Disappointing results delivered
A Government body set up to save public money
by buying common goods and services centrally
has delivered disappointing results, says the
Public Accounts Committee.
In their report the Committee examines the
Crown Commercial Service (CCS), established in
2014 with the aim of centralising £13.4 billion of
central government spending and to carry out
direct buying services on behalf of all
departments.
It was intended to improve government's
management of commercial contracts, and also
provide framework agreements to enable both
central government departments and the wider
public sector to purchase common goods and
services.
Only £2.5 billion of spending managed instead
of £13 billion
The Committee concludes the creation of CCS
was poorly executed and progress in centralising
procurement has been slow, with CCS only
managing £2.5 billion of spend on behalf of
seven departments instead of the £13 billion, on
behalf of all 17 departments, predicted in 2014.
The overall performance of CCS has been poor,
says the Committee, which highlights the fact it
"did not have detailed plans from the start
setting out how it would collaborate with
departments, and failed to gain their
confidence".
The Committee also finds CCS's management of
procurement frameworks remains unsatisfactory
and its current governance structure is
"confusing, blurs accountability and reduces
clarity of the purpose" of CCS.
Recommend that spending be transferred "as
soon as practicable"
Among its recommendations to Government, the
Committee calls for action to ensure all
departments understand the importance of
achieving savings from centralised purchasing
"and transfer appropriate spending to CCS as
soon as practicable".
The Cabinet Office and CCS should report back
to the Committee by October setting out the
plans it has agreed with each department to
centralise their spending on common goods and
services "fully by 2020".
Chair's comments
Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the PAC, said:
"Government really needs to sharpen up if this
latest attempt to centralise buying is to function
properly.
The Crown Commercial Service was set up with
the intention of saving public money. But so far
it is only managing around a fifth of the spending
it expected to and is a long way from achieving
its potential.
This is a dismal showing that calls into question
exactly how willing Government departments are
to accept the authority of the Cabinet Office in
this area.
Is the case being made for CCS underwhelming,
or is the message just not getting through? Is
discipline across Government too weak?
There were clearly fundamental problems at the
launch of CCS but even now it is unclear exactly
how progress will be made during this Parliament
and beyond.
Meanwhile the taxpayer is losing out."
Report summary
Government can make substantial savings from
buying common goods and services centrally, but
the results of the government's latest attempt to
do so have been disappointing.
Since its set-up in April 2014, the Crown
Commercial Service (CCS) has failed to
consistently deliver quality services to
departments, and progress with centralising
procurement has been slow.
It experienced severe difficulties with the
programme to transfer procurement from
departments to the CCS which was halted twice.
Only seven departments managed rather than all
17
As a result, CCS is only managing £2.5 billion of
spend on common goods and services on behalf
of seven departments instead of the £13 billion
on behalf of all 17 departments predicted in
2014.
CCS still has to develop a full business case and
demonstrate how it will add value to
departments.
This is the latest failure we have looked at of the
Cabinet Office attempting to centralise services.
It needs to learn the lessons and ensure
departments buy-in to what it is trying to do.
Soon