Audit to Impact - Public Procurement in NI

We're continuing our From Audit to Impact series.
The series looks beyond the publication of our reports to explore:

✔️ What we examined
✔️ What we found
✔️ What we recommended
✔️ What happened next
✔️ The impact that followed

Our third feature revisits our report Public Procurement in Northern Ireland, examining an area that accounts for a significant proportion of public spending and the changes that have followed our recommendations.
The full report is available here

  1. Background to this report

    This 2023 report looked at the strategic management of procurement in the NI public sector, a critical function of government that has been estimated to consume around 25 per cent of the NI budget.

  2. What did the report find?

    Our report found that, while there are many successful procurement activities across the public sector, there was:

    1. A lack of an overarching strategy
    2. A lack of appropriate skills to effectively manage procurement-related activity
    3. An absence of high quality and timely data to ensure meaningful oversight of procurement at a strategic level

  3. What did we recommend?

    We recommended that the Department of Finance commission a fundamental review of arrangements to look at strategy, policy development and governance and accountability

    In a subsequent review by the Public Accounts Committee, further recommendations were made regarding the strategic direction and oversight of procurement, placing a strong emphasis on the impact of Social Value policies on SMEs. 

  4. What happened next?

    DoF has now introduced a number of measures including:

    1. A Public Procurement Policy Statement with new assurance arrangements 
    2. Publication of new cross-sectoral performance metrics
    3. A revised Social Value policy to reduce unintended barriers on micro and small suppliers
    4. Publication of a Supplier Communication Strategy

  5. What was the impact?

    As a result of the measures taken, 882 microbusinesses and 131 voluntary and community organisations were newly registered on eTendersNI (between July 2025 and February 2026)

    More generally, reforms represent strengthened governance, improved transparency, and enhanced supplier access.