Public Procurement
Public Procurement
The
Auditor General for Wales published a report on Public
Procurement in Wales (PDF 2MB) in October 2017 and a further report
on the National
Procurement Service (PDF 949KB) in November 2017.
In
2015-16, public bodies in Wales spent around £6 billion through procurement on
a range of goods, services and works but need to improve their performance to
ensure value for money. In a changing landscape, public bodies face challenges
in balancing potentially competing procurement priorities, responding to new policy,
legislation and technology, and in the recruitment and retention of key
personnel.
The
Welsh Government’s 2015 policy statement sets out the overriding principles for
public procurement, in the context of relevant EU and UK procurement
legislation. However, the report has found that national governance
arrangements could be strengthened, with the national procurement board
currently having limited effectiveness.
Of
the £6 billion spent through procurement in 2015-16, £880 million was through
collaborative procurement managed by the three main Wales-based consortia and
public buying organisations. While these organisations are reporting financial
savings and other benefits, public bodies have mixed views on their
effectiveness.
The
Public Accounts Committee
undertook an inquiry into this issue in spring 2018. During the evidence
session with the Welsh Government, it transpired that a number of the
Committee’s concerns will be addressed in the review being undertaken by the
Welsh Government. The Committee wrote to the Welsh Government in March 2018
advising that it would be premature for the Committee to draw conclusions at
this stage and have agreed to return to this issue upon completion of the review. This was completed
in autumn 2018 and the Committee held an evidence session in February 2019 to reflect
on the review’s outcomes with the Welsh Government.
The
Committee wrote to the Welsh Government following the evidence session with its
observations and requested six-monthly written updates on the transition of the
NPS to a smaller national contracting unit and the establishment of a policy
development and delivery unit.
The Committee held an evidence
session with the Welsh Government in September 2020 following which the Chair
wrote to the Welsh Government with the Members’ observations and views.
Evidence Session |
Date, Agenda and Minutes |
Transcript |
Video |
1. Liz Lucas –Caerphilly County Borough Council Steve Robinson - Cardiff Council |
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2. Mike Halstead –Conwy County Borough Council Arwel Staples –Denbighshire County Council |
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3. Sophie Howe – Future Generations Commissioner for
Wales Dr Eurgain Powell - Office of the Future
Generations Commissioner for Wales |
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4. Welsh Government Andrew
Slade Sue
Moffatt Jonathan Hopkins |
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5. Welsh Government Andrew Slade Marion Stapleton Jonathan Hopkins |
|||
6. Welsh
Government Andrew Slade Dean Medcraft Marcella Maxwell |
Business type: Other
Status: Complete
First published: 17/10/2017
Documents
- Letter from the Welsh Government - 23 March 2021 PDF 898 KB
- Letter from the Welsh Government - 16 March 2021 PDF 795 KB
- Letter from the Committee Chair to the Welsh Government - 13 October 2020 PDF 192 KB
- Correspondence from Russell George AM, Chair of Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee - 28 February 2020 PDF 208 KB
- Letter from the Welsh Government - 11 February 2020 PDF 227 KB
- Letter from the Committee Chair to the Welsh Government - 10 January 2020 PDF 99 KB
- Letter from the Welsh Government - 4 December 2019 PDF 364 KB
- Letter from the Welsh Government - 30 April 2019 PDF 231 KB
- Letter from the Committee Chair to the Welsh Government - 29 March 2019 PDF 149 KB
- Letter from the Welsh Government - 13 March 2019 PDF 162 KB
- Response from Cardiff Council - 20 November 2018 PDF 26 KB View as HTML (11) 5 KB
- Response from the Higher Education Purchasing Consortium Wales - 20 November 2018 PDF 32 KB View as HTML (12) 10 KB
- Response from the Welsh Local Government Association - 19 November 2018 PDF 440 KB
- Response from Dr Jane Lynch (Cardiff University) - 18 November 2018 PDF 453 KB View as HTML (14) 26 KB
- Response from NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership - 9 November 2018 PDF 161 KB
- Response from the Future Generations Commissioner - 9 November 2018 PDF 645 KB
- Letter from the Committee Chair to Stakeholders - 23 October 2018 PDF 139 KB
- Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance - 5 September 2018 PDF 2 MB
- Statement from the Committee Chair - 2 May 2018 PDF 84 KB
- Letter from the Welsh Government - 23 April 2018 PDF 252 KB
- Letter from the Committee Chair to the Welsh Government - 23 March 2018 PDF 156 KB
- Letter from the Welsh Government - 20 March 2018 PDF 378 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from Caerphilly County Borough Council PDF 89 KB View as HTML (23) 20 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from Cardiff Council PDF 100 KB View as HTML (24) 26 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from Cardiff University (Jayne Lynch) PDF 120 KB View as HTML (25) 31 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from Denbighshire County Council PDF 162 KB View as HTML (26) 32 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from Future Generations Commissioner for Wales PDF 254 KB View as HTML (27) 56 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from Higher Education Purchasing Consortium, Wales (HEPCW) PDF 63 KB View as HTML (28) 21 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from Natural Resources Wales PDF 60 KB View as HTML (29) 19 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership PDF 103 KB View as HTML (30) 49 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from Welsh Government PDF 135 KB View as HTML (31) 34 KB
- Inquiry into Public Procurement: Response from the Welsh Local Government Association PDF 78 KB View as HTML (32) 32 KB
- Welsh Government response to the Auditor General for Wales’ Report - December 2017 PDF 162 KB
- Auditor General for Wales Report - November 2017 PDF 949 KB
- Statement from the Committee Chair - November 2017 PDF 75 KB View as HTML (35) 15 KB
- Welsh Government response to the Auditor General for Wales’ Report - November 2017 PDF 259 KB
- Auditor General for Wales Report - October 2017 PDF 2 MB
- Statement from the Committee Chair - October 2017 PDF 76 KB View as HTML (38) 16 KB