CCNZ has made a submission to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, strongly supporting proposed moves to extend the application of the Government Procurement Rules (4th Edition) to a wider set of Government agencies including local government.

The Rules have numerous benefits in that they:

• Align procurement practice with best international practice
• Encourage more strategic procurement approaches
• Foster fair competition and innovation
• Promote broader social, environmental and economic outcomes

The quality of procurement especially across local government and some Council Controlled Organisations (CCO’s) is variable at present. The application and enforcement of the government procurement rules in these organisations will support fairer and more open procurement, enable the development of stronger relationship contracting, provide more focus on whole of life costs rather than lowest cost procurement and ultimately result in better outcomes for the community.

These Rules also align with the Government’s expectations that procurement can be leveraged to achieve broader outcomes. They focus on promoting public value, and include explicit requirements for agencies to incorporate or consider the priority outcomes as part of their procurement opportunities.

The priority outcomes are:

• increase New Zealand businesses’ access to government procurement;
• increase the size and skill level of the domestic construction sector workforce;
• improve conditions for workers in government contracts; and
• support the transition to a zero net emissions economy and assist the Government meet its goal of significant reduction in waste.

Currently local authorities are “encouraged” but not “required” to implement the rules. For more information contact peter@civilcontractors.co.nz.