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 centralising buying requirements, and leading on procurement policy on behalf of the government.<ref>Crown Commercial Service, About us, accessed 12 November 2019</ref>

History

CCS was originally created as the Buying Agency on 1 April 1991. On 1 April 2000, it became part of the newly established Office of Government Commerce (OGC) within HM Treasury. On 1 April 2001, the Buying Agency, the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, Property Advisors to the Civil Estate and other units from the Treasury merged to form OGCbuying.solutions. The agency's name was changed to just Buying Solutions in April 2009. On 15 June 2010, it moved, along with its parent agency the OGC, to become part of the Efficiency and Reform Group within the Cabinet Office. Its name was changed to the Government Procurement Service (GPS) in July 2011.<ref>Crown Commercial Service History Template:Webarchive</ref>

In January 2014 the GPS merged with the procurement management from government departments to form the Crown Commercial Service (CCS).<ref>Crown Commercial Service update Template:Webarchive</ref> According to the service's own data, CCS secured commercial benefits of £3.8billion in the financial year 2022/23.<ref>Crown Commercial Service, Government procurement department marks 10th anniversary having saved taxpayers £3.8 billion last year alone, published 15 April 2024, accessed 17 April 2024</ref>

Operations

CCS operates as a trading fund established under the Government Trading Funds Act 1973, as amended in 1990, with offices in Liverpool, Norwich, Newport, Leeds and London.<ref>Crown Commercial Service, About us, accessed 5 July 2016</ref>

Procurement services

CCS provides professional procurement services to the public sector to enable organisations to deliver improved value for money in their commercial activities and provide professional support when it matters, advising on technical issues, energy-saving and environmental improvements.

CCS's operations, and formerly those of GPS, include a range of framework agreements, which are a set of pre-tendered agreements with a range of suppliers from whom public sector customers can purchase goods and services. In the field of IT, historical examples of framework agreements include CITHS frameworks (commoditised IT hardware and software), ITHS (IT hardware and solutions), SPRINT II, Software Application Solutions,<ref>Softcat, The Softcat News Team, published 2014, accessed 10 September 2023</ref> and Desktop21 for desktop computer services.<ref>Best, J., DWP hands £316m Desktop21 deal to HP, published 20 January 2012, accessed 10 September 2023</ref> The SPRINT II agreement offered pre-negotiated deals on computer hardware and software.<ref>Belfast City Council, ICT Procurements, 24 January 2014, accessed 10 September 2023</ref> Its use was mandated from 4 March 2011, amidst some controversy,<ref>Kunert, P., Home Office to review future of Sprint ii framework, The Register, published 7 July 2011, accessed 2 October 2023</ref> for purchases by police authorities in England and Wales of commoditised ICT hardware and off-the-shelf software under government regulations issued in 2011.<ref>UK Legislation, The Police Act 1996 (Equipment) Regulations 2011, Schedule, made 9 February 2011, accessed 10 September 2023</ref> Claims were put forward during the currency of the agreement that supplies were more expensive via the Sprint ii route than through other sales channels, although the claims were later retracted.<ref>Kunert, P., Police authority loves Sprint ii buying regime, The Register, published 21 September 2011, accessed 2 October 2023</ref> A current (Template:Asof) example is the Crown Hosting Data Centres framework, which can be accessed by all central government departments, arm's length bodies and the wider public sector.<ref>Crown Commercial Service, Physical datacentre space, accessed 10 September 2023</ref> A small commission (typically less than 1%)Template:Cn is collected from the suppliers for each sale they make under these frameworks agreements.

Procurement policy

UK Government Procurement Policy Notes were in the past issued by CCS.<ref>For example, CCS, Procurement Policy Note – Armed Forces Covenant, Information Note 06/16 25 June 2016</ref> These are now issued in the name of the Cabinet Office, but the CCS Helpdesk acts as the contact point for any queries.<ref>Cabinet Office, Procurement Policy Note – Procurement in an Emergency, Information Note PPN 01/21, published 4 February 2021, accessed 6 February 2021</ref> A separate series of Scottish Procurement Policy Notes, and a parallel series of Construction Policy Notes issued since 2017 aiming to alert Scottish contracting authorities "to new policy, guidance and other matters relating to public sector construction", are published by the Scottish Government.<ref>Scottish Government, Scottish Procurement Policy Notes (SPPNs), accessed 18 March 2022</ref><ref>Scottish Government, Construction policy notes (CPNs), issued by the "Construction Procurement Policy Unit", accessed 26 November 2023</ref>

Management of the Government Secure Intranet (GSi)

As part of its support of the national government Internet infrastructure, CCS manages the UK's Government Secure Intranet (GSi), including the entire third-level government domain .gsi.gov.uk and its sub-domains.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website
• Cabinet Office, Efficiency and Reform Group, and Crown Commercial Service, Procurement policy notes, see also Procurement policy notes archived by the National Archives on 14 July 2014, and Procurement Policy Notes archived on 5 April 2011 and dating back to 2006.