Public sector procurement agency Buying Solutions could be scaled down in the wake of the resignation of its chief executive Alison Littley.

The Cabinet Office is reviewing the organisation to examine how it will operate as part of the drive to centralise the Government’s procurement programme.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: “In common with all public sector organisations, it is expected that a transformed Buying Solutions will need to be leaner and more efficient.”

The review will also examine its funding status with the possibility of Buying Solutions being solely funded by the taxpayer. It is currently funded by taking a percentage of the business it generates from suppliers.

John Collington, executive director of procurement within the Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group and David Shields, procurement delivery director for

Buying Solutions, will carry out the review.
Shields has taken on provisional day-to-day management of the organisation, reporting to Collington.

Ministers are expected to consider the review’s implications in March.