Procurement failings blamed for problems in £19bn road and rail market
Summary
The CMA says the UK’s £19bn-a-year road and rail infrastructure market is being constrained more by fragmented planning, funding and procurement than by a shortage of contractors. It argues for longer-term sector planning, multi-year funding, better coordination between public bodies and more consistent, data-driven procurement practices to improve delivery and reduce bid-rigging risk.
Why it matters
Residential property surveyors may be affected indirectly through the wider construction and infrastructure environment, particularly where public procurement practices influence contractor capacity, pricing and delivery timelines. The report also highlights compliance and competition risks in construction supply chains, including bid-rigging in public contracts.
Key points
- CMA says poor procurement and planning are holding back infrastructure delivery.
- Issues cited include fragmented responsibility, uncertain pipelines and inconsistent procurement.
- The CMA has completed seven bid-rigging cases since 2014, with more than £129m in fines.
- A new Bid Rigging Intelligence Tool is being used to screen tender data for suspicious patterns.
- The report calls for machine-readable bid data and better cross-government data sharing.
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