If you give local government business to local firms, you can save a lot of money: Procurement programme saves Swansea Council £12m a year
And you can more readily be going green: LocalGov.co.uk – Your authority on UK local government – How key is procurement for reaching climate targets in local government?
In these parts, the local councils have their various procurement policies: How to do business with Devon County Council – Economy and Enterprise and Procurement – East Devon and Public sector procurement – how we tender – Exeter City Council
And in the summer, an event in these parts was put together by the Devon and Cornwall Procurement Partnership: Going Local event matches local suppliers with public sector buyers – Exeter City Council News
But could local councils not do better?
Just look to Preston: What is Preston Model? – Preston City Council and Community wealth building saved Preston council from budget cuts – other local councils should follow suit and The “Preston Model”. A UK city takes the lead in progressive procurement – ENCO and How ‘progressive procurement’ can boost resilience and economic growth – Supply Management
There’s also a ton of guidance and ideas out there from the last year or so: Sustainable Procurement Toolkit and Sustainable procurement – delivering local economic, social and environmental priorities | Local Government Association and The importance of sustainable procurement in local government | Local Government Association
And yet the amount of business small and medium-sized enterprises are getting is less than 20% – and it’s getting smaller, as reported in the summer: SMEs are now receiving a relatively smaller amount of reported direct Government procurement spending than they were five years ago. Only one in five pounds of direct Government public procurement spending awarded to SMEs
This week, a bill which might or might not help is being considered – and debated: Procurement Bill, Second Reading, House of Commons, 9 January 2023 | Local Government Association
So, can East Devon’s council’s save money and go green by procuring a little more locally?
And if so, would it gain a Sustainable Sidmouth Champions Award?