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University of Bath research has helped the National Health Service (NHS) successfully to make fundamental changes in its procurement policy, with 2.7 per cent savings on £18 billion of expenditure. The changes incorporated plurality of provision and strategic, collaborative approaches to deliver better value-for-money decisions and improve quality of life for patients. Using this framework, Audiology Services have been able to provide digital hearing aids to patients free of charge, at the same time saving £252 million on the purchasing price of the aids and cutting service costs by £45.5m annually. This approach was also applied across all NHS expenditure categories and achieved savings of around £500m on goods and services worth £18 billion a year. The research has also shaped the Department of Health's Commercial Strategy encouraging a more strategic use of network resources for the benefit of patients and taxpayers.
Research into public procurement in the EU and its Member States undertaken by Professor Bovis has made a significant impact on the application of public procurement as a policy instrument in the UK. The impact of Professor Bovis' research is threefold: it has influenced parliamentary debate and legislative scrutiny in the UK by demonstrating the socio-economic and industrial policy dimension of public procurement; it has shaped change in the UK regulatory and legal environment of public procurement through advice to the UK government on procurement legal reforms; and it has affected a paradigm shift by extensive media engagement.
Researchers within the University of Cumbria Centre for Regional Economic Development (CRED) have published work on themes relevant to local economic policy across the UK. The research has focused in particular on the ways in which local and regional policymakers can influence growth processes in local economies; both directly through public sector procurement, and indirectly by providing advice and support to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). This research has been funded by public sector bodies specifically to inform their strategies, and to provide a basis for local economic policies. The findings have impacted upon the procurement practices of local authorities by drawing attention to the barriers to SME involvement in public contracts. Research on the nuclear supply chain has also influenced the Business Plan of the Cumbria Local Economic Partnership (LEP), and has been used in evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, UK Parliament.
Professor Sue Arrowsmith's research significantly influenced UNCITRAL's revised 2011 Model Law on Public Procurement. This is a model regulatory framework of global relevance that aims to help national governments avoid waste, secure adequate public services, and fight corruption in procurement. The UNCITRAL Secretariat's presentation of reform options to the Model Law Working Group was based directly on both the novel analytical templates and the detailed recommendations developed by Arrowsmith, and many of the revised Model Law's provisions on both existing and new subjects of regulation follow directly the specific recommendations in Arrowsmith's research.
This research furnished evidence for school food reform in the UK, Italy, the USA and developing countries. Examining the pioneering experience of school food reformers in Europe, North America and Africa, the research showed that the power of public purchase can transform the quality of school food. The researchers demonstrated that the most important factor behind successful reform is a political culture that prioritizes the values of sustainability over price and cost-cutting concerns. This insight shaped the creation of the Food for Life programme, which has been implemented in over 4,000 UK schools. Furthermore, the research has influenced international public food policies, such as those of the United Nations. In recognition of these achievements, the research in this case study recently won the Economic and Social Research Council's Celebrating Impact Prize for outstanding impact on public policy.
The impact of the research has been to make a substantial contribution to changing the direction of innovation policy at a high level and in some matters of detail in the UK, at EU level and in other OECD countries. This has been done by developing theoretical and empirical underpinnings for demand-side innovation policies, notably in the use of large-scale public procurement budgets to drive innovation. The team's work is heavily cited and quoted in high level policy documents and has led to the design and application of several new types of policy instrument.