MCA urges government to better support SME consultancies
The UK’s representative body for the consulting industry has called upon the UK government to provide more opportunities for small and mid-sized enterprises. According to the Management Consultancies Association, the government could use upcoming framework reviews to help provide improved opportunities for SMEs in the professional services sector.
Although government has many initiatives to help boost the number of SMEs procured by public sector buyers, there is still much more the government can do to help a more diverse range of suppliers to be contracted, according to the Management Consultancies Association (MCA). As well as framework reviews, the organisation subsequently pointed to the approaching the Procurement Act, SME action plans, as well as the Consultancy Playbook, to help provide better opportunities for SMEs to work in the public sector and help improve frontline public services and productivity.
Tamzen Isacsson, CEO of the MCA, commented, “It is vitally important that we are opening up more opportunities for SMEs to ensure public sector clients can access the full range of expertise in the consultancy sector and to ensure SMEs are awarded a greater share of direct work. We hope that practical guidance for SMEs on how to take advantage of the Procurement Act can provide a real boost and opportunity for SMEs seeking to secure more work in this area as well as effective implementation of the principles supporting SMEs in the government’s Consultancy Playbook.”
The MCA has also worked with Government on the Consultancy Playbook which launched in 2021 and has gone through various updates. The Playbook was created in recognition that the way government engages with consultants could be improved. This included the importance of specifying outcomes and deliverables at the start and planning adequately from the government’s side to ensure the successful transfer of skills and knowledge. It also points out that it is critical that government can access the full range of expertise available in the market, as while larger firms are often leaders in their respective fields with global reputations, smaller consultancies can deliver the specialist expertise, knowledge, and skills.
To help get the most from the industry’s diversity, the MCA is currently engaged with the Crown Commercial Service on the development of Management Consultancy Framework 4 (MCF4), providing feedback on how best to design this vitally important framework so that it delivers exemplary value for money and provides access to the best knowledge and expertise available in the private sector, including an increase in prospects for smaller firms. At the same time, it has also suggested other ways in which to improve SMEs access to public procurement.
Leading those suggestions is ensuring that public sector buyers provide adequate time for suppliers to prepare and submit bids to tenders, which often benefits time- and resource-poor SMEs. The MCA also contends that limiting the practice of buyers requesting unlimited liability from suppliers could help, as it currently disproportionately discourages smaller firms from bidding. It added the government could try to set the required value contained in requirements for Certificates of Past Performance at a reasonable level for both larger and smaller firms, and promoting the principles on buying consultancy services from large and small firms contained within the Consultancy Playbook more widely within the public sector.
Isacsson added, “As stated in the Consultancy Playbook, it is critical that public sector clients can access the full range of expertise in the market. We believe it is vitally important that MCF4, one of the major routes to market for consultancy firms working with public sector clients, reflects this and offers departments across the country the ability to access the right skills, expertise, and advice from the full range of suppliers, including from large, medium, and small firms.”
