Bureaucratic, process-obsessed and costly to take part in, public procurement exercises are often set up to fail before they even begin, says Joe Hill

The Chancellor’s Budget this month is as high as the stakes can be for the government. It’s the defining test of how they balance competing goals to boost growth, spend on their priorities and reduce the cost of living – goals which, up until now, they’ve pretended aren’t in tension.

One part of the economy, which deserves more attention than it’s likely to get, is sitting right there in the Treasury’s own back yard crying out for reform – public procurement.

The government spends £400bn a year buying goods and services from the private sector. Making up a little less than one sixth of the country’s total economy, it works very differently to other markets, and has become paralysed by bad policies and poor market design. If the Chancellor wants to boost growth and drive savings, she should start at home, and turn procurement markets on their head to make them one of the most dynamic and innovative parts of our economy.

Anyone who has ever sold anything to the public sector knows how harrowing an experience it can be. I’ve had the misfortune of seeing the process from both sides, and it isn’t any prettier from within........

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