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Public Law

Decisions from consultation on how to make public procurement more accessible to SMEs

Published 7 January 2014

Background

In May 2013 the government discussed the need to develop a set of principles to be applied by all public bodies in their procurements to make public sector contracts more accessible for Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The Cabinet Office published a consultation in September 2013 on its proposals to implement changes and remove some of the barriers that SMEs face when bidding for public contracts.

On 7 December 2013, the government published "Small Business: GREAT Ambition" which sets out the actions that the government will take to assist SMEs to grow and have access to these contracts. This incorporated the government's decisions following the September 2013 consultation.

The legislation now to be introduced into Parliament will have a significant impact upon how public authorities do business.

Local authorities will also need to address yet further transparency obligations in an additional development we report on in this briefing.