Eventia chairman Rob Allen has called the lack of
information about the future procurement process for public sector events ‘shocking’,
saying the issue needs to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
Allen said: “With the closure of COI (the Central Office of Information) next March, many
of our agency members remain very unclear about the new arrangements that are
being put in place for the future procurement needs of government events. Bearing
in mind the enormous effort and resources required to secure a place on the COI
Events, Exhibitions and Technical Services Framework, the lack of detailed
information to date about how the new commissioning system will work is
shocking.”
He cited a letter sent to all the COI framework
suppliers as evidence of the lack of clarity. It stated: “A new procurement category team will be
created in Government Procurement Service to ensure that the communications
spend and activity is well coordinated and executed, and existing COI
frameworks will be transferred to the category team. Over time, and as
frameworks expire, the team will develop a new set of contracts.”
Allen said: “The notion that a newly created category
team will be able to re-create the in-depth industry knowledge and expertise
that COI have developed across so many key communication disciplines is hard to
believe. With dozens of award winning campaigns for effectiveness
delivered by COI in the past, it is going to be challenging for any new
arrangement to deliver the same quality in more cost effective ways unless the
government engages with the sector as a matter of urgency.”
The vice-chair of Eventia, Simon Hughes, who is currently director of
live events at COI, added: “Obviously my colleagues at COI have been working
hard to help the new procurement category team develop a system that works for
the benefit of the many suppliers in the creative industries that have invested
considerable time and effort in securing places on our frameworks. The
vast majority of the event companies on our framework are SMEs who are the kind
of innovative organisations that drive growth and enterprise. We need to
ensure that they and the broader creative industries community are actively
engaged in developing new ways of working.”
Pictured: Rob Allen
