UK Government report looks at relationship between public procurement & manufacturing
Public procurement in the United Kingdom must take a complete life-cycle approach, including implementing social and environmental considerations, in order to have a positive impact on British manufacturing, concludes a new report commissioned by the UK Government Office for Science. The report takes stock of how public procurement influences manufacturing, and examines ways in which it could further support it.
Other conclusions include the need to revaluate the methods used in supplier selection to make them more flexible and better capable of encompassing broad and changing objectives. Procurers’ ability to articulate unmet needs is also important to better foster innovation. Greater inter-governmental cooperation in procurement is recommended as a means to solve complex, multi-faceted public policy problems.
Increased sustainability, particularly a move towards a circular economy in which the scarcity of natural resources is appreciated, would create a more resilient economy, states the report. It goes on to say that manufacturing in key sectors such as defence, healthcare, energy and environmental technologies are more likely to be stimulated by public spending, meaning that the effects of enhanced public procurement are unlikely to be spread evenly.
To read the report in full, click here.