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Scottish commentator believes new procurement body is essential14 Dec 2010Source: Herald Scotland Scotland’s ability to invest in its public infrastructure is under serious threat, and the Scottish Government’s blinkered approach to PPP/PFI is not helping, according to Anthony Rush writing in Scotland’s newspaper The Herald. He states there is a need to face up to the failures of successive post-devolution administrations to create genuine competitive tension in the marketplace. This has reduced the Scottish Government’s purchasing power with international service providers, suppliers and contractors. By creating a focused procurement body across the public sector Scotland may be able to reddress the balance. “What is now urgently needed is a re-appraisal of how public infrastructure projects are procured, managed and delivered” Rush continues, “The Scottish Government cannot brush off the errors of the past as merely the result of mistaken procurement policy and practice. It should not be satisfied with the status quo, and must recognise fundamental short-comings in the way projects are managed on behalf of the public. Any government determined to get the best results for Scotland should instigate a fundamental shift in attitude towards procurement.” Rush believes that given the leaner times ahead, finding ways of delivering major projects, at a reasonable and defensible cost, is now essential. The prospect, enshrined in last month’s Scotland Bill, of the Scottish Parliament being given greater borrowing powers is encouraging and may help, but it will be some time before the new Bill is enacted and its provisions come into effect. “In any case, borrowing powers for devolved institutions will never be a panacea to solve the problems in sustaining public infrastructure projects” he writes. “We must also change our ways of doing business to ensure we achieve best value for money. We can learn from the private sector, share more between public bodies and ensure consistency of policy on major public investments”. Read more here |
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