New procurement guidance – England

New procurement guidance – England

New government guidance for England – which will apply to NHS trusts – requires public bodies to consider “the wider benefits of spending public money” as part of any procurement process.

The government said the guidance means “procurement teams have been told they must not simply award contracts to the lowest bidder – especially when wider economic benefits can be proved”.

The Procurement Policy Note 05/21 states that contracting authorities should consider the following national priority outcomes alongside any local priorities:
• Creating new businesses, jobs and skills
• Tackling climate change and reducing waste
• Improving supplier diversity, innovation and resilience.
It adds that public procurement “should be leveraged to support priority national and local outcomes for the public benefit”. Policy Note 05/21 includes NHS bodies and “is intended to cover the period from date of publication to the end of the current parliament” but will be in place until it is “withdrawn, amended or replaced”.

Had a measure like his been in place which it will be as the CCG transforms into the ICS one wonders what might have been the consequences for Croydon LOC in its losing battle for providing localised tried and trusted services to its community?