Central government manages contracts with the private and third sector worth about £40 billion annually. Such contracts include providing services to citizens, military equipment, back office functions, custodial services, temporary workers and consultancy.
Poor management of commercial relationships has been a major cause of failures to achieve value for money in government projects and operations. To address this, government is currently reforming its commercial profession, including centralising the purchase of common goods and services, improving departments' capability and increasing its understanding of its key suppliers. In doing so it could benefit from our work identifying good practice in five key areas: government’s commercial capability, including governance, systems, information and people capability; market management including ways to encourage innovation and avoid over-dependence on too few suppliers; effective procurement approaches; good contract management; and ensuring government suppliers are transparent and accountable.
Key NAO publications: A Short Guide to Commercial relationships (Dec 2017); Commercial and contract management: insights and emerging best practice (Nov 2016); Transforming government's contract management (Sep 2014); The role of major contractors in the delivery of public services (Nov 2013); and Managing government suppliers (Nov 2013)
On 15 January 2018, Carillion declared insolvency and the Official Receiver, an employee of the Insolvency Service, started to liquidate its assets and contracts. This report focuses on the role of the UK government in preparing for and managing the liquidation of Carillion.
In this report, we assess whether NHS England managed the PCSE contract with Capita effectively to secure the intended benefits
The Ministry of Defence (the Department) has committed itself to annual rental bills of nearly £200 million and lost out on billions of pounds of asset value as a result of selling and leasing back the majority of its married quarters estate to Annington Property Limited in 1996 because of the subsequent steep increase in house prices and rents.
The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides for the new Parliament, one for each government department and a selection of cross-government issues, to assist House of Commons select committees and members of Parliament.
The MoD’s new regulations for overseeing non-competitive procurement has the potential to save significant sums of money, if implemented properly.
The NDA’s fundamental failures in the Magnox contract procurement raise serious questions about its understanding of procurement regulations and its ability to manage large, complex procurements.
The Department has made good progress since we last reported on Carrier Strike, however it still has a lot to do to meet its targets at the end of 2020.
It is not possible to show that the Crown Commercial Service has achieved more than departments would otherwise have achieved by buying common goods and services themselves.
This interactive publication draws on our audits of government contracts and engagement with government to provide practitioners with insights on the new, emerging higher standard for government contracting.
This overview of the NAO’s work on the government’s management of contracting examines subjects including the government’s commercial capability, accountability and transparency, and its management of contracted-out service delivery.