Adopting a more strategic and pan-government approach for all procurement spending will maximise savings and value for money according to the recent National Audit Office (NAO)/Audit Commission Report, "A review of collaborative procurement across the public sector".  Hot on the Report’s heels, and echoing its findings, Sir Philip Green's Efficiency Review starkly illustrates the true extent of waste and inefficiency in Government spending.

Against this backdrop, Francis Maude's newly established Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) promises to deliver efficiencies through a dramatic shake up of public sector procurement to include commodity purchasing by only a few designated purchasers.  Those bodies tasked with national category management will inevitably face the challenge of creating bigger and better framework agreements than may have been seen to date.   Equally, authorities and departments who are encouraged (or mandated) to use these frameworks must be confident they can do so without unnecessary procurement risk.

With the October Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) pending it has never been more important for the public sector to achieve savings.  However, in the drive to save money authorities should not lose sight of the fact that mistakes, either when establishing or using major frameworks, can be costly and unless steps are taken to prevent these will significantly undermine the benefit of any savings to be gained.

So what can be done to both deliver the anticipated savings and minimise any procurement risks when using framework arrangements?

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Link to checklist: http://bit.ly/PMchecklistpdf