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Getting Outsourcing Right by Colin Cram

June 17, 2014

Originally posted on Procurement Insights EU Edition:
Public sector outsourcing continues to receive a poor press, the latest being the lengthy delays for payment of Personal Independence Payments. https://welfaretales.wordpress.com/category/pip/ However, outsourcing will not go away, as the recent announcement of a back-office services framework agreement to be let by the Crown Commercial Service for public…

Procurement Contests Review by Jon Hansen

August 28, 2013

When I read Alastair Merrill’s post from earlier today regarding the new European Procurement Directives that are likely to be adopted this autumn, there were many points that were notable. One of the changes that caught my attention was Alastair’s reference to innovation partnerships. In and of itself, the concept of leveraging private sector expertise […]

Surprise, surprise: The UK has the most expensive public procurement system in Europe by Dr. Pedro Telles

August 19, 2013

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is by our newest Procurement Insights European Union Edition contributing columnist Dr. Pedro Telles from Bangor University. Dr. Telles joined Bangor Law School in January 2011 as a member of the acclaimed Winning in Tendering project team. He is a specialist in public procurement law. Dr. Telles has previously worked as […]

Procuring the English Language? by Colin Cram

August 13, 2013

Editor’s Note: The following article is a post that was written by Colin Cram for the Procurement Insights European Union Edition blog under the titled “Why do Americans Speak English?“ Question; why do Americans speak English? Answer; because of an initiative 350 years ago to combat procurement fraud. In 1667, the English and the Dutch […]

A Living Wage by Dr. Gordon Murray

July 30, 2013

Editor’s Note: The following is a post by Dr. Gordon Murray from our Procurement Insights European Union Edition Blog, that raises what I believe is a very interesting overall question . . . to what degree should public sector procurement be used as a lever to achieve social and economic policy objectives. Ed Miliband is […]

Does the UK’s new Crown Commercial Service represent the future of public sector procurement? by Jon Hansen

July 24, 2013

A corporate-style overhaul of the way the government buys up to £12bn of goods and services will be announced today as ministers try to use the spur of austerity to change the way Whitehall operates and make savings of around £1bn a year. from the July 23rd, 2013 Financial Times article Business-style agency to run […]

BREAKING NEWS: Evidence of fraud on the part of government suppliers G4S and Serco reported by Minister of Justice by Colin Cram

July 11, 2013

Share prices of G4S and Serco dropped sharply today as Chris Grayling, the Minister of Justice, announced that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been asked to investigate G4S. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23272708 He said that there was evidence that both companies had overcharged the UK government by 10s of £millions for contracts related to tagging criminal offenders. […]

Towards Tesco Reborn, or why Procurement Insights is your number 1 source for well . . . procurement insights by Jon Hansen

June 17, 2013

It is a very exciting time for the Procurement Insights brand, especially with the recent launch of our new European Union Edition. Besides having has its Chief Editor one of the top public procurement experts in the UK (and perhaps even beyond) in the person of Colin Cram, we are going to be announcing 10 […]

Margaret Thatcher: An Insider’s Perspective by Colin Cram (Part 1)

April 11, 2013

In 1980 I joined the Cabinet Office in 1980 as part of a team set up to support the efficiency and reform agenda of Margaret Thatcher’s newly elected government and to supplement the work of the then Sir Derek Rayner, the Prime Minister’s efficiency adviser. Continuing in that role within the Cabinet Office and then […]