Corporate report

Annex 1: summary of our proposed activities for 2019

Published 9 July 2019

This corporate report was withdrawn on 27 January 2022

This action plan has been superseded by HMRC’s small and medium enterprise action plan for 2021 to 2022.

Go to SME Action Plan 2018 to 2019.

1. Promoting the small and medium enterprise agenda across HMRC

Continue raising internal awareness within HMRC

Steps:

• incorporating the small and medium enterprise (SME) agenda into our category strategies and plans, promoting SME engagement with business units at earlier stages to inform formulation of business requirements
• quarterly training and awareness sessions for HMRC staff
• expanding commercial intelligence reviews by category to inform discussions with the wider business

Learning and sharing best practice across HMRC and across government

Steps:

• representation at SME champions meetings to share what has worked well
• review of best practice through our annual Buyers’ Survey Analysis
• updating our Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidance to reflect best practice

2. Simplification of the process/making it easier for SMEs to engage with us and bid for our work

Removing and/or reducing bureaucracy

Steps:

• supporting the Government Legal Department (GLD)-led model contracts review

• continuous review and updating of terms and conditions/procurement documentation by CD Policy team
• developing a buyers’ guide to engaging SMEs
• using contracts finder to advertise opportunities over £10,000

3. Engagement with SME supplier community (targeted activity with SMEs)

Identifying opportunities suitable for SMEs and promoting them effectively

Steps:

• regularly reviewing category pipelines to identify procurements that are likely to be of interest to SMEs and implementing SME-focussed initiatives across those procurements
• attendance and active involvement in cross-government working groups to identify cross-government collaboration opportunities for SMEs
• updating internal ‘sign on, sign off’ governance and approvals to ensure appropriate consideration is given to the SME agenda

Encouraging transparency and identifying persistent barriers to entry

Steps:

• hosting webinars to ‘de-mystify the public procurement process and to promote forthcoming opportunities
• arranging post-bid contact with SME suppliers who have participated in events to capture feedback to inform best practice in future procurement activity

4. Supply chain activities

Promoting opportunities across the supply chain

Steps:

• working with suppliers to use Contracts Finder to advertise their opportunities across the supply chain
• embedding the SME Agenda into contract management and assurance plans
• ensuring the SME Agenda is part of Strategic Supplier Relationship Management (SSRM) and encouraging our key suppliers to work with SMEs
• ensuring our key suppliers participate in the annual indirect spend review exercise led by the Cabinet Office

5. SME spend targets (enhanced data)

Reviewing trends in SME spend over 2018-2019 to inform the identification of future opportunities for SME spend

Steps:

• arranging ‘Supplier SME Classification Review’ to ensure HMRC’s suppliers in its procurement systems and the BravoSolution cross-government spend analytics tool are correctly classified
• reviewing quarterly Cabinet Office SME spend reports with category leads

Ensuring compliance with data requirements, streamlined e-Procurement tools for the benefit of all suppliers, including SMEs

Steps:

• bolstering the promotion of the SME agenda with strategic government suppliers and identifying suppliers who could increase indirect spend on SMEs
• on-boarding suppliers (including SMEs) to HMRC SAP Ariba to ensure compliance with all registration requirements

Providing accurate, timely and frequent indirect SME data throughout contract lifecycle

Steps:

• tracking and forecasting SME spend, both direct and indirect, monthly
• reporting to Cabinet Office at year-end