Government Procurement Service
| Government Procurement Service | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Executive agency overview | |
| Formed | July 2011 (current name) |
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | London |
| Website | www.gps.cabinetoffice.gov.uk |
The Government Procurement Service is (since January 2014[1]) part of the Crown Commercial Service, which is an executive agency of the Cabinet Office of the UK government, charged with procurement management. It was formerly an executive agency in its own right and prior to that it was known as OGCbuying.solutions, and then just Buying Solutions. On 15 June 2010, it moved, along with its parent agency the Office of Government Commerce, to become part of the Efficiency and Reform Group within Cabinet Office. The name was changed to Government Procurement Service in July 2011.
Buying Solutions was formed when The Buying Agency, the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, Property Advisors to the Civil Estate, and other units from the Treasury merged on 1 April 2001. They provide a professional procurement service to the public sector to enable organisations to deliver improved value for money in their commercial activities and provide professional support when it matters, advising on technical issues, energy saving and environmental improvements.
Government Procurement Services’ operations break down into framework agreements, which are a set of pre-tendered contracts with a range of suppliers from which public sector customers can purchase goods and services. A small commission (averaging less than 1%) is collected from the suppliers for each sale they make under the frameworks.
Management of the Government Secure Intranet (GSi)
As part of its support of the national government Internet infrastructure, the Government Procurement Service manages the UK's Government Secure Intranet (GSi), including the entire third level government domain .gsi.gov.uk (including all sub-domains).