Government procurement system roles and responsibilities

Minister for Economic Growth

The Minister for Economic Growth is responsible for government procurement policy settings. They, and Cabinet, have responsibility for setting the strategic objectives for the government procurement framework.

Procurement System Leader

System leads are appointed under the Public Service Act 2020 by the Public Service Commissioner to lead and coordinate best practice in a particular subject matter across the whole or part of the State services. The Procurement System Leader is the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The Procurement System Leader is responsible for lifting procurement performance and improving consistency of practice.

The mandate of the Procurement System Leader is set out below.

• System outcomes: propose, for the approval of Cabinet, overall outcomes for the procurement system.
• System settings and strategy: set and direct agencies to use system wide frameworks and arrangements (like collaborative contracts, systems and practices).
• Workforce: lift capability and capacity and re-articulate the way the government procurement profession works (like by setting core competencies and practice expectations).
• System performance: establish outcome measures and require agencies to provide the data needed to monitor system performance – publishing it when it is in the public interest to do so.
• Agency performance: identify areas of agency under performance (if any) and require the relevant agency to confirm remedial actions.
• Risk management: monitor for system, sector and agency risks and critical issues, and if significant or increasing risks are identified, advise what actions are required to mitigate them.
• Collaboration: facilitate and coordinate cross-agency collaboration across the government procurement system.
• Cross-cutting: inform and advise the relevant Minister about procurement system performance and any areas of systemic under performance.

New Zealand Government Procurement

New Zealand Government Procurement (NZGP), a branch within MBIE, is responsible for implementing the government’s procurement priorities.

NZGP’s functions include:

• providing advice to Government, on government procurement policy and practice
• building procurement capability through training and development opportunities, and other tools, systems and resources
• providing support, advice and expertise to agencies
• establishing and managing All-of-Government contracts.

Procuring agencies

Chief Executive or agency board

New Zealand’s Public Service chief executives have autonomy over how their departments operate, including accountability for their procurement. The Chief Executive is responsible and accountable for what and how the agency purchases what it needs to operate. They must do this within the government’s procurement framework, including principles for expenditure of public money.

Senior Responsible Officer

The senior responsible officer (SRO) is responsible for all decisions made during a procurement. The SRO is responsible for ensuring that the organisation is aware of risks and issues arising from procurement that will impact the organisation.

Business owner or client

This is likely to be the business unit within the organisation that is seeking to procure goods, services or works. The client is responsible for explaining its needs/requirements to the procurement official, understanding the process and resulting contract, ensuring the contract is delivered.

Procurement officials

Agency staff involved in the procurement of goods or services, regardless of whether they are designated procurement professionals, are expected to:

• understand their obligations and responsibilities at each stage of the procurement life cycle
• be responsible for the processes they apply and the decisions they make in procurement activities
• support business units with procurement and contract management activities.

Contract management officials

Contract managers hold the relationship with suppliers. They are responsible for ensuring that the contract is delivered, and the expected benefits of the contract are realised.