Cabinet Office to remove PQQ stage for central government procurements under £100k

The Cabinet Office has unveiled plans to eliminate the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire stage for all central government procurements under £100,000.

It added that the Local Government Group had also confirmed it would encourage a standardised PQQ at a local level to reduce bureaucratic burdens for bidders.

The Cabinet Office’s announcements accompanied the launch of a pilot with three central government departments called the Government e-Marketplace, an online service that will allow smaller organisations – including charities and SMEs – not currently in government procurement frameworks to register their organisation for contracts below £100,000.

The Cabinet Office said the new system would remove the PQQ stage of the tender process “which has been highlighted as prohibitive to civil society bids”.

In an open letter, Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said: “This will not only remove the PQQ stage, but it also helps address issues raised by civil society organisations on the lack of flexibility in framework arrangements.”

The Cabinet Office has also launched a £10m fund – the Investment and Contract Readiness Fund – for charities and social enterprises to develop the skills and infrastructure to win more capital investment and public service contracts. The Fund will operate over three years from April 2012.

Hurd said: “We are creating new opportunities potentially worth billions of pounds for charities and social enterprises. By enabling all sectors to compete for contracts on a level playing field citizens and communities will benefit from greater choice and more responsive services.

“The £10million Investment and Contract Readiness Fund will create a pipeline of civil society organisations ready to grasp new opportunities. They will break down barriers and build expertise in the sector so that it can become a mainstream option for public service delivery. And as the Big Society Bank capitalises the social investment market finance to grow organisations will becoming increasingly available.”

The Minister added that civil society organisations were being invited to take part in a listening exercise for all sectors over the summer to help identify where further changes were needed.

Hurd revealed in his open letter that the Cabinet Office had received more than 400 responses to its Green Paper Modernising Commissioning: Increasing the role of charities, social enterprise, mutuals and cooperatives in public service delivery.

The principal responses were:

• Commissioners needed support to: engage with civil society organisations; tackle persistent barriers to commissioning for better outcomes; and to develop markets
• Procurement processes were “complex, protracted and overly bureaucratic”
• Greater transparency around issues such as TUPE and pensions was needed
• Incentivising outcomes and consideration of social value were important aspects of reform.

The Big Society Bank has £600m in capital to stimulate and grow the social investment market. It is expected to announce its first investment shortly.

Philip Hoult