Joint procurement projects aim to cut costs

The government has announced a new framework designed to driving the cost of procuring jobs across the UK. A new publication outlined ministers' £40 billion plan of continued construction work that will be able to allow departments to work together in a bid to slash the amount they spend on finding new recruits. Terry Stocks, head of project delivery at the Ministry of Justice, explained at Ecobuild that the construction pipeline would mean that organisations would work "collaboratively together" which would mean that if they were working on similar concrete accommodation they could secure procurement jobsas a team. Building.co.uk reported that the current strategy that has been drawn up by the government shows that departments are in the midst of being tasked with cutting costs of construction projects by 15 to 20 per cent between 2010 and 2015. Mr Stocks believes that allowing governmental organisations to work together they can reach these standards and once again provide relief for an industry that has had to endure some tough times. "If we make it easier for industry to engage in the products we want, and if we can further that by collaboratively bringing out procurements together, then it really helps start to bring up the volume of procurement opportunities […] which starts to drive down some of the costs," Mr Stocks added. The government has already been keen to provide respite for the sector with a £300 billion pipeline of work already set out in terms of infrastructure projects. However, many of these could be given to the private sector. The £40 billion will be used to carry out work across both local and central government projects. The Construction Products Association recently urged chancellor George Osborne to look to the construction industry as a potential driver for growth in the UK. The move was designed to encourage the minister to provide a range of investment programmes into the industry as a way of not only boosting the sector in the short-term but promoting long-term prosperity.