All Three Modules of the EAFIP Available Now
Apr 4, 2019
The European Assistance for Innovation Procurement (EAFIP) toolkit is available online and is designed to help public procurers in preparing their innovation procurement. It provides support to policy makers in designing PCP and PPI strategies, and to procurers and their legal departments in...
Circular Cities – Innovating To Tackle Plastic Waste
Apr 4, 2019
Registration for the ‘Circular Cities – Innovating to tackle plastic waste’ event at Scotland House (Brussels) on 16 May is now open. The conference is during #EUGreenWeek. Join others from EU institutions, cities, industry, civil society, academia and H2020 stakeholders for a one-day...
Public Sector Outsourcing To Commercial Companies – We Need More Training
Apr 4, 2019
Following the UK Government’s published guide, the Outsourcing Playbook, party-independent think tank, Reform, says expertise in procurement should be improved with more training for those tasked with doing deals often involving very large amounts of taxpayers’ money – rather than banning the...
Crossrail – PAC Demands Accountability for Failures
Apr 4, 2019
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee is demanding the government explain who is responsible for ‘failures’ on the delayed and over-budget UK Crossrail project. A report by auditor KPMG in January revealed the project has gone nearly £3 billion over budget and is costing £30 million...
Procurement Fraud – A Public Menace
Apr 4, 2019
According to new research from SAS, procurement fraud is widespread in the UK and the country lags behind many countries in its detection capabilities, being far more reliant on ineffective manual detection techniques than other nations. “A quarter of businesses (24 per cent) have been victims...
France – Making Public Procurement of Food More Sustainable
Mar 29, 2019
Online sustainable responsible business portal FOOTPRINT reports this week that France has set up a National Council for Collective Catering (CNRC) to ensure that at least half the food bought by the public sector in the country will be “organic, sustainable or under official signs of...
Scotland: Work-Based Learning – Fast Return for Learner and Employer
Mar 29, 2019
Scotland Excel’s Academy has boosted its accredited courses for 2019 after increased demand for more leadership and management courses. The Academy’s Strategic Organisational Development Manager said the Academy was designed initially to train public procurement specialists but they soon...
Public Spend Forum’s Public Procurement Weekly Roundup
Mar 29, 2019
GSA picks Ernst and Young to phase out the DUNS number, DHS is funding a new immersive cyber-training platform, and a new program is looking to test, fund and build federal employees’ ideas for using tech to improve their agencies. All this and more in Public Spend Forum’s Weekly Roundup for...
Please Procure Responsibly: The State Of Public Service Commissioning
Mar 28, 2019
Independent, non-party, charitable think tank Reform has published a research paper this week on improving government outsourcing (rather than banning it). Government needs private firms and charities to deliver public services, it says, but should improve the rules for outsourcing. The report...
Healthcare Solutions Partner Publishes EU Exit Mitigation Plan
Mar 28, 2019
UK-based healthcare solutions partner HealthTrust Europe (HTE), this week published a mitigation plan to counter risk from the UK’s proposed exit from the EU to support the continuity of high-quality patient care. The plan includes updated contract terms and conditions, fixed pricing and...
British MoD To Buy Fleet of Boeing Surveillance Planes
Mar 28, 2019
The UK Ministry of Defence is to buy five new surveillance (E-7 early warning radar) planes from the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing in a deal worth almost $2bn. The deal is also expected to provide opportunities for British suppliers in the area of training and support arrangements. But critics...
Gov.UK – Government Leads The Way With New Tool in Tackling Modern Slavery
Mar 28, 2019
At an event in London this week, co-hosted with the Ethical Trading Initiative and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, aimed at driving change in public sector procurement and addressing issues of modern slavery, the Home Office launched a free Modern Slavery Assessment Tool....
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Perspectives and Insights
I have been interested in the question of getting successful commercial companies, especially tech companies, to sell to the government from the time I was …
The Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act of 2017 (S. 651), introduced by Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., is yet another example of a …
Think you know all about public sector owned professional buying organisations (PBOs) and what they do? Here are ten interesting facts that might just surprise …
Policies and Regulations
It’s no surprise President Trump has been systematically dismantling President Obama’s executive orders, since taking office. Obama himself knew it was a possibility: Frustrated by …
Past performance is an important step in being successful as a federal government contractor. Once firms get into the mid-tier range, they normally have amassed …
A few months back, we published several articles about the very interesting – and somewhat shocking – court case around the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning …