1. The public sector spends nearly £125 billion, or 10% of GDP, a year purchasing goods and services in the UK economy.[1] The manufacturing sectors most heavily involved in selling to Government include food, paper and printing, pharmaceuticals, construction products, aerospace and environmental technology. In the autumn of 2006 we began a series of inquiries examining issues of concern to manufacturing industry under the broad heading of 'The future of UK manufacturing'. We have already published Reports into two of these issues, skills shortages in manufacturing industry and government support for exporters.[2] We now turn to the question of whether the rules and practices relating to procurement of goods and services by public authorities hinder or help UK manufacturers in obtaining public contracts.

2. During this inquiry we took oral evidence from British Expertise, a trade organisation promoting the export of professional services from the UK; the Confederation of British Industry ('CBI'); EEF, the Manufacturers' Organisation ('EEF'); the Forum of Private Business ('FPB'), and Ms Leslie Kossoff, an Independent Executive Advisor; Intellect, a trade association for the IT, telecoms and electronics industries in the UK; the Trades Union Congress ('TUC'); the trades union then called Amicus; and the Government, in the form of officials from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills[3] ('DIUS') and the Office of Government Commerce ('OGC').[4] We received written submissions from these and from a further nine professional associations, companies and trade organisations.[5] We are grateful to all those who gave written or oral evidence to us.

2   Respectively, Trade and Industry Committee, Better Skills for Manufacturing, HC 493-I, Fifth Report of Session 2006-07; and Trade and Industry Committee, Marketing UK plc - UKTI's five-year strategy, HC 557, Sixth Report of Session 2006-07. Back

3   The restructuring of government departments in June 2007 involved, amongst other things, the removal of the section of the Department of Trade and Industry dealing with promoting innovation to the DIUS; hence, the Government's original Memorandum to us was submitted by the DTI, but the oral evidence and supplementary written evidence came from the DIUS. Back

4   With the exception of the evidence from Intellect and from DIUS and the OGC, all this oral evidence is printed as part of the volume covering all three manufacturing inquiries, Trade and Industry Committee, Future of UK Manufacturing, Oral and Written Evidence, HC 161 of Session 2006-07. Intellect's oral evidence may be found in Trade and Industry Committee, Europe moves East: The Impact of the New Member States on UK Businesses, HC xx, Session 2006-07(hereafter 'Europe Moves East'). The oral evidence from DIUS and the OGC is published with this Report. Back

5   Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, British Furniture Confederation (Public Sector Working Group), British Printing Industries Federation, Federation of Small Businesses, Institution of Engineering and Technology and Institution of Mechanical Engineers (jointly), KPMG, Midlands Fashion Showcase, Royal Aeronautical Society, and Society of British Aerospace Companies. With the exception of the supplementary written evidence from DIUS and the OGC, which is published with this Report, all Memoranda were published in the Future of UK Manufacturing volume mentioned in footnote 4 above.  Back