Government cuts G-Cloud paperwork in half

Call-off contracts and invitation to tender documents cut by 50 per cent to make process simpler

The government has slashed in half the amount of paperwork associated with Digital Marketplace applications as it looks to make life easier for suppliers and buyers.

It is one of a number of actions the government has taken to develop and grow the Digital Marketplace in line with its seven-point strategy it unveiled in March.

One of the pledges was to make it "simpler, clearer and faster" to use the Digital Marketplace, which is home to the G-Cloud and Digital Services frameworks.

In a progress report published by the government this week, it said it has taken steps towards this goal by significantly reducing the paperwork associated with applying to each framework.

The standard Invitation to Tender (ITT) pack has been reduced by 50 per cent and the three main ITT documents have been combined into one and made clearer after it was translated to "plain English".

In the past call-off contracts for the frameworks were 52,000 words long, but now, they have been reduced to 24,000 words instead.

Raising awareness of the Digital Marketplace among the supplier and buyer community is high on the government's agenda, and in the update, it claims it has made good progress.

"We have joined up with the Crown Commercial Service and TechUK to host 14 events in seven cities," said the government. "We held separate buyer and supplier sessions in London, Cambridge, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester to show people how to buy what they need using the Digital Marketplace, and educate suppliers on how to sell to government."

As part of its efforts to encourage buyers to use the Digital Marketplace, the government has also published two case studies - from the National Audit Office and VisitBritain.