NATIONAL OR LOCAL PROCUREMENT

摘要

The Test: The government has pulled back from endorsing a powerful centralised procurement process, even though it said it "overall wish[ed] to move in this direction". Instead, it has stated that it "does not intend to override" effective existing local and regional delivery arrangements. At the heart of this lies the government's continuing headache about how to balance economies of scale with a desire to give power to local procurers and offer opportunities to local SMEs - and it's a conflict that needs to be resolved before any coherent building programme can be put in place.