle approach to social value, which places it at the core not just of procurement processes but public spend as a whole.