UK Left Waiting On Transparency

Analysis, Open data, Procurement / By /

UK Left Waiting On Transparency

May 25, 2022
Analysis, Open data, Procurement

The UK’s latest procurement bill promises much, but many of the technical details remain to be defined. The drafting of the procurement bill matches many of the trailed promises featured in the consultation, but some of those promises, notably those around transparency remain undefined.

That’s not to say that they won’t be there, rather that they’re not yet defined or committed. There is significant detail on a wide range of notices that public bodies will have to publish (and some that are voluntary) including details of when a notice should be published, its purpose, and some guidance about what it might include.

However, the bulk of the details of exactly what must be published, where it must be published, and whether it will be available to everyone has been left to secondary legislation or guidance. The bill contains no requirement to publish notices so that anyone can read them. There is, however, a clause that allows any authority to withhold publication of notices if it deems that there is an “overriding public interest in its being withheld from publication”.

It would be churlish to suggest that this represents an attempt to resile from the Government’s commitments to transparency, it is nothing of the sort and clearly, there is more to come. But this bill cuts both ways, in that, it affords any authority the right to hide information, just as soon as it affords an authority to publish it to the world.

So transparency advocates such as ourselves must remain patient, but it is a concern that the right to hide information is provided for, whilst a commitment to transparency is not seen as a fundamental principle of Government procurement.

Get in touch with us if you’d like to talk to us about our government procurement data, our API, and our research capabilities.

Image credit: Waiting for Godot, Festival D’Avignon, 1978

May 30, 2023

Space To Innovate- New UK Gov Opportunity

The UK Government's, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) Space Systems Programme has announced it is seeking proposals to aid UK Defence...
Read more...
May 25, 2023

EU Commission Move To Electronic Procurement

The European Commissions Directorate Generate for Informatics (DIGIT), has launched a new dynamic purchasing system for software licences and associated services (SIDE...
Read more...
May 22, 2023

Biosecure Procurement Trial

The UK Government yesterday announced new measures for domestic tree seed production and biosecurity procurement requirements. The next round of the Domestic...
Read more...
May 18, 2023

New Industry Body White Paper Review of Covid Procurement

Since early on in the pandemic, there has been significant focus on the procurement of Covid related PPE, due to unprecedented nature...
Read more...
May 11, 2023

EU Council Joint Procurement Under European Peace Facility

The European Union Council has adopted an assistance measure worth €1 billion under the European Peace Facility (EPF) that will further contribute...
Read more...
May 10, 2023

Measuring Sustainable Public Procurement

One of the projects we are most proud of is working with The Open Contracting Partnership to create a Sustainable Public Procurement...
Read more...
May 3, 2023

From Hero to Zero – UK Digital Marketplace Shuttered

Within living memory, the UK’s Crown Commercial Service (CCS) had planned to reshape a large swathe of public procurement in the image...
Read more...
May 2, 2023

We Sell Data, Not Seats.

Why we sell data not seats? We're data analysts. We really understand the data we gather. We've been doing it for 15...
Read more...
May 2, 2023

New Tech Disrupts Traditional Government Procurement

A Silicon Valley startup, GLASS, has created a revolutionary new tech, Glass Commerce, an e-commerce marketplace enabling compliant transactions between government buyers...
Read more...
April 25, 2023

Green Public Procurement: New Report

At Spend Network, we are always on the look out for governments, think tanks, research bodies, and other organisations who are working...
Read more...
April 25, 2023

EU Agrees on Anti-Coercion Instrument

The European Commission and European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade have agreed on an anti-coercion instrument (ACI) which will enable public procurement...
Read more...
April 13, 2023

£256 Million Contract for Cyprus Awarded by UK Government

The UK Ministry of Defence  has awarded a £256 million contract, for work, repairs, servicing, and facilities management for the UK defence...
Read more...
April 5, 2023

Endorsements For Export Agencies

Endorsements are a win-win for export agencies. Exporters face new challenges, both in terms of increased barriers to trade following the pandemic,...
Read more...
April 4, 2023

Looking For Reasons To Export to Government?

If you are looking to grow exports, you should start with the largest and most transparent industry in the world, and here...
Read more...
April 5, 2023

Lockheed Martin Selected As Preferred Bidder.

US defence giant Lockheed Martin has won a contract to deliver Australia’s first sovereign-controlled military satellite communication constellation. Lockheed Martin was recently announced...
Read more...

Newsletter

Compelling research, insights and data directly into your inbox.

Recent media stories

Search

Recent articles