Government wants to end "speed dating" approach to IT tenders

The government has urged public-sector procurement workers to work more closely with UK IT suppliers in order to give firms in the country the best possible chance of securing contracts with central and local authorities.

In a speech today, minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude revealed damning figures that underlined just how little business the government has provided to UK firms in the past 12 months due to fears of breaking European laws.

"In the same 12-month period British companies won £432m of EU contracts, French firms won £911m and German firms £3,600m. The UK awards three per cent of public procurement to foreign suppliers, compared to 1.9 per cent in Germany and 1.5 per cent in France," he said.

"It's not because France and Germany break any rules. They don't. The difference is the governments of these countries work closely with domestic firms so they are geared up to win contracts at home and abroad."

Maude said that while the German and French governments were nurturing "mutually beneficial long-term relationships" with suppliers, the UK public sector's approach was more akin to "speed dating".

"By over-interpreting European Union law and overreacting to fears of bias in favour of British suppliers we take an almost deliberately short-sighted approach to working with businesses," he explained.

Maude said it was vital those involved in tenders within the public sector were made aware that discussing contracts with potential suppliers was fully above board and could help source the best possible services.

"It makes commercial sense to nurture our relationships with suppliers and to discuss what's coming up on pipelines, investment plans, supply chains and pre-procurement issues," he said.

"It is imperative the £60bn-plus Whitehall spends and the £230bn the whole public sector spends on goods and services supports UK growth and gives taxpayers better value for money."

As part of this initiative, the government announced that technology trade body Intellect would be delivering a series of tools designed to help public-sector workers understand their requirements.

This will include a dynamic map of IT firms across the UK explaining their capabilities, a partner portal to bring together potential suppliers with government agencies, and free training for civil servants on Intellect courses.

Sureyya Cansoy, Intellect's public sector director, said the work would prove of benefit to both the government and national IT firms.

"Over the next few months these initiatives will dramatically improve the government's understanding of, and access to, the UK's technology sector," she said.

"They will also help UK companies of all sizes to share their ideas and feedback directly with government decision makers."

The chairman of the National Outsourcing Association (NOA), Martyn Hart, welcomed Maude's speech and said it was important the government finally did more to benefit its own businesses.

"Being fearful of favouring compatriots is something the government has let go on for too long. Informal pre-tender conversations are legal, and sensible. The more sophisticated and in-depth the better," he said.

"This could cut months – and millions – from the costs of tender. It will light the way to faster, cheaper procurements and give SMEs a chance to win much-needed government business."

However, Hart said he had concerns around the government's use of Intellect as its provider of commercial and technical skills for contract tendering, arguing its knowledge was limited.

"Theirs [Intellect's] is an IT supplier-only community, lacking the balanced opinions that having end-users and intermediaries involved brings," he said.

"The government is likely to seek bigger savings in the business process arena than IT, so are Intellect the right people to offer the best advice?"