The new contracts, one for the procurement of IT goods and
supplies, and one for the procurement of IT services, are intended
to dramatically simplify the tendering process.
Produced last week by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC),
the new contract terms are designed to counter criticisms raised in
a Better Regulation Task Force and Small Business Council report
titled Government: Supporter and Customer?
The Report said that small and medium sized enterprises faced a
number of barriers when trying to compete for government contracts.
It also supported the move of public sector IT away from PFI as a
method of financing such projects, announced by the Treasury in
July 2003.
"These new contract terms will simplify the IT tendering process
and deliver significant time and money savings for suppliers and
public sector buyers," said OGC Chief Executive, John Oughton. "The
publication of these new terms shows that the Government continues
to listen to the IT industry and is determined to simplify
procedures and reduce duplication and bureaucracy in IT
contracting."
The OGC has also published new guidance to support the use of
the standard set of terms and conditions.
The two sets of standard terms and guidance can be downloaded
from the OGC website.
