The effectiveness of the post-Brexit UK legal framework in enabling meaningful social value delivery through public procurement

英国脱欧后法律框架在通过公共采购实现有意义的社会价值方面的有效性

• 批准号: 2873070
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Nottingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2873070
• 关键词: effectiveness; post; Brexit; UK; legal

In the UK, over £300 billion or 15% of GDP per annum is spent via procurement to discharge vital public services such as health, education and defence. The importance of effective procurement practice cannot be overstated in ensuring value for money for taxpayers with significant financial, legal and reputational repercussions for poor execution. Post-Brexit, the UK is radically reforming procurement legislation to ensure government contracts deliver not only the lowest price but also "social value," which is high on the political agenda. Current UK procurement regulations are largely the product of EU Directives and so focus principally on driving competition to ensure non-discrimination on grounds of nationality within the EU internal market. Practically, the principles of non-discrimination, transparency and procedural fairness have contributed to procurement being one of the most "highly legislated and regulated fields of government" (Lloyd & McCue, 2004). In contrast with the international legal framework, cost reduction is often perceived as the main desired output of procurement on a national level. For example, a key priority for Government is achieving efficiencies across Whitehall spend (HM Treasury, 2022). It has been argued that competitive tendering results in "greater savings and maximises operating efficiency," (Crown Commercial Service, 2022) but the National Audit Office suggests this approach has led to "adversarial" supplier relationships which could negatively impact value for money. Public procurement is therefore delicately balancing meeting legal obligations and maximising value for money.Another requirement of public procurement is driving socio-economic objectives. Following "Brexit" the UK has proposed the 'Transforming Public Procurement' bill which will replace current rules and mandates a new National Procurement Policy Statement committed to achieving social value outcomes. The Government is also on a major policy drive away from attaining lowest price towards a broader conception of public value or "social value" i.e. for government contracts to achieve a range of objectives beyond obtaining the goods or services themselves e.g. supporting sustainable development or increasing employment. This is achieved by including requirements for social value outcomes in tenders. Testing the supplier's capability to deliver social outcomes as well as the traditional price and quality metrics spurs the market to invest in social value offerings. However, while it is clear that Government has a responsibility to add 'value' to citizens, defining what this value is, how to achieve it and how to balance it against the pressures of delivering at low cost remains a challenge. There is no uniform approach as public bodies set their own social value priorities which creates inconsistency in method and in outcomes.There is a substantial gap in knowledge in this field in terms of the quantitative measurement of social value delivery and therefore this project will be the first to empirically assess the effectiveness of regulation in delivering social value. In doing so, it will identify best practice and reform.Performance in terms of actual social value delivery remains difficult to measure. The lack of a consistent approach to social value metrics (i.e. what to measure and how) has presented particular challenges for undertaking systematic research.This research will fill an important gap by exploring three critical areas:1) The confidence of procurement practitioners in implementing social value;2) Compliance with the social value policy regime; and3) An objective assessment of the success of the regulatory framework in delivering social value.With an incoming procurement regime and a 'cost of living' crisis, the efficient use of public funds is vital. Making recommendations for reform of the regulatory framework could help transform practice in this area.

在英国，超过3000亿GB，即每年GDP的15%用于采购，以履行重要的公共服务，如卫生、教育和国防。在确保纳税人物有所值方面，有效采购做法的重要性怎么强调都不为过，因为执行不力会产生重大的财务、法律和声誉影响。英国退欧后，英国正在对采购立法进行根本性改革，以确保政府合同不仅能提供最低价格，还能带来“社会价值”，这是政治议程上的重中之重。英国现行的采购法规在很大程度上是欧盟指令的产物，因此主要侧重于推动竞争，以确保在欧盟内部市场内不存在基于国籍的歧视。实际上，非歧视、透明和程序公平的原则促使采购成为“高度立法和管制的政府领域”之一(Lloyd&McCue，2004年)。与国际法律框架形成对比的是，降低成本往往被视为国家一级采购的主要预期产出。例如，政府的一个关键优先事项是在整个白厅支出中实现效率(英国财政部，2022年)。有人认为，竞争性招标可以带来“更大的节约和最大的运营效率”(Crown Commercial Service，2022)，但国家审计署表示，这种方法导致了“敌对”的供应商关系，这可能会对物有所值产生负面影响。因此，公共采购正在微妙地平衡履行法律义务和最大限度地实现物有所值。公共采购的另一项要求是推动社会经济目标。在英国脱欧后，英国提出了《转型公共采购》法案，该法案将取代现行规则，并授权制定一份新的国家采购政策声明，致力于实现社会价值成果。政府也正在进行一项重大政策努力，从实现最低价格转向更广泛的公共价值或“社会价值”概念，即政府合同实现除获得商品或服务本身以外的一系列目标，例如支持可持续发展或增加就业。这是通过在招标中纳入对社会价值成果的要求来实现的。测试供应商交付社会结果的能力以及传统的价格和质量指标，会刺激市场投资于社会价值产品。然而，尽管政府显然有责任为公民增加“价值”，但界定这种价值是什么，如何实现它，以及如何在低成本提供服务的压力之间取得平衡，仍然是一项挑战。在公共机构制定自己的社会价值优先事项时，没有统一的方法，这造成了方法和结果上的不一致。在社会价值交付的量化衡量方面，这一领域的知识存在很大差距，因此，该项目将第一次对监管在提供社会价值方面的有效性进行经验评估。在这样做的过程中，它将确定最佳做法和改革。在实际社会价值交付方面的表现仍然难以衡量。缺乏统一的社会价值衡量方法(即衡量什么和如何衡量)给进行系统研究带来了特别的挑战。这项研究将通过探索三个关键领域来填补这一重要空白：1)采购从业者对实施社会价值的信心；2)遵守社会价值政策制度；3)客观评估监管框架在实现社会价值方面的成功。随着即将到来的采购制度和“生活成本”危机，有效使用公共资金至关重要。为监管框架的改革提出建议可能有助于改变这一领域的做法。