27 October 2010 | Lindsay Clark
The UK government will take a “smarter approach” to
the procurement of major infrastructure to improve value for money, according
to a policy document.
As Prime Minister David Cameron launched the National Infrastructure Plan 2010, and committed to a £200 billion
investment programme, the Treasury document found procurement processes on
large projects wanting.
“For several decades the UK’s approach to
infrastructure investment has in general been timid, uncoordinated,
incremental, wasteful in its procurement and insufficiently targeted to
supporting balanced and sustainable growth in the economy, both economically
and environmentally,” it said. “The result is that our infrastructure is
ageing, plans are unclear and costs are too high.”
The plan commits the government to a “smarter
approach to the procurement of major infrastructure which will deliver the
maximum value for money for the taxpayer“.
It said: “Future procurements will be underpinned
by market intelligence, transparency and mature supply chain relationships.”
Progress on the plan will be supported by Infrastructure UK,
a joint public-private advisory group sitting within the Treasury. James
Stewart, its chief executive, said it was considering involvement of contractors
earlier in project planning to improve the procurement process.
In his speech to the Confederation of British Industry www.cbi.org.uk/ on Monday, Cameron also said the
government would be “insisting that a far
greater proportion of government procurement budgets are spent with small and
medium-sized firms“.
