Public Procurement
GMB has a long history of working on Public Procurement through two revisions of these Directives at EU level, both in 2004 and in 2014.
GMB has major concerns about the hasty and poor UK implementation of the 2014 Public Procurement Directive, which ignores or undermines key advances made in the EU text in terms of social/employment and environmental procurement.
We are actively working with the Scottish Parliament to ensure a more socially progressive implementation there.
GMB has been at the forefront of emphasising that public authorities have the right to deliver services in-house, but that when they do we would expect tax-payers' money to be used to promote good jobs, pay and conditions, ensure compliance with social and labour standards and environmental protections, promote the living wage, ensure the quality of public services, works and supplies, and recognise that the lowest price rarely delivers this.
GMB also emphasises that blacklisting is a clear grounds for exclusion to public contracts.
For more information, see our GMB responses to various UK government and EU level public consultations on this issue, as well as articles, in the Additional Resources below.
Additional Resources
GMB Scotland response to public procurement consultation (April 2015)

GMB Scotland response to Scottish Government consultation on changes to public procurement rules in Scotland
GMB response to Cabinet Office on UK transposition of new EU Public Procurement Directives (October 2014)

GMB response to the Cabinet Office consultation on the UK Transposition of new EU Public Procurement Directives - Public Contracts Regulations 2015
EPSU press release – New study on EU Public Procurement (December 2012)

New study on pay and other social clauses in European public procurement, from the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)
GMB response to EU Commission on modernisation of EU Public Procurement Policy (April 2011)

GMB response to the EU Commission green paper consultation on the modernisation of EU public procurement policy – Towards a more efficient European Procurement Market
GMB Response to Cabinet Office on Public Procurement Rules (February 2011)

GMB response to the Cabinet Office consultation on the Evaluation on the effectiveness of Public Procurement Rules