Search results

This paper analyses the regulatory, commercial and socio‐economic goals underlying UK public procurement policy, highlighting the conflicts inherent between them and arguing that there is an overemphasis on commercial goals. A critique of the market model leads to consideration of the utility of the 'public value' concept as a means of assessing the achievement of public procurement goals in a balanced way through a greater emphasis on public consultation and the impacts and outcomes of procurement. An analytical framework is proposed, based on public value, against which to assess the delivery of public procurement policies. The framework is used to analyse a pilot project conducted in Northern Ireland on increasing employment through public service and construction projects. The paper demonstrates the achievement of a range of procurement goals and values and concludes by calling both for further research into the validity of the concept of public value and more extensive application of the framework.

This article develops several frameworks for the analysis of supply strategies employed for public sector contracts on the basis of a review of the literature on public procurement and supply management. Three approaches to public procurement are identified. Current UK government policy and European Union Directives emphasise the commercial and regulatory strands. However, there is a need to recognise the importance of the socio-economic strand of public procurement. A range of supply management strategies are then explored, which are distinguished by four criteria: map of the actors; information sharing; features of the relationship; and sharing of risks and rewards. The final section of the paper analyses a sample of contracts from Government Purchasing Agency (Northern Ireland) (GPA) and the then Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). Whilst the more commercially or regulatory oriented contracts are found to employ relatively simple, dyadic strategies involving open competitive tendering, more complex supply chain management or network strategies are found in relation to contracts where socio-economic goals are of primary importance.

This paper analyses recent policy developments in civil procurement by UK central government departments and agencies using policy network analysis. The research was funded by an ESRC personal research grant (No. 000237023), and included a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews of heads of procurement in government departments and agencies, as well as interviews with members of management boards responsible for procurement. The paper maps changes in the policy networks from 1995 to 2000, showing an increasing recognition of the importance of procurement in government policy and a commensurate rise in the status of the procurement function. In particular, the extent to which procurement is seen as contributing to core government policies and processes, such as obtaining better value for money from public expenditure, is reflected in the integration of procurement networks at the centre of government with traditionally powerful policy networks based within Treasury and the Cabinet Office, demonstrated by the establishment of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) within Treasury. However, that integration has not occurred within all departments and agencies, with the result that procurement's contribution is not being optimised fully across government, and attempts by the centre to ensure uniform implementation of procurement policy raise issues of centre departmental power and interdepartmental relationships. Finally, the paper concludes that policy networks provide a valid and useful theoretical framework for the analysis of public procurement.

English
This article assesses arguments on contract compliance in relation to national and international regional policies. A wide range of policy types from no policy to combinations of employment equity and contract compliance are found, suggesting that prospects for the development of a global regime through the World Trade Organisation are not favourable. This will result in increased business costs from varying national and regional requirements, use of social and employment conditions to protect national contractors, and social dumping. An approach combining governmental and business action is proposed to overcome the problems facing intergovernmental agreement on norms and specific measures.