The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) was a

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Office established as part of

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government ...

in 2000. It was moved into the Efficiency and Reform Group of the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government object ...

in 2010, before being closed in 2011.

Overview

A ''Review of Civil Procurement in Central Government'' was undertaken by

Peter Gershon Sir Peter Oliver Gershon, (born 10 January 1947) is a British businessman and former civil servant, former Chairman of Tate & Lyle, and since January 2012, Chairman of the FTSE 20 company National Grid. He is chiefly known for conducting the G ...

, then a company director, which had been requested in November 1998 by the Paymaster General and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office and was published in April 1999. This review recommended the establishment of a central

procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or s ...

organisation within central government, which Gershon called the ''Office of Government Commerce''. He noted in his report that the review had been initiated because of the then-Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

's interest in a Ministerial Cabinet Committee report on Public Expenditure published the previous April. The OGC operated through the Government Procurement Service, an executive agency now known as the

Crown Commercial Service The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is an executive agency and trading fund of the Cabinet Office of the UK Government. The CCS is responsible for managing the procurement of common goods and services, increasing savings for the taxpayer by cen ...

. The purpose of the OGC was to support the procurement and acquisition process of public sector organisations in the UK through policy and process guidance and the negotiation of overarching service and provision frameworks. This was intended to improve value for money to the taxpayer, optimising the level of taxpayers equity directed towards the delivery of services. Similar organisations can be found in most western European countries, for instance Hansel Ltd. in

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and Consip in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The OGC supported initiatives to encourage better supplier relations, sustainable procurement, the benefits of utilising smaller suppliers and the potential of eProcurement. Representing the UK at the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

(EU), the organisation assisted with the public sector application of EU procurement rules within the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. The OGC was a member of Procurement G6, an informal group leading the use of framework agreements and

e-procurement E-procurement (electronic procurement, sometimes also known as supplier exchange) is the business-to-business or business-to-consumer or business-to-government purchase and sale of supplies, work, and services through the Internet as well as ...

instruments in public procurement.

Best practice models

The organisation used to act as sponsor for

best practice A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing ...

of project, programme, risk and service management: *Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) *Projects in Controlled Environments ( PRINCE2) *Management of Risk (M_o_R) *Portfolio Management (MoP) *Value Management (MoV) * Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) *Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices (P3O) These areas of best practice are now owned jointly by the UK government and Capita, being managed by Axelos.

Logo

On 24 April 2008 it was reported in the ''

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'' that a new logo for OGC had been introduced at the cost of £14,000. The logo caused embarrassment to the organisation due to its unintended sexual suggestiveness (appearing to show a gentleman masturbating) when rotated 90° clockwise. A spokesman for OGC said,"It is not inappropriate to an organisation that's looking to have a firm grip on Government spend."

References

{{Reflist

External links

*https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/61286/machinery-government-explanatory-notes.pdf Cabinet Office (United Kingdom) Government procurement in the United Kingdom

Overview

Best practice models

Logo

See also

References

External links