28 July 2006 | Paul Snell

OGCbuying.solutions, the commercial arm of the OGC, helped the public sector make £412 million of savings last year, according to its annual report.

An OGCbs spokesman said £213 million was made in cashable savings in 2005-06, calculated by comparing prices paid previously. Another £199 million was made in process savings - the amount saved in time and effort. This exceeded its total target of £400 million.

The 2005-06 savings were attributed to the use of framework agreements and managed services run by OGCbs. Under a framework agreement, the tendering process is handled by OGCbs rather than the public-sector body. Increased use of managed services such as e-procurement systems and the government procurement card also helped to deliver savings.

The full report is available at www.ogcbuyingsolutions.gov.uk

The 2005-06 savings were £91 million up on 2004-05.

The spokesman conceded that the increase was partly due to increased spend with OGCbs approved suppliers - a rise of £667 million, from £2 billion to £2.67 billion. But he maintained that an increase in spend meant that some organisations were making savings where they wouldn't have done previously.

OGCbs has now set a savings target of £500 million in 2006-07.

Hugh Barrett, chief executive of OGCbs, said in a statement: "I am delighted that all out ministerial targets have been met. These savings will help our public-sector customers achieve their efficiency targets and put more resources into front-line services."

SMjul2006