North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has welcomed the news that small and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) will now find it easier to bid for up to £12bn worth of Government contracts.
The Government Legal Department has spent the last year simplifying and condensing 50,000 words of the existing Crown Commercial Service (CCS) contract terms into a new slimline Public Sector Contract.
The finished document promises a more user-friendly route to government work and a quicker, more streamlined way of working. Not having to wade through dense contracts will save money and resources not only for SMEs but also within government itself.
Making the contracts easier to understand means that companies without a dedicated legal team will now be better able to understand and adapt the Public Sector Contract to its needs by merely selecting those elements it needs to apply.
The Government Facilities Management (FM) marketplace alone is worth around £12bn and covers everything from mechanical and electrical engineering to cleaning.
The new contract will not only make it easier for companies to bid for government work but will also establish a benchmark for good business ethics by integrating some new corporate social responsibility obligations.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “As a former business owner, I appreciate how important SMEs are to the UK Economy - and anything which benefits them can only be a good thing. The Government Facilities Management marketplace alone is worth around £12bn, and it is fantastic that more SMEs will be able to bid for these jobs.”
