Deadline Passed for All Contracting Authorities to Comply with eInvoicing Standard
May 23, 2019
The UK Government has now implemented the EU Directive on electronic invoicing in public procurement through The Public Procurement Regulations 2019. Contracting authorities and other contracting entities (utilities) are now required to receive and process supplier invoices that comply with the...
New Innovation Procurement Platform Launched!
May 23, 2019
The Innovation Procurement Platform has had a face-lift giving it a new, more modern design to help encourage more innovation in the European public sector. It provides public procurers and policy-makers with a go-to place for all the latest news and resources on innovation procurement. Public...
Social Enterprise UK New Report Calls on Government for More Social Value-Led Procurement
May 23, 2019
A new report, ‘Front and Centre: Putting Social Value at the Heart of Inclusive Growth,’ launched by Social Enterprise UK, has found that local councils are increasingly using procurement as a way to drive higher economic growth – says Infrastructure Intelligence. The report shows that 82%...
Head of Global Digital Marketplace Programme Explains Why Public Procurement Is In Desperate Need of Reform
May 23, 2019
GovInsider has conducted an interview with Warren Smith, Head of the Global Digital Marketplace Programme UK about why public procurement is in desperate need of reform. With trillions of dollars at stake, contracts, it says, are the number one corruption risk governments face – “a lethal...
International Conference: Challenges in Sustainable Public Procurement
May 23, 2019
The Public Procurement Authority of Hungary has organised an international conference on “Challenges in Sustainable Public Procurements.” To consider the importance of international knowledge sharing, the representatives of the V4 countries, as well as international public procurement experts,...
New Guidance To Help Member States Run Joint Defence Procurements
May 16, 2019
The European Commission has published guidance on co-operative procurement within defence and security. It will help member states apply the Defence Procurement Directive consistently and make use of the co-operation possibilities it offers, facilitating their participation in collaborative...
Procurement Must Favour Lowest Carbon not Lowest Cost
May 16, 2019
At a recent conference focusing on Ireland becoming a climate leader, IDA (the agency responsible for the attraction and retention of inward foreign direct investment into Ireland) was encouraged to change its strategy to attract green companies. “The IDA should change its successful strategy in...
Devolve Financial Control from Westminster
May 16, 2019
A Public Finance opinion piece, from head of research at Localis, calls for UK public financial control to be devolved from Westminster (central government). “The United Kingdom must urgently decentralise to preserve democracy and restore social mobility,” it says, and “It’s true that we...
Why Would a Startup or SME Bid for a Share of the Government’s £7b Technology Spend?
May 16, 2019
Forbes has run an article on how SME Adzuna won the contract to replace the UK government’s job search platform. It highlights how this is the exception not the rule according to Public’s recent report on how the government allocates public spending, showing that less than £1 in every £10...
Embedding Social Values in Government Procurement
May 16, 2019
The UK Cabinet Office is in mid-consultation on its latest proposals to increase social value outcomes in public procurements. The opportunity to respond ends on June 10, 2019. We discuss the proposed draft evaluation criteria, issues in interpreting what the guidance means in practice and the...
Scotland to Stem the Flow of Public Money into Arms Firms
May 9, 2019
Scottish green political party, The Scottish Greens, want to ensure a proposed south of Scotland enterprise agency will be barred from funding any companies involved in the weapons industry, following concerns over government quangos putting millions of pounds into some of the world’s biggest...
Irish Public Sector Workers Demand Pay Hikes
May 9, 2019
Irish News reports that public sector workers want to be paid more as threats to the economy are ‘growing.’ At a civil service conference a motion will be tabled to seek details of the full cost of the nurses’ deal that was offered to halt strikes earlier this year; asking for pay hikes and a...
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Perspectives and Insights
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Policies and Regulations
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A few months back, we published several articles about the very interesting – and somewhat shocking – court case around the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning …