Ministers are considering the creation of a "Commercial Innovation Hub" to help departments make the most of opportunities to improve procurement by sharing and embedding lessons – including those from "extraordinary events".
The Cabinet Office said the hub could potentially serve as a "golden link" across government departments, supporting them to deliver greater value from new flexible powers offered by the Procurement Act 2023.
It said the hub would "act as a workshop to seek out innovative commercial solutions that drive greater value".
In a clear reference to the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Cabinet Office said lessons from vaccine-procurement were one example of things the hub could potentially help departments apply to their day-to-day processes.
The Cabinet Office added that an artificial intelligence tool for commercial teams across government is under development that will speed up officials' ability to redact contracts and give quality assurance for procurement documents.
Proposals for the Commercial Innovation Hub and AI tool were announced alongside the Cabinet Office's National Public Procurement Policy Strategy. The document, which was published yesterday, sets out a range of measures designed to better align the public sector's annual £400bn spending on goods and services with delivering the government's five missions.
The statement is made under a section of the Procurement Act that allows government to clarify its strategic priorities in relation to procurement.
It urges contracting authorities – a term that covers councils and NHS bodies as well as departments and agencies – to work collaboratively across policy, delivery and commercial functions to "develop a pro-innovation mindset".
The statement says that mindset should involve "defining challenges to solve rather than solutions to buy, and engaging early with the market to consider innovative products and services".
Elsewhere, the Cabinet Office said a new duty would be placed on firms that win contracts with government bodies requiring them to advertise jobs at job centres.
Proposals also include giving local councils the ability to reserve contracts for small businesses to maximise spend within their area to help boost the local economy.
Georgia Gould, parliamentary secretary at the Cabinet Office, said businesses reported that the current public-procurement system was slow, complicated and shut small firms out of contention too often.
"These measures will change that, giving them greater opportunity to access the £400bn spent on public procurement every year, investing in home grown talent and driving innovation and growth," she said.
She added: "This new policy statement sets out our vision for how procurement can put this country back into the service of working people, and deliver our Plan for Change – by making sure the public sector is committed to growing the economy and empowering our communities with innovation and opportunity."
The Cabinet Office acknowledged that current processes already place social-value requirements on businesses awarded public contracts. But it said "multiple different approaches" used across the public sector made it hard to ensure commitments were actually delivered.
It said ministers would be "updating and streamlining" the system used by all central government departments and their agencies "to align it with the government’s missions".
"This will make it simpler to use, giving small businesses a better chance when bidding for contracts, and will make sure companies who profit from government work give back to the community," the department said.