IT services framework has £600m in its piggy bank
But Buying Solutions stresses that public bodies will have to work hard to demonstrate necessity of spend
Watching the pennies: Public bodies must negotiate careful "financial and strategic controls" before getting funding
The two-year public sector IT services framework launched last week could be worth as much as £600m to the 12 suppliers that made the cut.
But a statement sent to ChannelWeb from procurement body Buying Solutions reveals public sector buying chiefs will have to jump through more hoops than ever to utilise the framework.
The statement claims the framework has a "notional" spending pot of £600m " for up to four years" – twice its stipulated length.
"The notional figure for the duration of the framework is detailed in OJEU [the Official Journal of the European Union] notices to give suppliers an indication of what the uptake by public sector organisations might be," said the statement.
Buying Solutions also claimed that the 12 channel firms to make the grade – including 2e2, Servo, Computacenter and SCC – had been stringently examined.
"Suppliers were rigorously assessed against a number of criteria to determine their suitability to tender including service provision, previous experience and financial stability," said the statement.
"Tenders were then assessed on the basis of various value for money factors, with the objective of identifying the ‘Most Economically Advantageous Tenders’, in accordance with EU procurement rules."
Responsibility for overseeing Buying Solutions was recently moved from the Treasury to the Cabinet Office. In its new home, it sits within the cost-conscious Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG).
"[The ERG] is ensuring departments work together to tackle waste and improve accountability across a range of areas, including ICT spend," said Buying Solutions.
The procurement body went on to reveal any public sector organisation wishing to take advantage of the IT services framework will need to file an exception request with the ERG ICT moratorium team.
"This will ensure that departments that are seeking to contract via this framework take advantage of the value for money offered through this route and that they have also been through the correct financial and strategic controls to ensure that the spend is necessary," explained the statement.
Suppliers on the £6bn hardware and software framework launched in February have previously told ChannelWeb that many public bodies continue to waste money by procuring outside of frameworks. When asked if more could be done to promote their use, Buying Solutions stressed that individual organisations retain spending autonomy.
"Individual public sector bodies are responsible for their own procurement practices within the context of applicable legal and policy requirements," said Buying Solutions.
"The choice of whether or not to use Buying Solutions’ framework agreements, or any other collaborative procurement vehicle, has been for individual procuring organisations to make, albeit within an environment in which in recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on collaboration and reducing duplication of procurement effort."