The new contracts, one for the procurement of IT goods and supplies, and one for the procurement of IT services, are intended to dramatically simplify the tendering process.
Produced last week by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), the new contract terms are designed to counter criticisms raised in a Better Regulation Task Force and Small Business Council report titled Government: Supporter and Customer?
The Report said that small and medium sized enterprises faced a number of barriers when trying to compete for government contracts. It also supported the move of public sector IT away from PFI as a method of financing such projects, announced by the Treasury in July 2003.
"These new contract terms will simplify the IT tendering process and deliver significant time and money savings for suppliers and public sector buyers," said OGC Chief Executive, John Oughton. "The publication of these new terms shows that the Government continues to listen to the IT industry and is determined to simplify procedures and reduce duplication and bureaucracy in IT contracting."
The OGC has also published new guidance to support the use of the standard set of terms and conditions.
The two sets of standard terms and guidance can be downloaded from the OGC website.