INTERVIEW / MINISTRY OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT
INTERVIEW
L AURENCE PIDCOCK WANTS public sector procurement in New Zealand to play its part in solving some of the world’s biggest challenges. He was recently appointed General Manager for government procurement at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), with around 100 staff in a central procurement team covering non-pay procurement of around (NZ) $52 billion. His team has a central role in shaping and delivering a strong national economy. The government’s annual procurement spend – which equates to about 20% of GDP – should be a lever that is pulled to achieve secondary benefits for the country and planet, he says. He hopes it can be put to work to tackle everything from climate change to socio- economic challenges, such as unemployment and disease. Within a few months of taking up the role, Pidcock was asked to come up with his future state view. His task was to set out his ideas for a 10-year programme he pitched as policy agnostic – that could run its full course regardless of the party in power. “We have a massive opportunity here to use procurement to control and influence public expenditure,” he says. He accepts this ambition will need to be balanced against shorter-term imperatives. However, he wants to ensure the country is considering broader outcomes that can be achieved through strategic procurement – an approach that takes a little more time and patience. “It’s a trade-off,” he says. “It’s about being given the time and understanding that things will take a little longer this way, but by considering whole life costs, you can also reduce emissions, employ more people and create some real and sustained social change in a local community through a project.” Procurement needs to be pushing this agenda. “The profession needs to be saying: ‘Let’s think smarter – how is this project going to support people out of unemployment so their kids can go to school and the next generation is in a healthier position?’ Instead of, for example, a contract being considered as just an 18-month project, it’s an opportunity to create long- lasting change.”
Seize the day
The time to act is now, particularly on the back of fiscal challenges caused by Covid-19 and the opportunity afforded by procurement’s increased profile. “Many suppliers globally are actually doing a lot of this already, so it’s about harnessing that appetite and ensuring it’s realised.” Pidcock says while much of the world has been given a burning platform as a result of the pandemic, it had less impact in New Zealand, which was quick to close borders and (at the time of speaking) has been experiencing near-normal for the past year or more. Nonetheless, New Zealand slipped further into debt and he is keen to jump on the global desire for change. Pidcock says while the country has space and greenery, it has not been progressive enough at tackling recycling, use of electric vehicles, hitting carbon reduction goals and ensuring its waterways are clean. His ambition is for New Zealand to go beyond achieving targets it has already set around carbon reduction, engaging SME and Māori businesses, and getting skilled labour into construction; to using almost every supplier arrangement to help solve broader issues. “The profession has to play its part globally and New Zealand has to play its part too. “We’re at a tipping point,” he says. “The value proposition for government procurement needs to change. The transactional piece is shrinking, as it should be, and if we don’t transform we’re without a job or a profession.”
HIGH AMBITIONS
Structure, influence and teamwork
MBIE is the functional lead for procurement within government. It operates a centre-led model with other agencies operating within its system. It writes procurement rules, manages a small number of all- of-government contracts and sets out best practice for all to adopt. Ministers are asking how government spend can be more consistently and quickly used to deliver policy outcomes. “There is currently a lack of ability to pull that lever,” says Pidcock, “government is considering how to get more control in the centre. My view is we can do a lot through influence and making it easy to do the right thing. We have a coalition of the willing in government procurement, so my recommendation is collaboration instead of centralisation, and collecting and analysing procurement data to inform change and monitor outcomes.” →
THE TRANSACTIONAL PIECE IS SHRINKING… IF WE DON’T TRANSFORM WE’RE WITHOUT A JOB OR A PROFESSION.
New Zealand government procurement General Manager Laurence Pidcock outlines his transformational vision and aims for his department.
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STATE OF FLUX
2021 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
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