The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has welcomed moves to make public contracts, worth around £236bn each year, more accessible to small firms and link procurement to prompt payment.

The government announced the new procurement proposals at a small business summit at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

In addition to plans to improve access to finance, the government's strategy aims to ensure the public sector meets its target of awarding 25 per cent of all contracts to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - including those working within the leisure sector.

There will be a single, standardised Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) across all departments, which will be required to publish not only their procurement contracts but also how many of them are awarded to SMEs.

The government is also investigating ways to utilise what it calls "open frameworks" and "dynamic purchasing systems".

The FPB believes the approach would tackle closed procurement systems among public sector projects - including catering contracts as well as leisure centre builds and park redevelopments - which it claims only awards contracts to preferred bidders and large companies.

FPB chief executive, Phil Orford, said: "Providing sound policies on procurement, finance and enterprise will prove to be a welcome plan that, along with more work on tax and red tape, should help firms to flourish."