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Excellence in Public Procurement
Sir Michael Lyons, one of the most influential and respected
figures in government procurement, has reiterated the vital
importance of collaborative working among central and local
government.
Sir Michael, author of the highly influential Lyons Inquiry
into Local Government and Chair of the BBC Trust, addressed
hundreds of delegates who met in London on Wednesday 6 June
to mark National Public Procurement Practitioners Day (N3PD)
2007, honouring the success of those working in the public
procurement sector.
Sir Michael said: “A good local authority will
be less interested in providing its services, less interested
in getting best value for money, but more interested in building
a coalition or series of coalitions with people outside of
its boundaries to promote the interests of the community that
it serves.
“A strong message in my report is the importance
of incentives for a national coalition between central and
local government to grow the cake and to concentrate on economic
prosperity.”
The prestigious ceremony, held at the Institution of Civil
Engineers, One Great George Street, also featured high-profile
speakers Dr Neil Bentley, Director of Public Services Policy
of the Confederation of British Industry, and Dr Vincent Cable,
Shadow Chancellor and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Dr Bentley urged delegates to continue pressing ahead with
reforms and look towards radical improvement: “We
can’t rest on our laurels: neither business nor the
public sector can sit back and hope that things are going
to work themselves out. With the Comprehensive Spending Review
around the corner, now is the time to really focus on better
value and innovation.
“I believe that by working together, we can improve
radically the public services delivered by this country.”
Dr Cable, referring to the recent National Audit Office report,
Progress in improving government efficiency, stressed the
need for procurement professionals to develop consistency:
“We do need some mechanism; we need a process to carry
out a course evaluation of the procurement process, judging
how much gain there has actually been. This is [at present]
most unsatisfactory, and something that we need to work on.”
The event also encompassed the announcement of the eagerly
awaited results of the annual Government Opportunities
(GO) magazine Excellence in Public Procurement Awards.
Superb achievements in the field of public spending were recognised
across seven categories, while the prestigious Lifetime Achievement
Award – bestowed by David Smith, Director of Commercial
Services for the Department for Work and Pensions, who was
presented with the Award in 2006 – was received by David
Wheller, a founder member and former Chairman of the Society
of Procurement Officers in Local Government (SOPO), as well
as a former chairman of the Central Buying Consortium and
creator of the Procurement Agency for Essex. Mr Wheller, who
has more than 30 years’ experience in public procurement,
also contributed significantly to both the National Procurement
Strategy and the Byatt Review. Celebrating the accomplishments
of those who have made notable contributions within their
field, the GO Lifetime Achievement Award is recognition
of a career devoted to excellence.
Bringing together representatives from local authorities,
public services, utilities and community initiatives, N3PD
and the GO Awards recognise the efforts made to deliver
ever-improving supply management services. Organised by BiP
Solutions Ltd, one of Europe’s leading providers of
procurement information services and publisher of GO
magazine, the event brings together those working in public
procurement to improve efficiency in public spending and bring
benefits to the taxpayer.
Grahame Steed, Managing Editor of GO magazine, said
he was delighted by the response to the event: “In
the rush to achieve increasingly difficult goals, it can be
easy to overlook the good news stories. Today has demonstrated
that there are plenty of these, and also that public procurement
– as a profession and as a public service – has
a great deal to be proud of.
“Congratulations must go to all the GO Awards winners
and those who were highly commended - on the evidence of their
achievements, the future of public procurement is in safe
hands."
For a full list of winners, please visit www.n3pd.com
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