HM Revenue and Customs has published its first procurement action plan to boost its procurement from voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.

The action plan for 2025 to 2026 aims to increase the proportion of HMRC’s procurement spend with VCSE organisations, reduce barriers to entry for these organisations and improve the tax authority’s understanding of the sector.

According to the plan, HMRC spent nearly £1.9m directly with VCSE organisations in 2023/24. This was just 0.076 per cent of its total procurement spend during this period, which amounted to £2.5bn.

But this figure has increased in recent years, the figures show, with VCSE direct spend having accounted for just 0.012 per cent of the tax authority’s total procurement expenditure in 2021/22.

HMRC said that its opportunities for VCSE spend could be split into three core categories: IT, people and professional services, and corporate services and property.

The one-year action plan, which sits under HMRC’s Purpose Steering Group, aims to create a foundation of best practice for VCSE procurement spending that can be adopted and improved in future, HMRC said.

The plan includes a number of actions, including the appointment of a VCSE workstream within the HMRC’s Purpose Steering Group, which it will aim to do by 30 May.

The tax authority said this would provide strategic oversight and direction on how it implemented the VCSE agenda in harmony with HMRC’s organisational goals.

It will also explore ways to automate direct and indirect VCSE spend tracking within the department, aiming to do so by 31 July. HMRC said this would allow it to develop more targeted initiatives for VCSE engagement.

The tax authority said it would work with Social Enterprise UK to identify different categories within HMRC where VCSEs were underutilised, which it plans to do by the end of 2025.

HMRC will hold a training session with commissioners to share best practice on engaging VCSEs within procurements by 31 January, and will seek to agree direct VCSE spend targets for the next two financial years before 31 March.

The government department said it would ensure effective implementation of the plan by 31 March 2026, with regular monitoring of progress. 

It will also proactively seek feedback on the plan, which HMRC said will “continuously improve our understanding of VCSEs and how we can better support the sector”. 

HMRC said it was also committed to further research into understanding the barriers to entry into procurement for VCSEs. 

Andy Williamson, head of HMRC’s purpose steering group, said: “At HMRC, we are committed to fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment for VCSE organisations.

“By creating a more flexible and inclusive commercial system, we aim to benefit suppliers of all sizes, including charities and social enterprises.”