Ending Waste and Cronyism – Public Procurement Reform for a Fairer, Accountable State
Policy Area: Infrastructure, Governance, Economic Access
Overview
Public procurement in the United Kingdom has become opaque, exclusionary, and wasteful. Through the misuse of framework agreements, overreliance on cost-plus contracts, and exploitative payment terms, billions of pounds are misdirected annually while small businesses are locked out of fair competition. The British Democratic Alliance proposes comprehensive legislative and regulatory reform to return public contracts to public benefit.
Key Reforms
- Transparent Tendering Requirements
- All contracts over £25,000 must be tendered publicly.
- Bidding outcomes must be published, including full scoring matrices and rationale for contract award.
- Existing supplier frameworks will not suffice as justification for automatic awards.
- Merit-Based Contract Allocation
- Tender scoring must assess cost-effectiveness, prior delivery record, contractor integrity, and local supply chain benefits.
- Contractors with a history of unjustified project overruns (more than two within five years) will face mandatory exclusion from future public works tenders for a minimum of five years.
- Abolition of Cost-Plus Contracts
- All government contracts must be fixed-price.
- The quoted figure is the legally binding maximum payment unless the government requests or, via independent certified assessment, agrees to a material scope change.
- This measure will be enacted through primary legislation and apply to all central, regional, and local government bodies.
- Prohibition of National Framework Agreements for Routine Works
- National or regional framework contracts for infrastructure and highways are to be banned except in strategic cases such as motorways, new rail corridors, or similar national interest projects.
- Routine and reactive works, including road maintenance, surface repairs, and utility reinstatement, must be locally tendered to increase access for SMEs.
- Fair Payment Law
- Government must process all invoices within 30 days of submission.
- No project may run more than 60 days between cost incurred and payment received.
- Failure to pay on time will automatically trigger statutory interest and damages, enforceable through a streamlined civil recovery mechanism.
- Small Business and Local Supply Chain Access
- All tenders must demonstrate genuine efforts to include and utilise local contractors and labour.
- Local economic impact will form part of the value-for-money assessment.
- Each government body must publish an annual audit of procurement, including spend breakdown, contractor performance, SME participation, and payment compliance.
Legislative Implementation
These reforms will be codified in a new Public Contracts and Procurement Fairness Act, which will:
- Standardise contract terms and eliminate cost-plus pricing.
- Mandate transparent award procedures and define lawful exceptions.
- Establish a National Procurement Oversight Authority to monitor compliance and publish league tables on government payment performance, contractor behaviour, and SME access.
Policy Objectives
- Cut waste and contractor profiteering.
- Increase opportunities for smaller, high-quality firms to compete.
- Shorten payment cycles to support working capital in local businesses.
- Rebuild public trust in infrastructure spending through clear accountability.