The UK's Associate Parliamentary Design and Innovation Group (APDIG), in partnership with the Design Business Association, has published the findings of its Parliamentary inquiry into public sector procurement of design and creative services, in a report entitled "Design and the Public Good: Creativity vs. the Procurement Process?"

APDIG and the Design BusinessAssociation undertook this inquiry, building on the findings of the Cox Review of Creativity in Business, to assess the relationship between government and its design providers, and to explore design's potential to unlock innovation for the public sector. We take the term design in its broadest sense, as a verb rather than a noun, as a set of tools that enables a better way of doing things - whether that means designing effective policy, designing out waste, or designing services that work for users.

According to Gisele Murphy of Design Wales, "the report highlights how the UK Government could benefit from working effectively when commissioning design. The recommendations aim to achieve value for money in commissioning creative work, improve collaboration between designers and public sector buyers, and most importantly, ensure that decisions are end-user focused. The text includes several informative and concise case studies."

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