§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Government's procurement policy and what plans there are for Departments to join together to(a) reduce procurement costs, (b) increase efficiency and (c) operate green procurement policies. [16744]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government's procurement policy is that all public procurement of goods and services is to be based on value for money, having due regard to propriety and regularity. Value for money is not the lowest price—it is defined as the optimum combination of whole life costs and quality to meet the user's requirement. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) was created to lead a wide-ranging programme to modernise procurement in central civil Government. DEFRA is supportive of and committed fully to working with the OGC in delivering this wide-ranging programme. One of the areas in which OGC is encouraging a joined-up approach is in the aggregation of requirements and wider use of existing agreements. This will make a significant contribution to(a) reducing procurement costs and (b) increased efficiency.
With regard to (c) the joint HM Treasury/DETR (now DEFRA) note, on environmental issues in purchasing, explains how Departments can pursue their "green" strategies within the above procurement policy framework. In particular, it explains how environmental issues can be reflected in specifications.