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How competitive are the public sector's large tenders?
Photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash
£10.8bn of contracts were let through tenders with worryingly short response times, calling into question whether these tenders were sufficiently competitive. Since April 2015, there have been 27 tenders that had a value of more than £10m where suppliers were given less than twenty days to respond, potentially making these tenders less competitive than they should be.
The Crown Commercial Service gave bidders just 17 days to respond to a tender worth over £4bn, whilst the D...
Focus on Serco
Spend Network
Between 2014-2016 the UK public sector published a total spend of £953.9m with Serco, the outsourcing giant. However, there was a year on year spend increase of only 0.9%, below the rate of inflation, echoing the problems Serco has had in the public sector.
In 2013, Serco was in trouble, hit by multiple scandals involving public sector contracts in electronic tagging,1 prisoner transport,2 and out-of hours healthcare support.3 Serco was investigated for fraud and banned from biddi...
Civtech and innovation in government services
Tim Barnes
Tim Barnes leads initiatives to support small companies looking to innovate the public sector by using IT and other technologies. The aim is to improve the delivery of government and public services, civil society or engagement with citizens, a movement known as Civtech1 which has just had a major boost from the Scottish Government.2 Here Tim explains what it’s all about and how to get involved.
Please can you introduce yourself and tell me about your background and the work you’...
Upcoming Supplier Events - October Update
Photo by Curtis MacNewton on Unsplash
These upcoming events are designed to help companies meet buyers, understand markets, and improve marketing. Local, regional, national and international opportunities are to be had and these events are a great way to learn more.
ConstructionOnline - Meet the Buyer
September to November
Various locations
Construction Online is organising a programme of Meet the Buyer events for the construction industry. Events will be attended by main contractors and public sector buyers. The first even...
