OGC

The old Office of Government Commerce website has been taken down, and replaced by the Cabinet Office website here.  I can't help but think that this is a misstep.  The government is probably focusing more attention on Public Sector Procurement than any previous administration, and the OGC website was  great source of best practice and clarification of rulings.  It can't have cost that much to run, and the replacement site has a much wider remit and consequently very little actual coverage of procurement (it covers constitutional reform, national security, Transparency, and the Big Society as well as Efficiency which is where we will get most procurement coverage).

I hope that in time the government will see the value in having  a central point to share information about how to comply with regulations, be more effective, more efficient and save money.

In the meantime the old OGC website is here, in the National Archives.  Over time it will become increasingly out of date, but for the next year or so it should still be a good source of information.

Incidentally, if you are waiting for the book Excellence on Public Sector Procurement by Emmett and Wright, we are told by the publisher to expect the proofs this month.  It appears publishing is still a time consuming business.  How long from proofs to print I don't know, but I suspect we shall be lucky if it is this side of Christmas 2011.