Extra: What can be done to improve government procurement?

The Post Office and PPE VIP-lane scandals have put government procurement in the headlines – and not in a good way. But with the government spending almost £400bn a year on goods, works and services from businesses and charities, what can be done to stop things going wrong?

Well, the Labour government has an opportunity – and a big one – to do things differently, with new legislation – in the form of the Procurement Act – kicking in. But what will this mean for ministers, civil servants and businesses? What opportunities will it bring? What risks might it create? The impact is not entirely clear.

Drawing on a new IfG report, published in partnership with Tussell and AutogenAI, this special episode of Inside Briefing tells you everything you need to know about the scale of public procurement, where billions of pounds are spent, why failures happen, how accountability in procurement currently works (or doesn’t) and where it could be improved.

Emma Norris presents.

With IfG programme director Nick Davies, DEFRA chief commercial officer Einav Ben-Yehuda, the i paper’s senior report Ben Gartside, and Gus Tugendhat, Founder of Tussell.

Produced by Candice McKenzie

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