Peers back cross-party push to modernise Whitehall procurement
The Lords committee's report calls for shorter tender windows, a single supplier portal and clearer rules on framework contracts. Whitehall said it would “study the recommendations in detail”.
A cross-party group of peers has thrown its weight behind a modest but long-awaited overhaul of government procurement, in a report published on Monday that ministers had been quietly hoping to postpone.
The 84-page document, chaired by Baroness Ellcott, recommends shorter tender windows, a single portal for suppliers to submit bids, and clearer rules on framework contracts — the mechanism through which most Whitehall business now flows.
“None of this is revolutionary,” Ellcott said. “It is the least a system this large can be expected to do. Every year we do not fix it is a year we pay for it twice.”
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said the department would “study the recommendations in detail” and respond formally in the autumn.