A cross-party group of MPs and Peers chaired by Cannock Chase MP Josh Newbury has called on the Government to use the upcoming Budget to overhaul how the UK spends £461 billion a year on public procurement.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Public Sector Efficiency (APPG-PSE) is launching its Global Commission Report in Parliament today (Monday 19 October). The report warns that the UK is not consistently using its public procurement spend to drive growth, strengthen supply chains or measure the wider benefits for taxpayers.
The report sets out 16 recommendations and draws on research across 14 countries and 11 public sector or adjacent organisations.
The scale of public spending
The £461 billion spent on public procurement in 2025/26 is more than double the direct support the Government spends on growth, and equivalent to the annual GDP of a country the size of Sweden.
With the Chancellor due to set out the Government’s tax and spending plans on 28 October, the Commission argues that getting greater economic returns from money already being spent should be central to the growth agenda.
The report says procurement is too often treated as an administrative function, with success judged mainly on short-term savings and compliance. It argues that commercial expertise should instead inform policy from the outset, shaping how public money delivers lasting national value.
A new Public Growth Test
Among its central proposals is a Public Growth Test for strategically significant procurement, which would require departments to identify the economic, social and strategic benefits they expect contracts to create. This would be paired with a Public Growth Account reporting what major programmes and contracts actually deliver.
Wider recommendations
The Commission is also calling for:
- Five-year visibility of public demand in strategic markets, to give businesses confidence to invest in skills, capacity and innovation
- Enforceable social value commitments, backed by common standards and published supplier performance on jobs, apprenticeships and support for smaller businesses
- A National Supply Chain Security Centre, bringing together intelligence on critical suppliers and markets, alongside a test of the consequences of supply chain failure
- Connected commercial data across Government, enabling earlier identification of risks and opportunities, with proven AI productivity gains reinvested in higher-value commercial work
- UK-led international buying clubs and shared commercial standards, strengthening collective purchasing power and extending Britain’s commercial influence
“Government is the biggest buyer in the economy”
Josh Newbury MP, Chair of the APPG for Public Sector Efficiency, said:
“Government is the biggest buyer in the economy. We should be asking more of that spending than whether we got a good price. Done well, procurement can help British businesses grow, bring new ideas into public services and make the country less exposed to risks in critical supply chains.
“That means thinking about the outcomes we want from public spending from the outset – and giving the people responsible for buying goods and services the skills, data and support to deliver them. This report sets out practical ways the Government can make that happen.”
Delivery and supply chain risk
The report stresses that wider economic and social benefits must sit alongside effective delivery of core contractual requirements, and that growth commitments cannot compensate for poor performance, delays or failure. It also argues that the costs of supply disruption should be explicitly considered in procurement decisions, so the Government can judge whether a lower upfront price leaves essential services exposed to greater risks.
Jacqui Rock, FCIPS, APPG Lead for the Global Commission on Government Procurement, writes:
“Procurement should be treated as a strategic capability of the state, capable of shaping markets, supporting investment, improving resilience, accelerating the responsible adoption of technology and generating wider economic and social value.”
Next steps
The Commission proposes a phased approach: establishing clear ownership, standards and data foundations; piloting and measuring reforms in selected strategic markets; then embedding successful approaches across Government and extending them through international partnerships.
It says each major recommendation should have a named owner, a timetable and measures of success focused on outcomes. The APPG will use the report to support further scrutiny and discussion, encouraging implementation and measurable improvements across the UK public sector.
