Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Finance and Local Government
On the 15 February I issued a Written Statement sharing the findings of a discovery exercise that looked at the development of a Procurement Centre of Excellence (PCoE).
https://gov.wales/written-statement-procurement-centre-excellence-discovery-findings
The next step following the discovery is to pilot the concept through an Alpha phase. I am pleased to announce that we have completed the procurement exercise appointing a supplier to support the pilot and, following contract award for the services, the pilot will commence. I have asked for the initial focus of the pilot to be focussed on providing practical support to Welsh public sector procurement teams to help us reach our net zero goals. These goals are set out in Wales Procurement Policy Note 12/21.
https://gov.wales/wppn-12-21-decarbonisation-through-procurement
As the Alpha/pilot progresses and we learn what works well and what does not work quite so well, further areas of policy will be added to the scope of the pilot. The pilot will run for up to eighteen months, and we will use the findings to inform our next steps.