Figures actually referred to old framework Procure 21

The government has admitted that official figures on its construction spend for the next three years erroneously reported spend on the Department of Health’s flagship Procure 21+ framework.

It said the amount of spend via Procure 21+ was to be £841m over the next three years, a figure that surprised the industry, particularly given that it showed workloads falling sharply over the period, to just £98m in 2013/14.

However, the department admitted that the figure actually referred to its old framework, Procure 21, which closed to new projects in 2010 and is now tailing off.

The figures were contained in a provisional construction pipeline document, published in July in advance of a full document in the autumn. The document is the first time the government has attempted to bring together all construction spend in one space.

So far, the department said, a further £800m of work had been approved under the new P21+ framework, but has only been up and running since October.