Public supervision of procurements yields results

The changes that have been made include modified procurement routines, work methods and the allocation of duties and roles. This suggests that the majority of municipalities and agencies that are subject to government supervision take the decisions on board and take steps to prevent the same occurrences from happening again. 

“We are pleased to see that our supervisory activities are paving the way for better procurement practices and that many improve their procedures by making changes to routines and priorities. Our supervisory work yields results,” says the Swedish Competition Authority’s Director General Dan Sjöblom.

The Swedish Competition Authority has sent a questionnaire to municipalities and other procuring agencies that have been subject of supervisory decisions that did not lead to a request for procurement fines.  This includes cases that were processed further back in time or which for other reasons have not led to the imposition of fines.

“Even in cases where we, for different reasons, have stopped short of court proceedings it is important that we provide guidelines – our aim is to show how we as a supervisory authority interpret the law. In the long-term this will result in everyone making the correct decisions from the start,” says Dan Sjöblom.

The report, entitled ”Tillsyn ger resultat – Uppföljning av Konkurrensverkets tillsynsbeslut” (“Supervision yields results  – Follow-up of the Swedish Competition Authority’s guiding decisions”) concludes that the Swedish Competition Authority’s decisions and letters of notification are perceived as being written in a simple and comprehensive way with clear conclusions. The questionnaire answers also include proposals for further improvement, including a desire for improved dialogue ahead of decision-making, shorter processing times and a time limit on the invstigation of old cases.

The Swedish Competition Authority performed a similar survey about the effects on procuring authorities that have been ordered to pay a procurement fine as a result of the Swedish Competition Authority’s supervisory work. That follow-up also indicated that the supervision had positive results.

Read the report, 2016:1 (in Swedish)