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NI Assembly Public Procurement Report urges professionalism in procurement

The Report on the Inquiry into Public Procurement in Northern Ireland was published this week. Mr Paul Davis, Lecturer in Management and Chair of the MBS in Strategic Procurement at DCU Business School, is cited within the Report.

In the section ‘Training & Capacity Building for Contract Managers’, the report states that there is support from purchasing bodies for a licenciate approach for procurement professionals, for increased professionalism in procurement, and for trained procurement professionals to be at the helm of procurement projects:

‘259. A key suggestion put forward by Mr Paul Davis at the Stakeholder Conference was the development of a licenciate approach for procurement professionals. Such licensing could be graded according to the level of spend involved. There was support for this approach from purchasing bodies at the Conference. CIPS, in evidence to the Committee, also suggested that professionally trained procurement people should be at the forefront of delivering procurement initiatives. The Committee is also aware that opportunities for training and guidance for contracting authorities, including increasing professionalism in procurement, is supported by the European Code of Best Practices Facilitating Access by SMEs to Public Procurement Contracts’.

The Committee for Finance and Personnel of the NI Assembly urges the Procurement Board to consider possibilities for introducing licentiate arrangements for procurement professionals across the public sector, with a view to ensuring greater uniformity in the professional competencies of purchasing staff.

The Committee considers that it is essential that the continuing professional development of procurement personnel should include awareness of the benefits of doing business with both the small business and the social economy sectors.

View the Report on the Inquiry into Public Procurement in Northern Ireland

 

DCU’s M.B.S. in Strategic Procurement programme builds the capacity for strategic thinking in procurement and aims to meet the changing skills requirements for professionals either engaged in or working closely with the procurement function. The two-year part-time programme is the first programme of its kind in Ireland and one of only two such programmes in Europe.

View details of DCU’s M.B.S. in Strategic Procurement


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