Councils are unlikely to meet Whitehall's e-procurement targets, a leading local government expert said on 5 November 2003. Martin Scarfe, chair of NEPP (National e-Procurement Project) and finance director at Newham council, is to publish a survey showing that out of 388 councils just 91 are implementing e-procurement.
He says the results indicate that the Government's target for 100% e-procurement by 2005 will not be met.
"It's a slower take up than might be expected. We are most concerned about the smaller district councils. The big boys are making the most progress and can look after themselves," he told Government Computing News.
Scarfe is soon to publish the results of this survey online (www.nepp.org.uk), but cautioned that they should only be viewed as a general indicator of the lack of progress as some councils failed to respond as they did not want their figures made public.
He said that in the light of the poor progress on e-procurement the Government should revise its targets.
"There needs to be clear guidance and targets set by the ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister). They might have a 100% e-government target by 2005 but what about e-procurement?
"What does it mean? The targets are not clear. I'd like to see the target changed and made more relevant. I'd like to see it in terms of the percentage of goods and services procured electronically.
"It should really be 50% by 2005. The target at the moment is not realistic."
He said that while some authorities are likely to meet the existing targets most have experienced difficulties.
"It has been very difficult and part of the work is about how you get suppliers to use the systems," he said.
Scarfe's new website service will aim to help local authorities implement e-procurement. It will detail the progress of 12 councils and will set out to break the e-procurement programme down into areas such as purchasing cards and e-tendering.
Quelle: Kablenet, 06.11.2003
