An Urgent Review of Single Source Procurement During the Pandemic: Recommendations for Best Practice and Reform

公共采购在应对COVID-19方面发挥了至关重要的作用，在英国采购了超过10亿件设备。然而，采购并没有受到严格的分析。通常，合同必须在公开竞争之后授予。例外情况是，英国法律允许在极端紧急的情况下，在没有竞争的情况下向单一供应商授予合同，以尽量减少交货延误。奖项仍然必须公布，并提供明确的理由。然而，成千上万的合同在没有完全公开的情况下被授予。此外，承包当局面临着迅速采购的巨大持续压力；供应商无法获得所有的机会；其他公司则投机取巧地收取高价或不交货。该项目由诺丁汉大学世界领先的公共采购研究小组（PPRG）领导，与卫生和社会保健部以及开放承包伙伴关系建立战略伙伴关系，将对大流行期间的单一采购进行紧急调查。其目的是制定更好的组织规划，确保遵守法律，实现物有所值，并减少大流行期间正在进行的采购中的腐败风险。该项目还旨在为适应新的全球政治、经济和社会现实的持久改革奠定基础。为了实现这些目标，项目目标将是：(1)在规定期间通过合同数据和利益相关者访谈收集和整理单一采购的证据；(2)制定最佳实践“工具包”，供订约当局和供应商立即使用；(3)对单一来源进行“实时”全面审查，包括对证据的分析以及对政策和立法改革的建议，以便为即将进行的公众调查和审查工作提供信息。

Public procurement has played a vital role in the COVID-19 response with over 1 billion items of equipment sourced across the UK. However, procurement has not been subject to rigorous analysis. Ordinarily, contracts must be awarded following an open competion. Exceptionally, UK law permits awards to a single supplier without a competition in cases of extreme urgency to minimise delay in delivery. Awards must still be published and clear justifications provided. Yet, hundreds of thousands of contracts have been awarded without full visibility. Further, contracting authorities face immense ongoing pressure to source quickly; suppliers have not been able to access all opportunities; and others have opportunistically charged high prices or not delivered.This project, led by the world-leading Public Procurement Research Group (PPRG) at the University of Nottingham in strategic partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Open Contracting Partnership, will conduct an urgent investigation into single sourcing during the pandemic. The aim is to develop better organisational planning, ensure legal compliance, achieve value for money, and reduce corruption risks in ongoing procurement during the pandemic. The project also aims to lay the foundation for lasting reform which is responsive to a new global political, economic and social reality. To meet these aims, the project objectives will be to: (1) collect and collate evidence of single sourcing through contract data and stakeholder interviews during a defined period; (2) develop a best-practice "toolkit" for immediate use by contracting authorities and suppliers; and (3) provide a "real-time" comprehensive review of single sourcing, comprising analysis of the evidence and recommendations for policy and legislative reform to inform imminent public inquiries and review exercises.