One of the biggest issues that I and my colleagues regularly confront is the fact that many contractors are reactive to what happens in public sector procurement, rather than proactive.
The level of engagement with the current Procurement Reform agenda is a perfect example.
When the Green Paper ‘Transforming Public Procurement’ was published in December 2020, it suggested such wide-ranging change that contractors should have been all over it, questioning elements of change, suggesting ways the public sector could better approach procurement and trying to understand what it would mean for their company.
Forget it.
Out of the total 619 responses to the consultation, only 269 came from suppliers, with 226 coming from contracting authorities, and 124 from other interested parties. These numbers may seem significant but when you consider there are hundreds of thousands of suppliers to the UK public sector, they only represents a very small percentage.
Given that Cabinet Office engaged with over 500 stakeholders and organisation and that more than 300 contractors, stakeholders and other bodies attended workshops in 2021, that’s a pretty poor return.
It is a perfect example of the private sector’s reactive nature.
There are a lot of individuals who are actively looking at what the Procurement Bill will mean for their organisations, but they are very clearly in the minority.
It feels as though, just as with the Public Contract Regulations 2015, most contractors are waiting until the legislation is passed before trying to understand what it means for them.
By the end of this year, the new legislation will be in place, if everything goes to schedule.
At what point will those dragging their feet decide to act?
Bear in mind that there isn’t a bottomless pit of procurement consultants and advisers waiting to swoop in to help companies mitigate any risks or take any opportunities that arise from the changes in legislation.
Smart organisations have already engaged with the experts and are already reviewing their strategies and plans, upskilling their personnel, having dialogue with buyers and stakeholders, talking to their supply chain and working to update their existing documentation and policies.
Proactive contractors are already working on these things, considering the impact of the proposed legislative change; looking at what the changes to frameworks and dynamic purchasing systems will mean for their business; considering how to best utilise the additional market intelligence that greater transparency will offer; looking at how they can harness the requirements of the National Procurement Policy Statement to help them win more public contracts; and on it goes.
Those who have been proactive will be able to hit the ground running, once the new legislation comes in.
The six-month bedding in period will be perfect for those contractors to test and retest their new strategies and policies and to iron out any problems before the go live date.
That isn’t to suggest everything will be perfect for them, but those working on things now will certainly increase their chances of winning.
Find further procurement reform comment and insight at https://www.procurementreform.co.uk/supplier-support/
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