Government Departments: Procurement

Tackling corruption wherever it persists is a foremost priority for this government. One key step has been appointing Tom Hayhoe as the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner, whose role includes a focus on the procurement of PPE during the Covid-19 pandemic. The government is also bringing forward the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill which, once implemented, will give the Public Sector Fraud Authority new robust powers to investigate fraud, including procurement fraud, across the public sector.

It is the responsibility of each contracting authority to investigate corruption in their own procurement processes; the Procurement Act 2023 places a duty on them to take all reasonable steps to identify and keep under review actual or potential conflicts of interest in their procurements.

The Procurement Review Unit within the Cabinet Office has responsibility for investigating contracting authorities’ compliance with the Procurement Act 2023 and investigating suppliers where their behaviour or circumstances mean that, potentially, they should not be allowed to participate in procurements or be awarded public contracts, for example because they have been convicted of certain bribery or fraud offences.