It seems that the government is hearing calls from small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them procure public contracts.
The Cabinet Office has released a series of videos offering advice to SMEs on procuring government contracts. These can be viewed on the Office's website, which contains advice from both SMEs and government officials. The cabinet office says that it has helped to reduce bureaucracy and allowed "suppliers of all sizes to be able to compete for and win government business." However, it understands that competition is high because the Government is a sought after client.
SMEs have often said that they feel disadvantaged when applying for contracts because they are often overlooked in comparison to large corporations and do not have the time or resources to keep up with the application processes.
Recently Lord Young published a report, titled Growing Your Own Business, calling for the abolition of certain application requirements for public contracts, such as Pre-Qualification Questionnaires.