§ Lord Rodneyasked Her Majesty's Government: What progress is being made in implementing the report Government Purchasing of December 1984.
The Paymaster General (The Earl of Caithness)A report by the Central Unit on Purchasing on progress in government purchasing during 1988–89 is published today. It records that central government departments (excluding the Ministry of Defence) reported value for money improvements in their purchasing totalling over £350 million, equivalent to 5.3 per cent. of total reported expenditure. This represents an increase of over £100 million, or 1.4 percentage points, over last year's achievement and exceeds the 5 per cent. target originally set by Ministers.
For 1989–90, these departments have set targets for value for money improvements totalling about £450 million, equivalent to over 6 per cent. of expenditure. Greater emphasis is being given to monitoring departments' current performance within this target, with a separate and sharper focus on value for money improvements arising from actions taken by departments during the year.
The purchasing initiative has now resulted in value for money improvements equivalent to some £850 million during the period 1985–86 to 1988–89.
A copy of the report has been placed in the Library of the House.