Commissioning and Contracting with Smaller Providers inquiry

In 2010, the Government set itself a target for 25% of government procurement spending to reach small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by 2015. It has reported progress against this target each year since then but it is not clear that SMEs are better able to compete with larger providers or whether they are actually getting any more government business than before. The centre of government, led by the Cabinet Office and the Crown Commercial Service, has introduced numerous initiatives to remove barriers to SMEs doing business with government. However, momentum has been lost with some initiatives stalling or stopping altogether and the centre needs to reinvigorate its approach. To do so, the centre needs to move from a generic approach of lifting barriers, to a more focused approach, by helping departments to identify particular areas of government business where SMEs can bring the most benefit. It needs to fill key posts so SMEs have a strong voice in government to raise concerns about barriers and making sure that all public sector contract opportunities are communicated properly.

The Cabinet Office needs to provide clear leadership to departments and convince us that achieving the higher target of 33% by 2020 is indeed a priority objective across government.