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Public Procurement Review Service Reclaims over £9.4 million in overdue invoices

The Cabinet Office’s Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) is one of the measures to support businesses working with the government and the wider public sector.

The Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) was originally formed as the Mystery Shopper Service in 2011, to investigate public sector procurement processes. It is a free, anonymous, and impartial service and available for any supplier to use. In 2015 the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act provided a statutory basis for procurement investigations, strengthening the service. The PPRS can help suppliers who feel they might have been treated unfairly during a tender or have concerns about the conduct of a procurement process.

To date the PPRS has unlocked over £9.4M of late invoice payments to date, many resulting in changes to live procurements.

The service has managed over 400 late payment cases, achieving a 100% success rate of releasing payments. This includes over £1.16M recovered during 2021/2022, including 90% of this amount recovered for SMEs. Over 91% of suppliers surveyed this year agreed that the PPRS investigation process and case outcomes are clearly explained. PPRS has investigated over 1,980 cases against many public sector organisations including central government departments and their agencies, local government, health, blue light, and education.

The Cabinet Office is keen to raise awareness of the Public Procurement Review Service among suppliers. It has an excellent rate of success from contracting authorities adopting PPRS recommendations following complaints raised against their procurements.

It is one of a range of measures designed to make Government easier to work with and level the playing field for those suppliers who want to supply to Government and the wider public sector - in particular SMEs and VCSEs. PPRS actively supports Martin Traynor OBE in his role as SME Crown Representative. He said: “The PPRS service continues to play a really valuable role in identifying some of the challenges SMEs face when taking part in public sector procurement. The feedback we get from PPRS helps to inform me of the issues we need to tackle so that more SMEs can join the government's supply chain. I would encourage all businesses to use this important service if they see something that doesn't seem right or that they don't fully understand." 

You can find the link to their recent media release here which outlines more around the services of the PPRS and additional sources of information to engage.

If you would like to find out more information about the PPRS and how to engage with the service please refer to the PPRS scope and remit or search ‘Public Procurement Review Service’ on GOV.UK. The PPRS team will also soon be hosting events for suppliers and buyers to understand more about the role of the PPRS. For more information about these events or the services provided by the PPRS you can follow them on twitter @govpprs or email the team at publicprocurementreview@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Channel website: http://www.techuk.org/

Original article link: https://www.techuk.org/resource/public-procurement-review-service-reclaims-over-9-4-million-in-overdue-invoices.html

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