Contracting Securely: new Modular Security Schedules
Government Chief Security Officer, Vincent Devine sets out the importance of the new Modular Security Schedules published on security.gov.uk.
Government cannot operate effectively without secure and resilient supply chains.
We have made some progress on this over recent years, working in partnership with our suppliers.
However, the threats to our supply chains are growing and evolving, and our experience tells us that we still have significant vulnerabilities.That’s why the Cabinet Office has published a new set of Modular Security Schedules, which will be embedded into standard contracting frameworks as part of their upcoming refresh.
These new clauses are designed to adapt to the ever-changing nature of the risk, and make it easier for commercial professionals across government to build security considerations into departmental contracting processes and set and communicate proportionate contractual security requirements to suppliers and subcontractors.
We have learnt from experience that we deliver security and respond to security incidents best when we work collaboratively with our suppliers. The new schedules should provide greater clarity to our industry partners, making it easier for you to manage relationships and for departments and suppliers to mitigate risks in the event of incidents.
It is particularly important that we get this right as we seek to open up public procurement to new entrants and embed transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle as part of the changes introduced by the Procurement Act, which will come into force next year.
I would strongly encourage you all to have a look at the new contracting securely schedules and begin to draw on them in your engagements with contracting authorities and suppliers from early next year.
The Cabinet Office Commercial Information Assurance team, who developed these schedules, is running a series of workshops in the coming weeks to explain everything in more detail and answer any questions you may have.
If you have questions or suggestions in the interim, contact the team at procurement-security@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
Vincent Devine, Government Chief Security Officer
Please book training sessions on Eventbrite:
Tuesday, 12 November at 10 am – Modular Security Schedules for Commercial Professionals
Wednesday, 13 November at 10 am – Modular Security Schedules for Security Professionals