The government has announced new plans to reduce the costs and amount of time it takes for business to transact with the public sector.

A new project will seek to "improve procurement processes and practices in order to deliver more effective public services more swiftly".

Cabinet Office minister Lord Macdonald pledged that the government was intent on reducing red tape.

"Improving procurement is at the heart of the government's drive to improve public service delivery and this project is an important element in achieving that goal," he said.

Peter Gershon, chief executive Office of the Office of Government Commerce, said that "faster procurement comes from better procurement".

"I believe that this is a further opportunity to engender sustained improvement by attending to the fundamentals of professional procurement," he said.