Public Procurement as a tool to stimulate innovation - Government Response

This is the government's response, published 12 September 2011.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the Committee's report and agrees that a fundamental culture change in public procurement is needed, while declining several specific structural recommendations.

• On ministerial responsibility, the Government states it "does not therefore have any plans to assign a Minister overall responsibility for both procurement and innovation", and considers it "more appropriate for individual departments" to be responsible for their future needs.
• On Innovation Procurement Plans, it has "decided to end the requirement for Departments to produce IPPs", citing variable quality of the Plans, as part of the wider reform of government procurement.
• On departmental Chief Scientific Advisers, it agrees they have a role in encouraging innovation in procurement, but whether they hold responsibility or a more advisory role "will be for individual departments to determine".
• It is developing a lean sourcing process for all central government procurements "for implementation from January 2012", currently being tested on departmental pathfinder projects.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error