§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress is being made in implementing the Government's purchasing initiative since 1988–89.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardA report by the central unit on purchasing on progress in government purchasing during510W 1989–90 is published today. It records that central Government Departments, excluding the Ministry of Defence, reported value-for-money improvements in their purchasing totalling over £515 million equivalent to 6.7 per cent. of total reported expenditure. Since the start of the Government purchasing initiative in 1985, total value-for-money improvements have exceeded £1.3 billion.
Also, in 1989–90, Departments reported value-for-money improvements of £205 million arising from new initiatives taken in that year. This equates to 2.8 per cent. of purchasing expenditure of some £7,311 million.
For 1990–91, Departments will report only on savings arising from new initiatives in that year and collectively have set targets for value-for-money improvements of £118 million or 3.1 per cent. of purchasing expenditure. This target gives sharper emphasis to the current performance of departmental purchasing organisations.
The report also records progress on other areas of the purchasing initiative and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.