NAP5 18th May 2021

NAP 5 – Open Contracting – Wk 1 – Read out

by Guest

As part of the co-creation process of the UK’s fifth National Action Plan for Open Government (NAP5), thematic areas agreed to during the Multistakeholder Forum in March 2021 have been turned into biweekly Working Groups. These Working Groups bring together government policy leads and civil society, and are charged with developing commitments for inclusion in NAP5.

The first NAP5 Open Contracting Working Group was held on May 5, 2021 at 14:00 BST. The meeting was co-chaired by civil society and government.

Suggested areas produced for further discussion are as follows (broadly grouped):

Public Engagement:

  • Multistakeholder engagement in NHS procurement system reform
  • Whistleblowing: publicly recorded and reviewed
  • Process for Select Committees when commercial confidentiality is abused
  • Public reporting on the outcome of contractual disputes
  • Government published annual report on public procurement
  • Increased consideration of select committee findings
  • Reinstate the open contracting working group and publish minutes
  • Public consultation on the new National Procurement Policy Statement
  • Civil society included in the feedback mechanisms and monitoring of tender activities

Data:

  • API for accessing contracting information
  • Setting data attributes to ensure third sector supplier information is accurate
  • Linking contracting and spending data
  • One procurement data standard for all of government
  • Data from CF and FTS should be published in OCDS compliant BI dashboards

Publishing and Reporting:

  • Requiring company identifiers, consistency of data
  • Transparency around the UK’s natural resource contracting: oil, gas, and mining
  • Crown Estates transparency
  • Transparency in commodities trading
  • Clarity around MOD/NHS publishing exemptions
  • Data bank of major infrastructure projects
  • Requiring reporting of capital contributions when bidding for subsides
  • Legally enforceable version of supplier code of conduct
  • Clear, written guidance regarding redactions
  • Public, open structured, machine readable list of companies excluded for tax evasion
  • Public, open structured, machine readable list of convicted persons/entities that are beneficial owners
  • Debarment list made machine readable
  • Open data-linked contract call-offs, issued against frameworks, published in OCDS using a unique OCDS ID
  • Regular public reporting on percentage of above threshold tenders and awards on Contracts Finder
  • Regular public reporting on percentage of buyer and supplier organisation identifiers for domestic awards, and all awards over £1m
  • Automation of public procurement
  • FOI extended to contractors

Green paper:

  • Full resourced implementation of Open Contracting green paper

Local government:

  • Transparency in local asset disposal: requiring a transparent log of all advertisements and contracts
  • Upskilling frontline local procurement teams

Evaluation:

  • Beneficial ownership – proving impact
  • Effective contract monitoring for impact (and disseminating any learning)

Procurement reform:

  • Embedding openness and transparency into NHS procurement systems reform
  • Embedding innovation and collaboration through procurement systems
  • Government playbook on open contracting and transparency
  • National e-Procurement Strategy
  • Restatement of the Nolan Principles

Next steps:

  • The second meeting of the NAP 5 Open Contracting Working Group will be held on Wednesday, May 19th 2021 at 14:00 BST
  • The second meeting is open to all government policy areas or civil society groups with an interest in the Open Contracting space
  • Attendees of the second meeting are asked to come prepared to discuss the above listed suggestions in greater detail

For additional details or to get involved, please contact: