Report

Improving accountability in government procurement

The PPE and Horizon scandals show the need for better procurement practices in government.

17 SEP 2024

Ben Paxton Nick Davies

The 'VIP lane' for PPE procurement showed the need for greater accountability in how government spends public money.

The UK government spends up to £400bn each year on buying in goods and services. But the PPE and Horizon scandals show recent governments have not always spent his public money well: the new government has a chance to change that.

The difficult fiscal inheritance facing Starmer's government means it is especially important that public spending is aligned with government priorities and delivers good value for money.

The Procurement Act, brought in under the previous government and effective from February 2025, will bring in a new public sector procurement regime. Simplified regulations, greater transparency and enhanced exclusion criteria could all help improve accountability.

But there are also risks. New requirements could impose more demands on already stretched resource inside and outside government. The Cabinet Office and central government departments, through small contracting authorities in the wider public sector, must be ready to adapt to the new regime.

This joint Institute for Government, Tussell and AutogenAI report sets out the scale of public procurement, and potential opportunities for insourcing in the IT and management consultancy sectors – then looks at how accountability in procurement works in practice, how the Procurement Act will change this, and the opportunities and risks for the new government to grasp in the months ahead.

What can be done to improve government procurement?

This special Inside Briefing tells you everything you need to know about the scale of public procurement, where billions of pounds are spent, why failures happen, how accountability in procurement currently works (or doesn’t) and how it could be improved.

Listen to the podcast