Crown Commercial Service
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is an executive agency and trading fund of the Cabinet Office of the UK Government. The CCS is responsible for managing the procurement of common goods and services, increasing savings for the taxpayer by centralising buying requirements, and leading on procurement policy on behalf of the government. History. CCS was originally created as the Buying Agency on 1 April 1991. On 1 April 2000, it became part of the newly established Office of Government Commerce (OGC) within HM Treasury. On 1 April 2001, the Buying Agency, the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency , Property Advisors to the Civil Estate and other units from the Treasury merged to form OGCbuying.solutions. The agency's name was changed to just Buying Solutions in April 2009. On 15 June 2010, it moved, along with its parent agency the OGC, to become part of the Efficiency and Reform Group within the Cabinet Office. Its name was changed to the Government Procurement Service (GPS) in July 2011. In January 2014 the GPS merged with the procurement management from government departments to form the Crown Commercial Service (CCS). Operations. CCS operates as a trading fund established under the Government Trading  Funds Act 1973, as amended in 1990, with offices in Liverpool, Norwich, Newport, Leeds and London. Procurement services. CCS provides professional procurement services to the public sector to enable organisations to deliver improved value for money in their commercial activities and provide professional support when it matters, advising on technical issues, energy-saving and environmental improvements. CCS's operations break down into framework agreements, which are a set of pre-tendered with a range of suppliers from which public sector customers can purchase goods and services. A small commission (typically less than 1%) is collected from the suppliers for each  sale they make under these frameworks agreements. Procurement policy. UK Government "Procurement Policy Notes" were in the past issued by CCS. These are now issued in the name of the Cabinet Office, but the CCS Helpdesk acts as the contact point for any queries. A separate series of "Scottish Procurement Policy Notes" is published by the Scottish Government. Management of the Government Secure Intranet (GSi). As part of its support of the national government Internet infrastructure, CCS manages the UK's Government Secure Intranet (GSi), including the entire third-level government domain .gsi.gov.uk and its sub-domains. Crown Commercial Service