Thank you for your excellently reasoned post on some ideas to improve public procurement. As always, you remove any points of conflict and show possibile answers to us.
Standard vs bespoke contracts often already solve the transparency issue. If they miss some consumer protection then better the government spending their energy fixing this for themselves and everyone than crafting a private contract that won’t be enforced properly anyway.
Having criticised some public procurement contracts in my work as a corporate finance advisor over 20 years ago it seems not a great deal has been learned… particularly when it comes to non-performance and quality standards… and don’t get me started about insufficient sewerage connections and penalties on new housing!
I have worked on a few tenders from the private company side. It's unfortunately all too common to say that the 'product' meets the requirements laid out, but the small print says it is all bespoke development. Indeed, it can be stretch to call it a product at all. I don't know if that sort of approach fools anyone, but I do wonder if the lack of candour should result in a proposal being marked down.
Thank you for your excellently reasoned post on some ideas to improve public procurement. As always, you remove any points of conflict and show possibile answers to us.
Standard vs bespoke contracts often already solve the transparency issue. If they miss some consumer protection then better the government spending their energy fixing this for themselves and everyone than crafting a private contract that won’t be enforced properly anyway.
Great series.
Ps
Typo alert at “asset its contractual…”
Having criticised some public procurement contracts in my work as a corporate finance advisor over 20 years ago it seems not a great deal has been learned… particularly when it comes to non-performance and quality standards… and don’t get me started about insufficient sewerage connections and penalties on new housing!
I have worked on a few tenders from the private company side. It's unfortunately all too common to say that the 'product' meets the requirements laid out, but the small print says it is all bespoke development. Indeed, it can be stretch to call it a product at all. I don't know if that sort of approach fools anyone, but I do wonder if the lack of candour should result in a proposal being marked down.